July 17 and 18, 2015
A group of Americans featured in the Albanian American Success Stories project visited Montenegro on July 17 and 18 to participate in networking events in Podgorica, Tuzi and Ulcinj.
The Albanian American Success Stories is a multimedia project that aims at showcasing the successes of Albanian Americans and the contributions they have made in business, politics, science, education, arts and more in the United States. Success stories include individuals such as Dr. Ferid Murad, Noble Prize Winner in Medicine; Mark Gjonaj, Elected Assemblyman in the State of New York; Eliza Dushku, famed Hollywood actress; Emina Cunmulaj (from Montenegro), Supermodel and many more.
Significant number of Americans showcased in the book come from the ranks of Albanians from Montenegro. Their visit to Montenegro was to share their experiences, build bridges and network but also to contribute and help communities they come from. The team members from Montenegro, Nick Markola and Etrita Ibroci, donated financial aid to the Center for Children with Disabilities “Sirena” in Ulcinj to cover meals for children for the two ensuing school years. Also, more than 100 books in English were provided to the city library in Ulcinj and stipend for high school students excelling in presentation skills and reading will be established during this year.
The team of professionals featured in the project who visited Montenegro included: Nick Markola, from Ulcinj, the Managing Director of Fieldpoint Private Bank; Etrita Ibroci, the managing Director to a leading top brokerage firm; Gazmend Gjonbalaj, family roots from Gusinje, Director of Product Application for Bloomberg Law; Venera Bekteshi PhD, from Kosovo, professor of Social Work at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Adrian Shatku, from Albania, the Founder and CEO of Unifi Communications; Mimoza Bytyqi, from Kosovo, co-founder of two start-ups, Solaborate, the first social and collaboration platform in the technology industry and Core ALM a technology-consulting firm; Dr. Shpresa Xhakli, from Kosovo, Executive Director of United for Autism Ptroject; Vera Mjeku, from Albania, Executive Director of Albanian American Success Stories; Ismer Mjeku, from Kosovo, founder of Albanian Yellow Pages in the U.S. and the U.S. Embassy Podgorica Deputy Chief of Mission B. Bix Aliu.