What comes next?
Mid May I travelled to Granada University, located in Spain for one week teaching mobility. Besides the great professional experience, you cannot leave Granada without strolling in the narrow streets and climbing up to the Alhambra. All the magnificent views which are engraved on my memory, are hard to recap with a few words. In Early June, I travelled to Viterbo, Italy for a one-week training at Tuscia University. Viterbo is a gem with a handsome medieval centre and in the 13th century it became the seat of the popes. Now, I am on my way to the Netherlands, for a one-week intensive training on how to write systematic literature review. I am sure it will be a very busy week.
It has been more than a year since I got back from Washington D.C. During this period of time I took several business trips to Europe. However, none of them gave me the special excitement the U.S. did. It was a Friday in September 2017 when I landed on American land, with the heart exploded from a blend of fear and excitement. Moreover, getting placed at the Project on Prosperity and Development (PPD), in the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a leading think-tank, made the whole experience more challenging. At the beginning, the PPD team introduced me to the philosophy of the organization, the ongoing projects and they helped me find a place within the big portfolio. The first month was so fast paced and so were the following ones.
In six months, I produced three research reports in collaboration with the senior researchers of the PPD and each report has a story behind. The first one is titled: What is the U.S. Trade and Development Agency? While White House proposed the agency eliminating entirely in the budget, we (CSIS) were trying to provide strong arguments why not to do that. I can clearly remember the productive discussions, agreements and disagreements with the Senior Fellow and Director while working on this research piece. This perfectly describes the power of an effective team and the quality of work produced.
The second research report is titled: The Dangers of Forgetting the Legacy of Communism- Communism as Antidevelopment. The working process of this research report perfectly illustrates the meaning of the word “challenging”. I spent endless hours reading the most prominent books on the topic, I spent days exploring the Library of Congress to find out useful information and I spent hours of discussion with the Senior Fellow who co-authored this research report to better shape the research. This experience showed to me the importance of a good mentor.
The final one is related to Albania and it is titled: Emerging from the Darkness: Albania’s Informal Economy. This last report came out as a result of my research experience on the topic since 2013 and with the contribution of PPD colleagues. It was impressive to see the interest of PPD colleagues to know more about this phenomenon in Albania. They tirelessly provided their contribution so to give this article a final shape. This article paved the way for my involvement in a big regional project which is elaborated in the following section.
All of these professional achievements, are a result of hard work, persistence and unlimited support from the PPD team. …but U.S. is not only working. In Washington D.C., museums and history are around every corner. From the museums of the Smithsonian Institution to the world-famous dome of the Capitol, there’s nothing quite like exploring the depths of America’s history while having chance to look at modern art and culture. This completes in its best way the experience in Washington D.C.
The above lines describe in a nutshell my exciting professional experience in the United States but what comes next, is not less exciting… In March, 2018 I got back to Albania and all continued to be as intensive as in the U.S. The following month, I was selected by the Regional Cooperation Council as a Country Expert for Albania to work on a regional project including all WB6. This project aimed at preparing a diagnostic report on informal economy and informal employment and providing policy solutions to tackle this phenomenon in Albania. Everything was successfully accomplished in December, 2019 and both reports were presented into a national conference which I moderated. High public officials, employers and employees’ representatives, members of the academia and, economic experts participated into the conference. It was very rewarding to see that the Ministry of Finance and Economy endorsed the reports and is currently working on tackling informal economy and informal employment. This project encouraged me to dive deeper on the determinants of informal economy in Albania. In collaboration with one of the most prominent experts on informal economy, a professor from Sheffield University, I wrote and published a paper in the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship.
Besides contributing to Albania through my research work, I have been teaching at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana, since 2013. This job (which is indeed a mission) inspires me and mostly students inspire me. Educating the young generation is the most powerful contribution someone can make to a country.
Everything described above has happened over the span of one year (after my return from Washington D.C). This remarkable experience started with an interview with the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) in May, 2017. The foundation trusted me and provided me with the chance to experience this unforgettable professional journey to America… Yes, it is a journey, not a destination. It is not easy to accomplish as much as I did in a short period of time, but at the end nothing worth having comes easy.
Now, I am heading to the Netherlands for another great experience. Time to try another learning experience. Till the next blog post and with more great news to come …!
Brunilda Kosta
