Venera Bekteshi, PH.D.
With several master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in her professional pocket, the impressive Albanian native leaves her stamp of success, as a professor at a prestigious institution. Venera Bekteshi was just 16 years old when she immigrated, on her own, to Oklahoma from Mitrovica, Kosova—but it didn’t take her long to integrate into...
Entela Barçi
The gifted violist enchants audiences around the globe with her mellifluous music. Violist Entela Barçi, a native of Tirana, Albania, learned a lot about music from her maternal grandparents. Her grandmother was a musician and used to take her to many concerts during her childhood, and her grandfather,...
Kujtim Balidemaj M.D.
The embodiment of a great doctor: knowledgeable, caring, and committed to the welfare of his patients. Dr. Kujtim Balidemaj is sensitive to the health care challenges his immigrant patients in New York face. He was practicing culture competency before it became a recognized and necessary skill in a...
Lumi Hadri-Devine
Self-made businesswoman honors her father’s legacy while making her mark among New York society. Lumi Hadri-Devine is the daughter of one of Kosova’s most prominent intellectuals and dissidents: the late Academic Ali Hadri, whom she reveres. He dedicated his life to his people’s freedom and now he...