Albanian Professional Women (APW)

Albanian Professional Women (APW) is a networking organization for Albanian women working across professional fields in Michigan. It was founded in 2020 by Betira Shahollari, who started the group in response to what she described as a need to expand and encourage Albanian women's roles in professional industries.

Based in the Troy and greater Oakland County area, APW connects members working in business, healthcare, engineering, law, education, and entrepreneurship. The organization frames its purpose as building a supportive culture among Albanian professional women and creating room for personal and career growth within a shared cultural context.

Day to day, APW's activities center on mentoring, networking, and educational events. The stated goal is a wide network of support and unity — a place where Albanian women already established in their fields and those earlier in their careers can meet, exchange advice, and build professional relationships that might not form as readily elsewhere.

Within the Albanian-American landscape in Michigan, APW fills a specific niche. It is not a cultural club, chamber of commerce, or social-service group, but a women-focused professional network — one of the newer additions to the state's Albanian community infrastructure and distinct from similarly named professional groups active in New York and Washington, DC.