Shqipe Neziri Vela has over 16 years of professional experience in parliamentary governance, democratization, rule of law, anti-corruption, energy and environment policies at central and municipal level. Her prior work experience includes various positions in the public and private sectors, and development agencies in Kosovo, Hungary and the United States, including UNDP, the World Bank, UNICEF, U.S. Congress, and USAID.
From 2013 - 2017, Ms. Vela has been leading the anti-corruption program of UNDP in Kosovo, applying a holistic approach to anti-corruption. She has led the first Corruption Risk Assessments in Kosovo in health, education, energy, and extractive industries. Moreover, in joint cooperation with Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, Ms. Vela has initiated the establishment of the GOPAC Chapter in Kosovo.
Ms. Vela has served as a Member of the Advisory Group of the Transparency International Chapter in Kosovo for the National Integrity System Assessment (2015). Furthermore, she has led the process of Kosovo’s membership to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (2012) and provided continuously supplemental data to the Control of Corruption Indicator.
Ms. Vela has led various initiatives in using technology to address business problems through hackathons/competitions. Furthermore, she has initiated the first Communities of Practice bringing together anti-corruption practitioners from the offices of the UNDP in Europe and Asia. Ms. Vela is currently teaching Energy Policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology, covering corruption in energy and extractive industries.
Ms. Vela graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2007 with a BA in Management and Entrepreneurship. She pursued her MA studies at the University of York (United Kingdom), Department of Political Sciences, whereby her research focused on the impact of Europeanization in the public administration in Kosovo. In addition, Ms. Vela completed her second MA degree at the Central European University (Hungary), School of Public Policy, exploring the path to reform energy policies in the Western Balkans.
