Another remarkable year has gone by since we officially opened the doors of our modern Headquarters in the brand-new complex named “Rezidenca Ivanaj”, built in the center of Tirana on the same ground that belonged to the Ivanaj brothers since the 1930s.
The Ivanaj Foundations of New York and Tirana have been in operation on both sides of the Atlantic since their inception in 1995-1996. This took place after Albania finally re-surfaced from the isolationism shaped by the communist dictatorship that, after the end of WWII, ruled the country for more than half a century. It took two decades after that to re-obtain possession and use of the original properties in this capital city and be able to share part of the above new building, where now we relentlessly continue our mission and realize our educational and cultural goals focused to benefit especially the Albanian younger generations.
Numerous and various are the types of activities and projects we deal with, which take place within the confines of our premises but also elsewhere, outside of Tirana and beyond the borders of Albania. Some of them are not easily achieved due to a variety of hurdles beyond our control that are grounded in old local practices, inadequate services, poor organizational skills and directives, and lack of training across businesses and systems.
These challenges make our planned undertakings even more meaningful! Thanks to our work methodology and experience gained after decades of successful accomplishments in the USA, we can overcome the difficulties and produce effective results. One more important point is our transparent way of operating and managing programs and projects of all sorts, this fresh and clear approach is having a positive effect among all our local connections, whether they are vendors, clients, collaborators, or friends.
Our organizations’ setup, originally started by the creator with the assistance of pro-bono help, found additional financial backing also thanks to private donations from friends and fellow nationals in the diaspora, who believed in our objectives and their contributions sporadically continued to trickle in throughout the past years. Now the business use of our physical premises is also allowing our operations to grow its service sector and hopefully expand our plans and programs in the fields of Albanian education and culture.
Onward we go, looking forward to positive and effective results in these fields to provide progressing guidance and training to Albania’s youth so that it can forge its own expectation for a better future within its own country!
Contributions toward our efforts are welcome at any time and are just a click away.
