I am truly honored to have been part of what became an incredible day for our Albanian-American community.
I began working on the concept of the Albanian-American Student Summit early this year with a simple idea: how do we bring our students together with successful professionals from our community and create something that provides real, lasting value?
I did not want this to be simply another event where people gather, listen to speeches, take pictures and go home. I wanted students to leave with something they did not have when they arrived—a professional connection, a mentor, career guidance, an internship opportunity, access to a potential employer, or simply a better understanding of what is possible for their future.
Seeing nearly 200 students and more than 150 professionals sign up for a Sunday at Fordham University was incredibly rewarding. More importantly, it showed what our community is capable of when we come together around a common purpose.
But an event of this magnitude is never the work of one person. It takes people, organizations and businesses who believe in the mission and are willing to contribute their time, resources and experience.
It Took a Community
I first want to recognize the National Albanian Registry (NAR), an organization I founded with the goal of better connecting and strengthening the Albanian-American community across the United States.
NAR played an important role in making the Summit possible and was responsible for creating the dedicated web application and digital platform for the event. The platform allowed students and professionals to connect digitally, exchange information, learn about speakers and sponsors, and access professional and community resources.
For me, this represented exactly what NAR was created to do. Technology should not simply help us identify our community. It should help us connect our people and turn those connections into opportunities.
The Summit demonstrated what can happen when we activate that network and bring students, professionals, businesses, nonprofits and community organizations together under one roof.
None of this would have been possible without our hosts, the Fordham Albanian Student Association. Art Lecaj, Leona Gjevukaj and the entire Fordham ASA board did a tremendous job coordinating the event and helping connect Albanian student organizations from colleges and universities throughout the region.
I especially want to recognize Nancy Kajo, Secretary of AANO New York and President of the Albanian Student Organization at Seton Hall University, who was instrumental in helping execute the Summit from beginning to end.
Emma Marku, Media Coordinator of the Rutgers Albanian Club, also became an important member of our organizing committee and did an excellent job helping us bring students and student organizations together.
One of the things that made me proudest was seeing students themselves take ownership of this initiative. We were not simply creating something for the next generation. We were creating it with them.
Bringing Experience Into the Room
At the heart of the Summit were four professional panels covering Healthcare, Technology, Law & Civic Leadership, and Business & Finance.
The goal was not simply to put successful people on a stage. We wanted students to hear directly from professionals who had already traveled many of the paths they are considering today—the decisions they made, the challenges they encountered, the lessons they learned and the advice they wished someone had given them earlier in their careers.
Our Healthcare panel included Iliriana Sela, Senior Director of Specialty Programs at ARSA Health, Physician Assistant and healthcare executive; Dr. Bledi Zaku, Chief of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery at St. Joseph’s Health; Dr. Pashko Camaj, public health and occupational safety leader, educator and researcher; Dr. Fatjona Lubonja, researcher, educator and founder of NeuroEduSA; and Saranda Aliu, healthcare operations leader at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Our Technology panel brought together Donald Leka, Founder and CEO of The Jumptuit Group; Adrian Shatku, Founder and CEO of UNIFI Communications and UNIFI Capital Group; Jona Babi, Product Leader at Google; and Enri Zhulati, entrepreneur and builder of digital marketplaces, who was also instrumental in developing the technology behind the Summit platform.
Our Law & Civic Leadership panel featured Nick Gjelaj, Founder and Trial Attorney at Gjelaj Law PLLC and Executive Committee & Board Member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Linda Nikaj, attorney, adjunct professor and Founding President of the Albanian-American Women’s Bar Organization; Katrina Berishaj, Managing Counsel and Chair of ERISA & Employee Benefits at Stradley Ronon; and Vera Mjeku, Program Manager within the Legislative Division of the New York City Council.
We closed with our Business & Finance panel, featuring Richard Lukaj, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Bank Street Group, Honorary Consul of Albania; Eljona Shkreli, Head of Investor Relations at Stratus Financial; Dr. Sonila Beliu, Managing Director and Head of Model Risk Governance & Review for Chase at JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Stefan Kochi, entrepreneur, Paytronix co-founder and longtime CTO; and Claire Morrow, Principal at Deloitte Tax LLP and U.S. Market Leader for Global Employer Services.
I especially want to recognize Claire. She is not of Albanian heritage, but she believes strongly in developing young talent and immediately understood what we were trying to accomplish. Her participation was a reminder that strengthening our community does not mean limiting ourselves to our own community. It means preparing our young people with the relationships, knowledge and confidence to succeed anywhere.
I also want to recognize Samantha Sarelli, who did an outstanding job moderating all four panels. She brought professionalism, warmth and energy to each discussion and helped create meaningful conversations between our panelists and students.
To every panelist who gave up hours of their personal time on a Sunday to participate, mentor and engage with our students: thank you.
More Than Inspiration—Creating Real Opportunities
From the beginning, I felt strongly that inspiration alone was not enough.
If we were going to bring hundreds of students together, we needed to surround them with real resources, real people and real opportunities.
That is why corporate participation was so important.
We were proud to welcome Vialto Partners, a global leader in mobility and cross-border workforce solutions, and Deloitte, one of the world’s leading professional services organizations, as corporate sponsors. Students had the opportunity to meet representatives directly, learn about different career paths and receive information about internships and employment opportunities.
ISA Consulting Group, a global technology consulting and software development company, also joined us as a corporate sponsor.
At the same time, I felt strongly that our Albanian-owned small and mid-sized businesses needed to be represented alongside major corporations.
Our business sponsors included Adi Al Construction Inc., ACE Project Management, Gjelaj Law PLLC, Koleci Law Firm LLC, LogicalNet, The Dema Team – Real Estate Experts, Tenured Wealth Management of Raymond James, Ervin Lleshi, and NYC Zoning AI, among others.
Their participation helped financially support the Summit, but their value went far beyond sponsorship.
Not every student wants to follow a traditional corporate career path. Some will become entrepreneurs. Some will establish professional practices. Others will create companies and opportunities that do not exist today.
I wanted students to meet Albanian-Americans who had already taken that risk and built something themselves.
An Entire Community of Resources
The Summit was also about more than careers. We wanted students to see the network of educational, nonprofit, cultural, professional and community organizations that already exists around them.
The American Academy of Technology Tirana (AATT) participated as an education partner, creating another connection between educational and professional opportunities in the United States and Albania.
From the stage, Louis Foundos described what that partnership has become. The Academy is built on the Harry Fultz Institute in Tirana, the American vocational school founded there in 1921, and it now works with RIT Kosovo. Its second class began in September, with majors in information technology and electrical engineering. He set it against something our community talks about constantly, which is young people leaving Albania because the opportunity is somewhere else. A degree like this one is an argument for staying.
We were also proud to have organizations including the National Albanian Registry (NAR), American Balkan Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Albanian American Educators Association (AAEA), Albanian American Cultural Center – Struga, NYPD Illyrian Society, Albanian Aviators Worldwide, AlbLibris and NeuroEduSA.
Each represents a different part of our community—education, culture, business, public service, healthcare, literature, professional development and civic engagement.
Bringing these organizations together was intentional.
I want an Albanian-American student to walk into an event like this and realize that there is an entire community around them.
Someone may become their mentor. Someone may help them find an internship. Someone may introduce them to their first employer. Someone may guide them through graduate school or help them understand a profession. Someone may encourage them to start a business.
Sometimes one introduction or one conversation at the right moment can change the direction of a young person’s life.
That is the ecosystem I believe we need to continue building.
To the Professionals Who Showed Up for Our Students
I also want to give a very special thank you to the more than 150 professionals who signed up to spend their Sunday with our students.
Many were not panelists or sponsors and did not come because their names were on the program. They came because they wanted to help.
That was one of the most important parts of the entire Summit.
From the beginning, I did not want students simply sitting in an audience listening to successful professionals speak. I wanted students to be able to walk up to someone working in the career they hope to pursue, introduce themselves, ask questions, exchange information and begin building a relationship.
Throughout the day, I watched professionals from healthcare, law, technology, finance, business, real estate, education, public service, entrepreneurship and many other fields doing exactly that.
They answered questions. They shared advice and professional resources. They discussed internship and employment opportunities. They exchanged contact information. Some offered mentorship, while others offered introductions to colleagues or organizations that might be able to help.
Sometimes the most meaningful thing someone can say to a student is simply: “Reach out to me. I am willing to help.”
One conversation can provide direction. One introduction can lead to an internship. One internship can begin a career. And one mentor can give a young person the confidence to pursue something they never believed was possible.
To every professional who attended and made yourself available to our students: thank you.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, your network and, most importantly, your time.
You showed our students that there are successful people within their own community who genuinely want to see them succeed.
Our greatest resource as an Albanian-American community is not any single organization, company or event.
Our greatest resource is our people—and our willingness to help one another.
My hope now is that these relationships continue long after the Summit. I encourage every professional who connected with a student to answer that next email, take that phone call, make that introduction and continue being a resource.
And I encourage every student who received someone’s contact information to follow up. Those professionals gave it to you because they were willing to help.
That is how one day of networking becomes a lasting culture of mentorship.
A Stronger Tomorrow Together
One of the outcomes of the Summit that I am most excited about is the partnership we formalized between the American Balkan Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and AANO New York Chapter.
Together, we are launching the “A Stronger Tomorrow Together” Internship Program, an initiative designed to connect Albanian-American students and young professionals with internship opportunities across multiple industries in the United States and abroad.
This partnership represents exactly what I hoped would come from the Summit.
We cannot simply tell young people that we support them.
We have to create opportunities that prove it.
I want to thank Nevila Dudaj, Founder, CEO and hospitality entrepreneur with Adriatik Tours and Hotel Adriatik and a leader of the American Balkan Chamber of Commerce, for believing in this initiative and helping us turn a shared vision into something tangible.
I also want to recognize distinguished guests and longtime supporters of our community, including Louis Foundos, entrepreneur, investor and business leader with the American Academy of Technology Tirana and longtime honorary member of AANO, and Avni Mustafaj, international relations and public affairs executive.
Investing Directly in the Next Generation
I am particularly grateful to Richard Lukaj and Stefan Kochi. As we announced from the stage that afternoon, they each gave $5,000 to the AANO Next Generation Scholarship Fund, a combined $10,000.
Their generosity represents exactly what this initiative is about.
There comes a point when success should no longer be measured only by what we accomplish for ourselves.
It should also be measured by what we make possible for someone else.
Their contributions will directly support young Albanian-Americans as they continue their education, and I hope their example encourages other successful professionals and businesses in our community to find their own ways of investing in the next generation.
Twenty Years of Building Community
For nearly 20 years, I have dedicated much of my personal time and energy to building and strengthening the Albanian-American community.
During those years, I have watched our community grow tremendously.
Today we have Albanian-Americans who are physicians, attorneys, entrepreneurs, engineers, executives, educators, public servants, researchers, technology leaders and business owners.
We are more established, more educated, more professionally successful and more connected than perhaps any generation of Albanian-Americans before us.
And because of that success, I believe our responsibility has changed.
The generations before us faced a different struggle.
Many came to America focused on survival. They worked incredibly hard to establish themselves, provide for their families and create opportunities for their children while somehow preserving their language, traditions and Albanian identity.
We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifices.
Now it is our turn.
We Have to Invest in the Next Generation
I believe this is one of the most important responsibilities facing our community today.
We have to guide our young people. We have to connect them. We have to introduce them to people they otherwise may never meet. We have to put them in rooms they otherwise may never enter.
And we have to help them reach further than we did when we started.
If we do not find meaningful ways to engage the next generation, we risk losing their connection to our community. And if we lose that connection, over time we risk losing much more.
Our ancestors endured extraordinary adversity to preserve our language, traditions, culture and identity. That identity survived because generation after generation understood that it had a responsibility to pass it forward.
Today, preserving that identity cannot only mean celebrating our past.
We have to create a community that our children want to remain part of.
That means supporting their ambitions, connecting them professionally, mentoring them, celebrating their accomplishments and demonstrating that being part of the Albanian-American community can add real value to their lives.
Connected Success
This is why I believe so strongly in what I call connected success.
Success becomes much more meaningful when it creates an opportunity for someone else.
If you are a physician, mentor the student who dreams of becoming one. If you are an attorney, guide the young person considering law school. If you are a corporate executive, help someone understand how to enter your industry. If you own a business, offer an internship. If you are an entrepreneur, share the mistakes and lessons nobody taught you when you started.
If you have a network, make an introduction.
If you have knowledge, share it.
And when the students we help today become successful professionals tomorrow, I hope they remember that someone once opened a door for them and that they then have a responsibility to open another door for someone coming behind them.
That is how connected success becomes generational success.
The feedback I received following the Summit from students, professionals, sponsors, panelists and participating organizations was incredible. What meant the most to me was hearing from so many people who felt that they had been given an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way.
That tells me our community is ready for more.
The Albanian-American Student Summit was one day.
What we build from it is what truly matters.
The mentorships that continue. The internships that are created. The scholarships that help students continue their education. The jobs that are offered. The businesses that give a young person their first opportunity. The professional relationships that continue long after the event.
And eventually, the students who attended this Summit returning years from now as accomplished professionals themselves ready to mentor, guide and open doors for the generation coming behind them.
Through my work as President of AANO New York Chapter, Founder of the National Albanian Registry, and through other community initiatives, I will continue doing my part to connect people, create opportunities and find meaningful ways for us to move forward together.
Because preserving our Albanian identity is not only about remembering where we came from.
It is about making sure the next generation knows where they belong and helping them reach further than we ever could.
That, to me, is connected success.
And that is the future I believe we can build together.
Ervin Toro
President, Albanian American National Organization – New York Chapter
Founder, National Albanian Registry (NAR)
Watch the Summit
Both halves of the afternoon were streamed by Molla ENT, and every panel has its own starting point in the recording. The key takeaways from each conversation — what was covered, what students asked, and the advice that came back — are written up on the summit site.
Watch the recordings · Key takeaways · All photographs
Scenes from the Summit
Fordham University • Albanian-American Student Summit
Photos by Vasjana Minga, Eleni Mazija, Dritan Haxhia and Olsi Beci.