Board Members
and biography...

DR. HENRY SMITH


Henry has worked on conflict and peace building issues for over 20 years. 

He is currently a Director of conflict, security and governance consultancy First Call Partners having recently left the UK civil service where he worked for the Stabilisation Unit and DFID.  Prior to this Henry spent 10 years at Saferworld, including five as Executive Director. 

Henry has experience of working across the Western Balkans on post-conflict peacebuilding issues. 

He has also in-depth experience of working in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.  Henry’s doctoral thesis examined the relationships between peacebuilding and the control of small arms and light weapons, and included detailed research in the Western Balkans. 


EJIRIS SHOSHI


Ms. Ejiris Shoshi is Chief Operating Officer of OTTOnomy Foundation, a Tirana based organization engaged in restoring historical monuments in Albania and Western Balkans region and recreating them as self-supporting Centers for Art, Culture, and Education, and as destination sites for cultural heritage for tourism. In this role, Ejiris is responsible for driving all activities engaged in providing a model of sustainable economic development on urban transformation interfacing regional heritage.  

Prior to joining OTTOnomy, Ejiris’s N.G.O. efforts and expertise expands over 15 years where she has worked for several USAID funded projects such as; IFDC – International Fertilizer Development Center, AAATA-Assistance to Albanian Agricultural Trade Associations, SBCA Project/Chemonics International, Food For Progress/USDA project, ABMC – Association and Business Management Center, and AFADA- Albanian Fertilizer Ag-inputs Dealers Association. These organizations were engaged in developing a healthy and sustainable agribusiness sector in Albania. Ejiris has supported the business members and their respective Associations with product development, technological innovations, expanding into new markets, exporting abroad, marketing plans and activities, as well as facilitated training and education on policy making and advocacy based on A.C.E – Advocacy, Communication, and Education agenda.

Presently, Ejiris continues to support and advise ABMC and AFADA association, as well as their respective business members. In addition, Ejiris advises the management team “Albanian Paradise”, a travel and tourism company focused on promoting Albanian tourism, nature and historical heritage. During the years she has collaborated also with different EU projects operating in Albania, such as GIZ, SIDA, SNV, Swiss Cultural Foundation, etc. Ejiris is also Board Member and Marketing Director of the newly registered center, the “Local Committee Organizers of Tirana Marathon”, whose mission is to use sports to raise awareness for high-purpose causes and solicit public participation in those causes. 

Alongside her passion for charitable work, Ejiris nurtures her other three passions: music, arts and driving. Ejiris is a graduate of Tirana High School of Arts, as cello player and since 2005 have given her contribution at Friends of Music Association. In 2015, Ejiris joined the team of Rally Albania and from 2016 is part of Illyria Raid, the first off-road raid that crosses 5 countries in a non-competitive race.

Ejiris earned a BA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Elbasan, Faculty of Economics.


HARIS PAŠOVIĆ


Pašović is one of the leading theatre directors in South East Europe for the last three decades. His show of Frank Wedekind’s “Spring’s Awakening” at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade became a theatrical landmark in the erstwhile Yugoslavia.

His “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett was the last Yugoslavian premiere played on the eve of the beginning of dissolution of Yugoslavia.

During the Siege of Sarajevo, Pašović was a director of the International Theatre and Film Festival MES Sarajevo; and he directed the plays (Euripides’s “Alcestis; Paul Auster’s “In the Country of Last Things”; Noh plays “Silk Drums”) and produced “Waiting for Godot” a legendary show directed by Susan Sontag.

After the war, he directed a number of shows presented at the Edinburgh International Festival; Avignon Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, National Arts Festival of South Africa, UK City of Culture, Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, and many others.

His artwork “Sarajevo Red Line” for the 20th anniversary of the Siege of Sarajevo was the world’s breaking news. Pašović is a director of East West Centre Sarajevo. He also teaches at the universities in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Novi Sad (Serbia) and Bled (Slovenia). He also writes plays and essays and speaks at the conferences and events. Pasovic is multiple awarded for his shows.


MARIJANA TOMA


Marijana Toma, historian from Belgrade, Serbia, is an expert for transitional justice and dealing with the past. Between 2012 and 2016 she was the Deputy Executive Director of the Humanitarian Law Center. She joined the HLC in 2003, where she worked on documenting war crimes, oral history, forced disappearances and transitional justice.

During the past 16 years, she has been involved in numerous transitional justice projects in the region and internationally. She was the Coordinator of the task force group for drafting the mandate for RECOM. Before that, she was working as Serbia Programme Coordinator in Impunity Watch on promotion of accountability for atrocities in countries emerging from a violent past, and for the International Organisation for Migration Mission in Serbia on the legal migration. 

She also worked in the International Centre for Transitional Justice in Cape Town, South Africa, during her master studies on transitional justice. Marijana holds a B.A in History from Belgrade University and MPhil in Political science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is an alumna at the ICTJ and Institute for Justice and Reconciliation Transitional Justice Fellowship Programme 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa and Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Fellowship 2016 at Columbia University in New York. Marijana writes and lectures on transitional justice in numerous regional and international informal and formal educational programmes.


MARIKA THEROS
Board Member


Marika is a senior fellow at the Institute for State Effectiveness where she advises on their strategic dialogue on the ‘State of the State.’  She is also the director of the Afghanistan Engagement Project sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Over the last 15 years, she has designed a number of research and dialogue processes on key issues related to security, justice and state-building in Afghanistan, the Gulf, Lebanon, Europe and the Balkans.

She previously served as Global Security research officer at the London School of Economics where she ran their Afghanistan program and a senior consultant for a large construction project owner in the Persian Gulf to prepare strategy on labor migration and reform.

She publishes widely on security, justice and state-building issues, provides input into strategic reviews including in the Expert Group Meeting on Public Institutions at the UN (2017) and in the EU strategic review of their external policy in 2016. 

She is completing her doctorate in International Development at the London School of Economics, and holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the Colombia University.  She is currently a board member of the Humanitarian Law Center Serbia and the Balkan Forum.


RADE RAJKOVCEVSKI


Rade Rajkovcevski, (M), is Assistant Professor in the Department of Police Sciences & Department of Security Sciences and Private Security at the Faculty of Security in Skopje, University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola.

Prior to his academic career which began in 2006, his work experience was related to working in the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (2002-2003) and he also has experience in the field of civil protection and security in Northern France (2004-2005).

He defended the Master’s thesis on national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and his doctoral dissertation is related to European police cooperation (2013). He is a researcher and expert in the EU-funded (FP7, ECHO and Europe for Citizens) and several national projects.

He is author of two books and more than 30 articles. His main areas of research include: policing, security policy, crisis management, civil protection, and international security cooperation.