Mimoza Kusari-Lila (born 16 October 1975) is an Albanian Kosovar politician for The Alternative (). She was the deputy prime minister of the

Republic of Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and minister of trade and industry from 2011 to 2013 and the mayor of

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

from November 2013 to 2017.

Family

Mimoza Kusari was born on 16 October 1975 in

. Her father is a

pulmonologist Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language fam ...

and her mother is a teacher of

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

and literature in elementary school. Her family lived for a short time in

Peja Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Peja's Lumbar ...

. They returned to Gjakova with their four children in the mid-1980s.

Education

Kusari finished high school at the Hajdar Dushi Gymnasium and then registered in the

University of Prishtina The University of Pristina () is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration o ...

, Faculty of Economics. She graduated in management and informations systems, working full-time to fund her studies in a time of economic crisis and political repression. In 1998-1999, when the

Kosovo war The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

broke out, she worked for organizations such as

Doctors Without Borders Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

and the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

(OSCE). During the Kosovo war, while working in a refugee camp for the American

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

service in the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, she won the Ron Brown Scholarship from the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

to pursue an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in the United States. During her stay in the US, she continued studies at the Institute of Economics,

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

, and

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where she completed her master's in

e-business Electronic business (also known as online business or e-business) is any kind of business or commercial activity that includes sharing information across the internet. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, ...

. During this time she was very active in organizing the student community and showing leadership skills. She founded and was the first president of the Association of Business Women of Duquesne University and was one of three Ron Brown scholarship holders from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

invited to participate in the celebration of International Education Week by Secretary of State Madelaine Albright in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

After her studies, she worked as an intern at

Bayer Corporation Bayer Corporation (also known as Bayer USA) is the American subsidiary of Bayer AG. Its main offices are located in Whippany, New Jersey. In addition it has 40 fully consolidated subsidiary companies located in 19 different states. It is headqu ...

of North America in Pittsburgh in the department of e-sales. After returning to Kosovo in 2001, she worked for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

project to support Kosovar businesses. Her leadership and managerial skills were tested while she worked as project manager at the

American University in Kosovo The Rochester Institute of Technology Kosovo, previously known as the American University in Kosovo, is a private university located in the Germia district of Pristina, Kosovo. The university was established in 2002 and is part of the Rochester ...

Foundation education plan for Kosovo and the establishment of the institution. Her work resulted in the successful opening of the university, now as a leading education institution in Kosovo and the region.

Political activity

Kusari was exposed to politics and public service in 2003 when she was offered the position of spokesperson and political adviser to then

prime minister of Kosovo A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

Bajram Rexhepi Bajram Rexhepi (3 June 1954 – 21 August 2017), was a Kosovar politician who served as the first elected post-war prime minister and later as interior minister of Kosovo and as a member of the Kosovo Assembly. He was a member of the second large ...

. The first woman to have such a position and impartial in her political beliefs, she was the face and voice of the Kosovo government for more than a year at a time when Kosovo returned to the March 2004 riots. She announced a break from politics at the end of 2004, with her marriage with Arben Lila, and her son being born in the following year. Kusari added her husband's last name to her own and now uses Kusari Lila as her official name. She restarted political activity as director of the department of energy in the ministry of energy and mines, ad then in the American chamber of commerce in Kosovo, where she as an executive director in 2006-2009. While in the American chamber in Kosovo, in 2009, she finished a four-month research project as the

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, capital research center in Washington, D.C., focusing on the development of capital markets in the developing world. During her stay, she was invited as a guest speaker to the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topi ...

event to introduce substantial development challenges in Kosovo. In 2009, Kusari Lila made official her candidacy for mayor of

within the party

New Kosovo Alliance New Kosovo Alliance (, AKR) is a liberal political party in Kosovo. The party was founded on 3 May 2006, by Behgjet Pacolli. History In April 2007, a BBSS Gallup International/Index survey suggested that the AKR was the fourth-largest politic ...

(AKR). She was named deputy prime minister of Kosovo and minister of commerce and industry on 23 February 2011, and worked in this capacity until 2 October 2013, when she resigned from all positions in the government of Kosovo because of her commitment to an election campaign for mayor of

for the second time, this time winning in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. She became the first woman mayor in history of Kosovo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kusari Lila, Mimoza 1975 births Kosovo Albanians Living people Women mayors of places in Kosovo Deputy prime ministers of Kosovo Politicians from Gjakova New Kosovo Alliance politicians Industry ministers of Kosovo Trade ministers of Kosovo 21st-century women politicians Women government ministers of Kosovo Mayors of Gjakova

Family

Education

Political activity

See also

References