About Us

Democracy for Development (D4D) is a think-tank organization which was formed recently by experienced and well qualified individuals who came together under the vision that democracy is a precondition for development. The founding members of D4D believe that democracy is both means and ends for development. They have tasked themselves with a mission to research and reach out to a wider community of stakeholders to make this link apparent.

D4D goals are: The development of independent public policy research in the field of socio-economic development, governance, the development of political parties, and the development of inter-ethnic, regional and international relations. The ultimate aim of all activities will be to provide “know how” and solutions for new approaches to tackling the persisting challenges. D4D also believes that it is essential to involve the stakeholders involved in processes and help transform their perception of self-interest to something more in line with the public interest.

D4D Founders

Leon Malazogu

Leon Malazogu has an M.A. degree in International Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the University of Notre Dame. He has taught at the University of Prishtina, the American University in Kosovo and the South-East European University in Tetovo. Leon co-authored the curriculum for the newly opened department of Political Science/Public Administration for the University of Prishtina and is a board member of the Albanain Political Science Association. He was scholar in residence at the Arizona State University for a semester researching public administration curriculum and local government. He heads the Kosovo Office of the Project on Ethnic Relations. Previously, Leon served as a Regional Representative for the European Centre for Minority Issues, and was the Research Director at the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED). He has served as adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister. Leon has conducted numerous studies on elections and lead NGO coalitions to change the electoral system in 2004 and to observe the elections in 2007. Several of Leon’s short pieces have been published, among others by Frank Cass Publisher, the Center for Peace Research at the University of Leuven, etc. Email: leon.malazogu@d4d-ks.org

Levent Koro

Holds master degree in economics from Ankara University, Turkey. After four years of working experience in the private sector he joined UNDP Office in Kosovo in 2004 as a Programme Analyst. Since 2009 he has been working as a Consultant for the World Bank Office in Prishtina. His main areas of work are employment and labour market policy/programme development. He has extensive experience in assisting central government institutions in designing key policy documents in the area of employment and labour markets. He was engaged in drafting process of Employment Strategy for Kosovo (2010-2012) and Youth Employment Action Plan (2007-2010). He also initiated two large employment programmes in this field in Kosovo (Employment Generation Programme 2004-2006 and Active Labour Market Programmes 2006- ). He has been co-author of some of the main research projects of UNDP such as Kosovo Human Development Report, Early Warning Reports and Public Pulse.

Ilir Dugolli

Ilir Dugolli currently serves as Kosovo’s Ambassador to Brussels. He has taught at the Law School and at the Political Science Department of the University of Prishtina as well as at the American University in Kosovo. His research interests are primarily focused on constitutionalism, elections, human rights and security. Between 2002 and 2004 he served as the principal advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, in Kosovo’s first democratically elected government. Mr. Dugolli holds a Master of Laws in Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University. He was World Fellow at the Yale University and adjunct professor at Arizona State University. He has been part of the initial composition of the Kosovo Independent Media Commission, the regulatory body for Kosovo’s electronic media. Mr. Dugolli has been involved with a number of civil society initiatives, including as Board member of ‘Forum 2015′, co-founder of KIPRED (Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development), Board member of Kosovo-American Education Fund, Board member of European Elections Law Association.

The Board of Directors

Arianit Shehu

Country Director, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Middle East and North Africa, Jordan Office

Bernard Zeneli

Manager, Brain Gain Programme, UNDP Albania

Besnik Pula

Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Binghamton University

Era Gjurgjeala

Ilir Dugolli

Staff

Leon Malazogu

Executive Director

Shpend Emini

Program Manager

Shpend joined D4D team in July 2012 after having worked almost two years with Project on Ethnic Relations – Kosovo, where he managed USAID funded project “Interethnic Dialogue and Reconciliation in Kosovo” and “Building Confidence Measures in Kosovo” project funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo. Prior to that, Shpend was working for International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Regional Representation in Hungary as Regional Program Coordinator covering Central Europe and Southern Caucasus, and has managed various programs in IFRC Kosovo office from 1999 to 2007. He has also worked on short missions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Turkey. Shpend finished his Bachelor in Political Science and Public Administration and has attended various trainings in community development, organizational development, youth development, program management, conflict resolution, etc. Shpend speaks fluently English, Turkish and Serbian. email: shpend.emini@d4d-ks.org

Visar Sutaj

Project Manager

Visar has started working for D4D in March 2012 after having worked as a Project Management Consultant in the Constitutional Justice Initiative (CJI) project for East West Management Institute (EWMI). Previously, he has worked for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for almost 2 years covering both 2009 and 2010 elections in Kosovo. Visar has finished his Bachelor degree on Economics, Legal Studies, International Relations and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also holds a Master’s on Service Management from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). email: visar.sutaj@d4d-ks.org

Selatin Kllokoqi

Project Manager/Researcher

E-mail: selatin.kllokoqi@d4d-ks.org

Drilon Gashi

Senior Researcher/Analyst

Drilon Gashi is a Senior Researcher/Analyst at Democracy for Development since September of 2012. He holds an MA in international affairs and is a former external government consultant. He is a recent graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, where he received a Master of International Affairs and concentrated his studies on Economic and Political Development. During the second year of his graduate studies, Drilon was a teaching assistant at SIPA, for the Quantitative Analysis for International and Public Affairs course. During this same year, Drilon worked as a consultant on a project regarding the political participation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia, with Women’s Political Resource Center in Tbilisi, Georgia. He was an external communications consultant to the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo from 2008 to 2010. Drilon holds a BA in economics and a BA in international business from Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he graduated with summa cum laude honors in 2008. Drilon has lived in the United States since his early childhood, from the age of five. He is a board member of the New York–based Albanian-American Entrepreneurial Network. Email: drilon.gashi@d4d-ks.org

Fjolla Veseli

Finance Officer - Office Manager

Joined D4D in July, 2011, as a Finance Officer and Office Manager. Currently she is involved in all of D4D’s projects. Previously Fjolla was the Finance Officer at Smart-Tech, a software company. She has also contributed on the process of fiscal cash equipping in Kosovo, working as a Sales Director on the first licensed company for fiscal equipment sales, GEKOS. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Banking and Finance at Iliria University, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Management and Computing. She has a broad range of professional experience in finance, accounting, and management. email: fjolla.veseli@d4d-ks.org

Rezarta Delibashzade

Project Coordinator

Rezarta joined the D4D team in April 2011, in the beginning as an intern then as research assistant. Currently she is responsible for organizing the Tuesday Salons, a weekly discussion initiative on various public issues. Previously, she worked in One World Youth Project (OWYP), an educational program for youth that connects schools globally. She has also worked at the Assembly of Kosovo in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Rezarta graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Management and Informatics, and is now in a Master’s program in Marketing at University of Prishtina.

email: rezarta.d@d4d-ks.org

Arlinda Rama

Research Assistant

Arlinda Rama joined D4D team in September 2011, first as an intern on elections project, and later as an assistant on the same project. She finished her studies in Marketing at University of Pristina. email: arlinda.rama@d4d-ks.org

Ideal Hoxha

Research Assistant

Ideal Hoxha joined D4D in November 2011, initially as an intern for a three month period, and since November 2012 in the position of Research Assistant. Ideal has finished his Bachelor degree on Political Science at the South East European University in Macedonia. He has participated in numerous trainings and summer schools of various universities in Europe. Since December 2012, Ideal joined “Bringing Europeans Together Association” within European Voluntary Service. Ideal speaks fluently English and has basic knowledge of Russian.

email: ideal.hoxha@d4d-ks.org

Elena Krasniqi

Research Assistant

Elena Krasniqi joined D4D in July 2012, initially for the internship program and continued as research assistant for the indicators project since November 2012. Elena is responsible for collecting data for a number of indicators in the field of governance, economy, rule of law and social development aiming to create a general overview of Kosovo’s statistical data. Elena finished her undergraduate studies at the American University in Kosovo. She received her degree from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences with a double major in Management and Economics and a minor in International Relations in May 2012.

email: elena.krasniqi@d4d-ks.org

Bardhyl Mehmetaj

Rasim Alia

Project Assistant

Jeta Bahtijari

Intern