​Leadership Challenge Albania
​MEET INA GJIKONDI
Senior Consultant, Leadership Development & Executive Coaching
The George Washington University, Center for Excellence in Public Leadership
Ina is an organizational development professional, leadership coach and social entrepreneur. Ina’s true Ina’s true belief is that the world can be a better place by appreciating differences, leading integrated change, developing global partnerships, building sustainable education and empowering women.
Ina’s focus is on the power of partnership to create change with groups and organizations in the political system and with the teams that comprise those organizations.
She works in higher education at The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, as the Manager of Leadership Development & Coaching Programs and is also the Founder and CEO of Women Inspire Action. Prior to that Ina worked with various international and local nonprofits. She exhibited an earlier commitment to change in her teenage years, when she started her nonprofit engagement and advocacy in Tirana, Albania. She founded the UN Association of Albania and led many initiatives in support of an intergenerational society. Her core functions within the various organizations have been on brand and program development; strategic planning and partnerships; capacity and coalition building, issue advocacy and fundraising.
Ina holds a MA in Human Recourses Development and MPS in Political Management from the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management and a BA in Law from University of Tirana, Albania. She is fluent in Albanian, English and Italian and has working knowledge of French.
​MEET WENDY JAMES
Senior Consultant, Communications, Leadership & Marketing
The George Washington University, Center for Excellence in Public Leadership
Wendy is currently the Communications Manager and Training Facilitator for Beauchamp Consulting in West Chester, PA. She Works with the Principal of the firm one week per month to provide executive communications and Six Sigma process improvement training to DC Government leaders through George Washington University. Prior to her current job Wendy was a Marketing and Branding Specialist at the DuPont Company. She has more than 15 years of marketing and communications experience across 16 major business segments in DuPont where she helped launch many new products and developed marketing and brand expertise by supporting renowned brands such as Freon®, Corian® and Tyvek®.
Wendy is a creative and skilled problem solver capable of quickly completing projects for optimal business results. She excels at both developing marketing communications strategies to support business goals and executing actual online and off-line communications tools like websites and ad campaigns that support the strategies. She accomplishes her teams’ goals by effectively partnering with major advertising agencies and managing other widely-varied resources. Wendy earned her BA in Advertising at Penn State.
Wendy is enthusiastic for just about anything she does including running, biking, skiing, golfing, playing tennis, traveling, cooking and reading. She is married to Dan for 22 years and they have two children, Evan (18) who attends Clemson University and Danielle (14) who attends Unionville High School. The James family lives in the beautiful Chester County suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
​MEET ZERBANOO GIFFORD - GUEST SPEAKER
Human rights campaigner, author and International Woman of the Year 2006, Zerbanoo Gifford (nee Irani) is the founder of the ASHA Centre in Gloucestershire. Zerbanoo is recognised as a pioneer for Asian women in British public life. She made political history when elected as a councillor for the Liberals in 1982 as the first non-white woman. She then went on to be the first Asian woman to contest a Parliamentary election, which she did on three occasions. A former advisor to the British Home Secretary, and chair of the Race Relations Forum, she has also chaired the Commission, ‘Looking into ethnic minority involvement in British Life’.
A patron of numerous international organisations, Zerbanoo is the Founder Director of the ASHA Foundation, which encourages and supports philanthropy worldwide and works for interfaith and intercultural understanding, especially among the young. She has been the director of Anti-Slavery International, London Organiser for Shelter, and helped set up Charities Aid Foundation in India.
Zerbanoo holds numerous international awards for her humanitarian work, which spans over thirty years of grassroots and global activism.These include: the Nehru Centenary Award for her work championing the rights of women, children and minorities; she was given the Freedom of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, for her work combating modern slavery and racism; in 2006 she was awarded the International Woman of the Year and in 2007, she received the international Splendor Award in Hollywood, for her lifetime achievements in the field of equality and human rights. In 2010 to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of American Suffrage she was honoured by the Sewall-Belmont Museum in Washington DC in an exhibition commemorating key women who advanced women’s rights.
Zerbanoo has authored seven books. and has also been a magazine editor and written widely on historical, social and political themes, with all proceeds from her writings going to nominated charities. She is a sought-after, dynamic speaker, and often appears in the media as a commentator on current affairs. She is married to Richard, an international lawyer, known for his work with the displaced Chagos Islanders. They have two sons, Mark and Alex.
