Adrian Zeqiri - Head of Office
Before taking over management of the ECMI Kosovo office in 2002, Mr. Zeqiri was directly involved with local governance and democratisation for six years while working with the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. As Democratisation Officer and Local Government Support Specialist, he was responsible for developing and implementing projects in support of the local government of the Gjilan/Gnjilane region. Through this position, Mr. Zeqiri has gained substantial knowledge of local and central government structures and experience reviewing draft legislation and policies related to democratisation. Moreover, he developed a strong network of contacts with members of the government, civil society and international organisations, all of which continue to benefit ECMI Kosovo’s work today. While with the OSCE, Mr. Zeqiri completed a Professional Academic Training Programme on political theories, conflict resolution and project management skills. Prior to his professional experience, he also studied English language and literature at the University of Prishtina and he is fluent in English, Albanian and Serbian.

Under Mr. Zeqiri’s leadership, ECMI Kosovo has played a key role in the development and inclusion of minority rights throughout Kosovo’s status negotiations. Through his contacts among civil society and at the highest levels of Kosovo’s government, he was able to conduct many informal discussions on Kosovo’s status, generating a positive environment for the inclusion of Kosovo’s minority communities in the negotiation process. This enabled Mr. Zeqiri and ECMI Kosovo to draft key legislation on minority rights for post-status Kosovo, including the ‘Rights of Communities and their Members’ section of the constitution and the Law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Communities and their Members in Kosovo. With independence now established, ECMI Kosovo is supporting both the institutionalisation of minority policies within the government, as well as the restructuring of local governance through decentralisation, drawing heavily from Mr. Zeqiri’s experience with the OSCE and with ECMI Kosovo over the past six years. Through these past and current projects, Mr. Zeqiri has developed a strong reputation for ECMI Kosovo’s expertise, dedication and effectiveness. This empowers ECMI Kosovo to continue pursuing projects that will have maximum benefits for communities and interethnic relations in post-independence Kosovo.

He holds a MBA degree from the University of Sheffield, while with the OSCE, Mr. Zeqiri completed a Professional Academic Training Programme on political theories, conflict resolution and project management skills. He graduated in Philology, Department of the English language and literature at the University of Prishtina, and he is fluent in English, Albanian and Serbian

Lars Burema - Project Manager
Mr. Burema began working with ECMI Kosovo in September 2008. He has been responsible for the development of the Ethnopolitical Map of Kosovo and is currently engaged in the Decentralisation Project. Mr. Burema has a longstanding interest in post-conflict development, which he has explored through work and study. Previously, Mr. Burema has completed an internship at the Conflict Management programme of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, during which he co-authored the study “Eyes Wide Shut? The Impact of Embedded Journalism on Dutch Newspaper Coverage of Afghanistan”. He has a Master’s Degree in ‘Conflict, Security and Development’ from King’s College London, for which he wrote a thesis on the post-conflict elections in Afghanistan and completed courses on ‘Diplomacy and Security’ and ‘Nationalism and Security’. Moreover, Mr. Burema has a BA in International Politics from University College Utrecht, for which he also completed an exchange semester at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Andrea Najvirtova – Project Manager
Ms. Najvirtova began working with ECMI Kosovo in October 2010. Her focus is on minority education, and she is currently engaged in projects on promoting inclusion of children from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the education system, as well as on strengthening the capacities of municipal officials to deliver education for these communities. Additionally, Ms. Najvirtova is responsible for overseeing the provision of language courses in the two Kosovo official languages to municipal officials. Before joining ECMI Kosovo, Ms. Najvirtova worked in Belgrade as programme coordinator for the Western Balkans for the Swiss programme SYNI-21 and as project assistant for a business consultancy in Vienna. Ms. Najvirtova has a longstanding interest in diversity, which she has pursued through her Master's thesis on Diversity in NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia as well as through participation in various training on minority rights. She holds Master's Degrees in International Development and International Business Administration from Universities in Vienna, with exchange semesters in France and Serbia. She is fluent in five languages including Serbian, to which she would like to add Albanian.

Artan Çollaku – Project Manager
Mr. Çollaku has been working as an external research associate with ECMI since 2009, and in September 2011 he took a full time position as a Project Manager. He is currently responsible for managing the extended project on decentralisation (Support to Minority Communities during and after the Decentralisation Process), focusing on supporting local economic development in newly-established municipalities. He has over four years of experience on development and implementation of public policy in Kosovo, mainly focusing on the European integration process, including with Kosovo's Office of the Prime Minister, Kosovo's Ministry of European Integration and the National Democratic Institute. He has also attended various training on diplomacy, EU affairs, transitional justice, human rights, peaceful conflict resolution, negotiations, intercultural communication, and project development and management. His interests include EU integration, public policy implementation and monitoring, institutional development, political development, state-building and so on. Between 2009 and 2011, he has undertaken academic research on EU foreign policy, within the framework of the Diplomatic System of the European Union (DSEU) participated in the multilateral research network of three universities (Loughborough University, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Universiteit Maastricht). He has co-authored the book "European Foreign Policy: Legal and Political Perspectives" (Edward Elgar Cheltenham, UK) and the policy paper "The EU and Kosovo: Structural Diplomacy in Action - but on the basis of one-sided paradigms?". Mr. Çollaku holds a Master's Degree in European Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, for which he wrote a thesis on multi-level governance in the EU and South-eastern Europe, and a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Prishtina.

Burim Gagica – Financial Officer
Mr. Gagica has been working with ECMI Kosovo since July 2006. He is responsible for all ECMI Kosovo operational and project financial matters. Prior to joining ECMI Kosovo, Mr. Gagica worked as Business Services Manager for AAFES, providing financial oversight for a range of businesses located within Camp Bondsteel. Mr. Gagica has also worked as a translator between Albanian and English languages for TRW.

Gazmen Salijević - Project Officer
Mr Salijević began working for ECMI Kosovo in the beginning of November 2008, providing support to all current projects, especially regarding the Ethno-Political Map of Kosovo and Support for the Decentralisation Process. Mr. Salijević has previously worked as a researcher for the European Roma Rights Center Budapest-Pristina, the Kosovo Enterprise Program, the OSCE, KFOR and the Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Forum.

Etleva Sefaj – Technical Advisor
Ms. Sefaj has been working at ECMI Kosovo since October 2011. She is responsible for providing support to the project entitled "Improving the Delivery of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities Education in the Municipality of Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje" and will support officials in the municipality of Fushë Kosova to implement the municipal action plan on these communities integration with a focus on the education component as part of the Strategy for the Integration of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities in Kosovo 2009-2015. Before joining ECMI Kosovo, Ms. Sefaj has been engaged in various projects regarding integration of minority communities in Kosovo society and their inclusion in education, with a particular focus on the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities. She is fluent in English, Serbian, and Macedonian.

Taner Boynik – Project Officer
Mr. Boynik joined ECMI Kosovo as Project Officer in October 2011 and is currently working on the project "Improving the delivery of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian education in the Municipality of Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje" as well as the "Institutional support to Kosovo Communities Consultative Council" project. Before joining ECMI, Mr. Boynik has been engaged with international organizations in Kosovo such as UN Mission in Kosovo, UNDP, International Civilian Office and his main focus was on issues pertaining to minority communities in Kosovo, namely, to improve their access to services and facilitate institutional approach towards respecting minority rights. Currently, Mr. Boynik is pursuing his studies in Political Sciences at the University of Prishtinë. His diverse experience corresponds to the fields of interest of ECMI Kosovo and represent added value in assisting minority communities to improve their situation through different projects. In addition to his knowledge of English, he is fluent in Turkish, Albanian and Serbian languages.

Jeta Bakija – Project Officer
Ms. Bakija began work at ECMI Kosovo in November 2010. She was working on the policy and legislation database during the month of November and continued working on the project "Support to persons from vulnerable and marginalized groups in Kosovo (VMGs) including women, disabled persons, minority communities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and repatriated persons, and enhancing the positive impact of the law for those groups." From June 2011, Ms. Bakija is working on the implementation of the project "Institutional support for the Consultative Council for Communities". She is also engaged on the implementation of the project "Building Sensitivity for Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian Communities in Schools". Ms.Bakija holds a MA in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Sheffield and a BA on Management from the American University in Kosovo.

Zihnie Gurmani – Project Assistant
Ms. Gurmani began work at ECMI Kosovo in October 2009. Her focus is on minority education, and since 2010 she has been engaged in projects on promoting the inclusion of children from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the education system, as well as on strengthening the capacities of municipal officials to deliver education for these communities. Additionally, Ms. Gurmani is assisting in implementation for overseeing the provision of language courses in the two Kosovo official languages for municipal officials. Before joining ECMI, Ms. Gurmani has worked with international organizations in Kosovo such as UN Mission in Kosovo. Her experience allows her to positively contribute to the work of ECMI Kosovo in assisting minority communities. She graduated from Teachers Training College in Prizren as an English Language teacher. In addition to her knowledge of English, she is fluent in Albanian, Turkish and the Serbian language.

Vullnet Abdyli - IT Technical/Web Designer
Mr. Abdyli began working with ECMI Kosovo in September 2008, providing IT support and designing the ECMI Kosovo website, ethnopolitical map and promotional materials. After obtaining a Diploma in New Media Production at South Seas Film and TV School in New Zealand in 2002, Mr. Abdyli started working for Edenz Colleges  as a New Media Designer. During the years he worked for Edenz, Mr. Abdyli was responsible for creating and maintaining the website for all departments, intranet development, database application, creating a CD-ROM (video shooting and editing), designing a Brochure and providing IT support to staff when needed. At the end of 2005, Mr. Abdyli had an opportunity to work for Datum Connect, a Website Company. His responsibilities at Datum were to create all customised designs for clients including changes to encoding of graphics and providing graphic support/advice for clients and Project Managers.