NALAS Secretariat

Kelmend Zajazi, Executive Director

Kelmend Zajazi heads the NALAS Secretariat as of March 2007. In the past 10 years, Zajazi worked with the USAID programs on Local Government Reforms and Democracy Network Program in Macedonia with Development Alternatives Inc. and the Institute for Sustainable Communities respectively. During 2001 – 2003, he also worked at the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office in Skopje where he supervised programs in the area of health, social welfare, etc; while in the period 2006 – 2007 he was the adviser of the Minister of Health for several projects which launched the reforms of the health sector in Macedonia. Zajazi has received his M.A. in Public Policy and Management at The University of Pittsburgh in 2005 and holds a medical degree from the Medical Faculty in Prishtine. He is the author of several publications in the area of good governance and the development of the civil society in the SEE region. His main interests are related to issues concerning institutional development, strategic planning, project cycle management, etc. zajazi@nalas.eu

Milena Garthley, Program Officer

Milena Garthley is responsible for the NALAS Task Forces on Urban Planning, Energy Efficiency and Waste and Water Management. She provides support on project management and administration, event management, collection and analysis of information. She graduated at the Moscow Academy for Fine Chemical Technology and is a registered PRINCE2 Practitioner. Before she joined our team, Milena Garthley worked as a Head of European Projects and Programmes Department for Dobrich Municipality, Bulgaria. garthley@nalas.eu

Natasha Ilijeva-Acevska, Program Officer

Natasha Ilijeva Acevska is coordinating the Task Force on Fiscal Decentralization. She is also involved in the organization of NALAS NEXPO 2011. Natasha has solid local government experience - having been a training expert for ZELS, a fellow of the LGI fellowship programme on improving local government, a local expert in public awareness and a senior communication expert for several EU projects, and a policy reform specialist for several USAID projects. acevska@nalas.eu

Georgi Hristov, Project Specialist

Georgi Hristov joined NALAS at summer 2011 as Project Specialist for the implementation of a regional programme “Think Globally, Develop Locally” addressing climate change at local level in SEE jointly implemented by NALAS and UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre. He graduated Electronics and Telecommunication at the University St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje and earned his MBA in Finance Management at the University of Sheffield. Georgi is a registered Project Management Professional at the Project Management Institute (PMI) and holds EU Trainer Certificate. He worked for the Macedonian Telecom and, later on, managed a public utility company for water supply and solid waste in municipality of Kocani. During the last 10 years, he is involved in supporting the decentralisation process in Macedonia and SEE and has worked for UNDP, USAID and EU funded projects. Hristov is the author/co-author of several publications in the area of decentralization, local government and utility service provision (water supply, waste water and solid waste management). hristov@nalas.eu

Katerina Stojanovik - Aleksoska, Office Manager

Katerina Stojanovik Aleksoska facilitates the communication with the NALAS Members and takes care of all day to day office management and operations and logistic requirements for the events. Tina comes from EPRI (Economic Policy Research Institute) and Euro Balkan Institute where she was office manager and junior accountant. She has a BSc degree in management. katerina_stojanovik-aleksoska@nalas.eu

Katerina Georgijevska, Finance Manager

Katerina Georgijevska is the Finance Manager at NALAS. She maintains the accounting system, prepares financial reports and makes sure that all NALAS activities run smoothly and are timely funded. She has a degree in economics and experience in banking, accounting and financial management. georgijevska@nalas.eu