EMILJANO KAZIAJ: THIS HAS BEEN THE REAL VALUE OF MY EXPERIENCE WITH LEAD

By Rudina Hoxha

Emiljano Kaziaj, a Fellow of LEAD Albania Program 2016-2017, is currently the Program Manager for International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in Albania, an international organization that focuses on working with youth and adults in the fields of media, leadership, and community engagement.

“LEAD Albania is a program that provides you with a holistic experience on leadership. It offers you the opportunity to exercise your skills in a real leadership environment and it provides you with continuous mentorship and capacity building in leadership which are crucial to success,” Kaziaj says in this exclusive interview. Therefore, it was for him “a learning experience and a career milestone.”

He comes to TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE to share with its readers how LEAD Albania Program impacted his own career.

Full interview below:

Emiljano, thank you for having some time for this interview! You were a 2016-2017 LEAD Fellow. During this time, you acted as Advisor to the Minister of Social Welfare and Youth. What has this experience meant to you? What do you think made you a competitive candidate?

Being a LEAD fellow and having the opportunity to serve for one year as the advisor to the minister has been one of the most enriching experiences I have ever had in my professional career. The ‘platform’ that LEAD Program provides to all young professionals to serve in the highest ranks of the public administration institutions, is unique in the sense that it offers you the opportunity to be exposed to and become part of important decision-making processes that directly impact the lives of citizens.

I think my previous experiences on working with human rights (with a focus on child rights) and my doctoral studies in this field made me a competitive candidate as I was ready to apply both my experience and knowledge gained through my doctoral studies to the improvement

What would you highlight about this experience? What was the main advantage of this experience for you and your career?

LEAD Albania is a program that provides you with a holistic experience on leadership. It offers you the opportunity to exercise your skills in a real leadership environment and it provides you with continuous mentorship and capacity building in leadership which are crucial to success. As such it could be seen as a learning experience and a career milestone.

The main advantage for me by participating in LEAD Albania has been the increase in understanding on how political processes and decision-making happens in central public institutions, getting involved in those processes, understanding leadership better and your role in exercising leadership and enriching your professional network.

What do you do now and how are you applying what you gained during the LEAD Program in your daily work?

Currently I am the Program Manager for International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in Albania. IREX is an international organization that focuses on working with youth and adults in the fields of media, leadership, and community engagement. As such, the experience I had as a LEAD fellow and skills I gained through that program has helped me in better managing my team, successfully implementing two projects on media literacy, and making use of the professional contacts with public institutions and other partners in increasing impact of the work we do.

Were there specific people that were an influence during this Program? Can you share any episodes?

There were great people I met through the program both in the host institution and my LEAD class of 2016-2017. With some of them I am still in close touch for professional reasons and collaborations and with some others we have found great friendships that I’m sure will be long lasting. It is difficult to highlight specific episodes during the program in terms of influences.

LEAD is composed in such a way that the routines of the program itself- the daily work you do in the host institution, the communication with the minister and the cabinet, the capacity building sessions you receive from leadership experts, the socializing with the lead fellows etc.influence and transform you in meaningful ways which I believe has been the real value of my experience with LEAD.

What advice do you have to future LEAD Albania Program applicants?

LEAD program is like a journey of selfreflection and professional development. It helps you understand your leadership role better, your strengths and weaknesses and helps you with the necessary tools and contacts to put all that into practice. For all those young professionals who think that they have accumulated a leadership potential and professional expertise and are looking for an opportunity to try all those, then LEAD Albania program is the right place to do so.