Valbona Karakaçi
Valbona Karakaçi is a Regional Advisor for the Western Balkans at Helvetas and Strategic Advisor of Bashki të Forta (BtF), a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). She has been a key managerial and go-to person for over 20 years in various international development interventions, mainly with Swiss Cooperation, aimed at decentralization and democratic local governance in Albania. She has vast experience and a demonstrated track record of excellence in strategic analysis and steering, stakeholder and partnership management, evidence-based policy dialogue, knowledge management, capacity and organizational development, process facilitation, and project cycle management. She holds the academic title of Doctors of Philosophy, and apart from her international development duties, she is also a lecturer and researcher for the University of Shkodra and the European University of Tirana in the field of cultural studies.