fbpx
April 6, 2020

GERMIN announces New Board

By Germin-23211 Views-No Comment

Mark Kosmo  (chairman) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
Mark belongs to the third generation Albanians in the U.S.A. where he has worked for the majority of his life. Mark holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and did his undergraduate degree in Economics and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. During his professional career, Mr. Kosmo has worked for more than 10 years at the World Bank in Washington D.C., as an environmental and energy economist during which time he also lived and worked extensively in Albania from 1992-1999. Mr. Kosmo has been active in the Albanian Diaspora for nearly three decades and currently serves as the Chair and Founder of the Global Albanians Foundation (GAF) and Chair of Germin both of which he has chaired since the end of 2018.  He is also the Chair and Founder of the Massachusetts Albanian American Society “Besa” (MAASBESA) which was founded in 2006 in Boston.

Avni Mustafaj (member), U.S.A. Mr. Mustafaj was born and raised in New York, U.S.A and has had a lifelong dedication to the national cause of Albanians. 

The organisation where Mr. Mustafaj has given his contribution through different capacities and as a chairman as well, is “National Albanian American Council – NAAC” (Këshilli Kombëtar Shqiptaro-Amerikan). NAAC has been one of the most vocal and influential organisations before and during the war in Kosovo. Mr. Mustafaj has led both the American delegation of the congressmen and Board members at the Summit of Rambouillet, France in 1999. Amongst other activities he has also met the former President of the United States of America, Mr. Bill Clinton at the White House in order to strategize on sensitizing the US public on Kosova.

Hilmi Gashi (member) Switzerland. During the 90s political and economic crisis in Kosova, Mr. Gashi stopped his studies in the University of Prishtina, in the Faculty of Economics and migrated to Switzerland.  In 1992 he restarted his studies in the University of Freiburg, within the Economic Faculty, where he also completed h

is Master studies to become an “Manager of the non-profit organisations”. His professional career in Switzerland is a typical one of a migrant. In the beginning he worked as a painter, and later he worked as a translator and official in a local radio. After he left radio RaBe, he started working for the Swiss Red Cross as a coord

inator within the informing and job center for the refugees coming from Kosovo. From 2005, Mr. Gashi has been a part of the UNIA syndicate. Beside his professional achievements, Mr. Gashi is an active volunteer for Albanian Diaspora. Amongst others, he is part of the leading platform albinfo.ch, as a leader of the Integration Commision for the city of Bern and co-director of the ‘Solidarité sans frontiers’ Association which is an advocate for the migrants rights.

Gaspër Sopi (member) Gaspër is an awarded interdisciplinary designer working at the intersection of branding, design and interactive technology. He is the founder of Hyperactive, a boutique agency based in Zagreb, Croatia, that specializes in the design and development of web & mobile solutions. 

He currently serves as Chairman of the Board and is in charge of the overall business development and strategy. With more than 15 years of professional experience Gasper has successfully executed, directed and coordinated projects for a variety of global brands such as T-mobile, Ericsson, Oracle, UNHCR, as well as helped launch cutting edge startups and technologies ranging from fintech & mobile health solutions to mobile workforce, retail and creative industries. He holds a Masters degree in Cognitive systems and Interactive media from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and is a published author in research publications. Lately he has been traveling the globe, studying meditation and eastern philosophies all the while doing his part in building bridges between various cultures, one person at a time.

Anila Hyka Smørgrav (member)
She brings the international experience of over 25 years in different social and economic environments. She specializes in the telecom sector and IT, project management and contract negotiation, transaction management, digital transformation strategies of enterprises including the development of new products.
Anila has worked intensively for both the private and public sectors in Albania, Norway, the USA, France, and Switzerland. She currently holds the post of Engagement Director relating to complex projects at Orange Business Services (part of Orange Group) that manage over 170 French and international corporations with revenues of over 2 billion euros. Apart from the activities related to the professional aspect, Anila has been committed, for several years, to non-profit activities promoting education, culture, and integration of the Albanian diaspora as Coach/support being part of the initiative of Orange “Super Coders” – promoting programming in elementary schools with kids from 9-12 years old. She has given her contribution as a volunteer in the projects of Orange Foundation, in collaboration with associations in order to promote “Professional Life of engineering women” in high schools or by helping students in the marginalized areas.
Awarded by Albanian government “Nation’s Ambassador” and in April 2019 she has been chosen member of the Coordinating Council of the Diaspora. Since 2018 she has been President of the French-Albanian association “Albania”, whose main office is in Paris.

Anita Gjidoda (member)
Anita is an experienced e-commerce professional with a demonstrated history of working in the internet industry with more than 7 years of sales experience. Her experience and skills have been crafted in the e-commerce and hospitality industry, at Booking.com and TravelBird, and most recently at an on-line digital learning company called Lobster Ink, placed in the Netherlands. Mrs. Gjidoda was also one of the people who have opened up and (trans)formed the entire Albanian online accommodation market and this has given her so many learning opportunities in being a pioneer in the online industry.

Gazmend Salihi (member), Copenhagen Denmark Gazmend is the business owner of EXACTsearch, a headhunting company b

ased in Copenhagen and specialized in highly skilled engineering profiles for the Danish workforce. Gazmend has 10 years’ experience in the field of sales, marketing, business development and 12 years experience product development, design of manufacturing. Bachelor’s in marketing management from Copenhagen Business School in 2016Academy Profession Degree in Product development from KEA – Copenhagen School of Design and Technology in 2010. Military service at Corporal in The Danish Royal Life Guards in 2003. Honorary awarded