Armela Xhaho holds a PhD in Migration Studies from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Additionally, she holds a Master of Arts degree in Gender Studies from Central European University, Budapest (2011), and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from State University of New York/Empire State College & University of New York Tirana (2008).
Currently, Armela works as an Expert on project management at EIT Rawmaterials Regional Innovation Center. With over 15+ years of experience in the research projects, she has a positive track record in implementing, coordinating and managing large development projects and multi-stakeholder research initiatives, including EU funds.
Due to her successful experience in strategic planning and development, she has developed strong programme management skills and leadership experience in communicating and cooperating with high level policymakers, community authorities/actors and international partners. She has a solid experience in program/project formulation, coordination, overseeing staff, writing grant proposals for EU level, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting, including a variety of donors.
Moreover, she has produced over 45+ publications, including academic papers in top peer-reviewed international scientific journals, book chapters, policy / strategic documents, blogs, research reports, and guidelines. Her areas of interest are gender and security issues, migration, evidence-based policymaking, transparency, research innovation and extractive industry.