The albanian cultural association of Montreal - The board
Dear ACAM members and supporters,
On April 2, 2023, the general meeting of ACAM took place, on its agenda were presented the activity of the past two years and future objectives. There was great interest from the participants and a commitment to further animate the work of the Association. What marked this meeting was the participation and the interest of the young people of our community, these being the guarantee of a positive energy which will bring a qualitative growth of our activities in the future.
Participants highlighted the good work done by the previous committee in the two years leading up to the pandemic.
The members of the Association who took the floor expressed their desire to make real contributions to the design and realization of a range of sustainable activities in traditional form. These will aim to bring together all age groups, especially young people, with the aim of ensuring the transmission of Albanian values and best traditions from one generation to the next.
The assembly also elected the new committee, whose president and members are briefly presented below:
Glen Kasneci, President
Graduated in business management from Concordia University, specializing in international business and legal business practices. After successfully completing an MBA at Hult International Business School, Boston, he worked as a portfolio manager for Rothenberg Wealth Management.
Prend Tanushi, Vice President
Graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, University of Tirana. He also holds a degree as an IT programmer analyst from Herzing College. Currently, owner of a business in the food industry.
Merita Bashari, Treasurer
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Tirana and from “HEC” Montreal in professional accounting. She worked for “Nations Women’s Group” in Cairo and for “Dakar Women’s Group” in Senegal. Retired, after a career at the “National Bank”, Montreal.
Fierez Dumani, Secretary
Graduated in construction engineering from Concordia University. Following ten years of experience in the execution of commercial projects, he currently practices his profession with the company NouvLR, which is responsible for the implementation of the REM project.
Julinda Basha, Member
Graduated as a general nurse, specializing in neurology, in Tirana. Following a long nursing career in Albania and Italy, she specialized as a cardiology nurse in Montreal. She practices her profession at the Montreal Heart Institute. Also, she works for herself online with the Arbonne company and she owns a beauty and aesthetics salon.
Ralf Carcani, Member
Graduated from the Collège immobilier du Québec, commercial real estate broker. He works in the field of real estate with the company CBRE, offering specialized professional services. Ralf maintains a very close relationship with the language and culture of his native country, although he left the country at the age of 7.
Ermir Dardha, Member
BSc, BA, MBA; He has lived in Montreal for over a decade. First generation Albanian-American student, having studied from 2002 to 2006 at Empire State University and UNYT. Ermir is a specialist in international economics, with a career and rich experience with various financial and banking institutions. Thus, he worked for ProCredit Bank in Albania, for NBC in Montreal, as a personal adviser, for Capital One as a debt adviser and since 2021 he is a general adviser at a branch.
Artur Gjidede, Member
Graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Tirana, holder of a Master’s degree in applied sciences from the École polytechnique de Montréal. Member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec, he works as an engineer with Bombardier Aerospace.
Ana Hasa, Member
Graduated in law, in Albania. Arriving in Canada two years ago, she studied aesthetics, a field in which she currently works.
Alfred Kocollari, Member
Graduated from the University of the Sorbonne, Paris, France, master’s degree in modern letters. After graduation, he worked as a professor at the University of Tirana. During this period, he was also presenter of “French on television”, at TVSH (Albanian television). Currently he works as a French teacher with the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Inclusion.
Mira Tafaj, Member
Graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Tirana. After successfully completing technical studies in pharmacy at the École des métiers des Faubourgs de Montréal, she practised her profession for 15 years at the Sacré-Coeur-de-Montréal hospital. She is currently working as an “assistant project manager” for the Astrazeneca R&D Coordination Center, Montreal (division of Astrazeneca Canada inc.)
Shkelqim Tola, Member
Born in Librazhd, Shkelqim completed his veterinary studies in Albania, After 22 years in Canada, he is currently a successful entrepreneur in the construction industry.
Mentor Avdiu, Member
He was born in the city of Berat, and in 1993 he immigrated to Greece, where with his passion he became an electro-mechanic specialist in the food industry. He than opened there the first company in the repair of equipment for commercial kitchens which he managed from 2003 to 2013. Within this year he moved to Montreal and began working as a specialist in this field. Within a year, he also opened a company for repairs and maintenance of equipment for all types of kitchens in Montreal. He is characterized by correctness and quality in work.
Dear members and supporters of our Association the new steering committee thanks you for your participation and especially for your moral and financial support.We take this opportunity to promise you that we will do our best to serve the community, in order to achieve our main objective: the safeguarding, enrichment and transmission of cultural values and traditions from one generation to the another. We invite all those who wish to contribute or simply be part of the list of our contacts, to write to us at the email address: shkshmtl@gmail.com
You can become a member at the email address: shkshmtl@gmail.com
With respect, The ACAM board.
