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Board of Trustees

  • Michael D. Granoff, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

    Michael D. Granoff, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

    Mr. Granoff is the founder and CEO of Pomona Capital, a global private equity firm with over $15 billion in capital commitments. Based in New York, London and Hong Kong, Pomona is a leading investor in private equity secondaries, primaries and co-investments. Prior to founding Pomona in 1994, he served as the President of partnerships organized to purchase secondary interests in venture capital and leveraged buyout funds and as a Director of a number of private companies while President of Golodetz Ventures and Vice President of TEI Industries.

    Prior to his business career, Mr. Granoff served as the Chairman’s representative on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, the Congressional committee that appropriates US military and economic assistance. He was a member of the 1992 Presidential Transition Team for the Department of the Treasury. Mr. Granoff was appointed by President Clinton to the Board of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund, a U.S. government-sponsored private sector development initiative, where he serves as Chairman. He is also Chairman of the Albanian American Development Foundation, the largest non-profit organization in the Balkans. Mr. Granoff is a recipient of the Order of Skanderbeg, the Order of Mother Teresa, and the Medal of Public Gratitude from the Government of Albania. He served as a Trustee of the Yad Hanadiv Rothschild Foundation. Mr. Granoff is a Director of the Grameen Bank U.S. (a microcredit lender) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Granoff received a JD from Georgetown University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Jill Adler

    Jill Adler

    Ms. Adler is the Director of the East-West Parliamentary Practice Project (EWPPP), an independent non-profit organization headquartered in Amsterdam. The EWPPP has developed and implemented capacity building programs for parliaments and civil society organizations in emerging democracies throughout Eastern/Southeastern Europe and Eurasia since its establishment in 1990. She is an Adjunct Professor at Webster University in Leiden, and serves on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Netherlands-America Fulbright Program and the American University in Kosovo. Ms. Adler is the recipient of the Albanian Medal of Appreciation from the President of Albania as well as the Hungarian Cross of Honor. Ms. Adler received a JD from Georgetown University and a BA from Rutgers University.

  • Dianne Blane

    Dianne Blane

    Ms. Blane is a retired Foreign Service Officer with extensive experience in working with emerging democracies. She served as the USAID Mission Director to Albania from 1992 to 1998. In April 1998, she was awarded the Order of the Grand Master of Labor by the Government of Albania. In September 2015, she was awarded the Order of Skanderbeg Knight by the Government of Albania. She has served as a director of the American Bank of Albania from 2000 through 2008. She has also served on the Board of the the AAEF since 2000.

  • Ron Cami

    Ron Cami

    Mr. Cami is a Partner and a Member of the Board at the B-FLEXION GROUP, a private, entrepreneurial investment firm founded by Ernesto Bertarelli, where he is responsible for all U.S. activities.
    Prior to his current role, Mr. Cami was a Partner at Davis Polk, a Partner and General Counsel at the investment firm, TPG and a Partner at the law firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, in New York.  Mr. Cami also served as law clerk to the Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy of the Southern District of New York, during which time Judge Duffy presided over the first World Trade Center bombing criminal case.  Mr. Cami graduated with honors from Harvard University and earned his J.D., with order of the coif honors from Rutgers Law School.

  • Douglas G. Carlston, Trustees Emeritus

    Douglas G. Carlston, Trustees Emeritus

    Mr. Carlston serves on several boards, including Internews, Aspen Public Radio (chairman), the Carlston Family Foundation, and the Long Now Foundation.  He was the co-founder of Broderbund Software, a leading publisher of productivity and educational software, and of Tawala Systems, an Internet technology company serving youth sports leagues. He is a past board member of the Ploughshares Fund, Dominican University, Salzburg Global Seminar, the Santa Fe Institute, MoveOn and Public Radio International. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the American Bank of Albania (2000-2008), and Belo Corp. (2007-8). He is also past Chairman and President of the Software Publishers Association. He has served on the Board of AAEF since 2001. Mr. Carlston received his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1970 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1975. He is also the author of five published non-fiction books, from Beginning Swahili to Software People.

  • Steve Eastham

    Steve Eastham

    Mr. Eastham is a senior executive with extensive experience managing private sector business transactions in the U.S., as well as economic development projects in Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union. Within USAID, Mr. Eastham served as Division Chief-Economic Growth for the Europe and Eurasia Bureau, and earlier as Director of USAID’s Office of Investment, managing USAID’s global Private Sector Investment Program. He also served as Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University from 1995 to 2002, teaching courses in economic development. Prior to his international career, Mr. Eastham served as President of Finalco Group, Inc., an early-stage technology and financial services company which he helped build from early-stage to IPO, financing over $2 billion of capital assets. Mr. Eastham has also served as a board member of several other private sector businesses and non-profit foundations, and as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Eastham received a B.S. and J.D. degree from Indiana University.

  • William Schwab

    William Schwab

    Mr. Schwab is a Partner at Sidley Austin LLP, a global law firm, resident in its Boston office where he advises both investors and companies on mergers & acquisitions and a variety of private equity transactions.
    Prior to his legal career, Mr. Schwab lived in Albania and worked at the U.S. Embassy in Tirana.

    Mr. Schwab graduated summa cum laude from Carthage College and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

  • Elisabeta Gjoni

    Elisabeta Gjoni

    Mrs. Gjoni is currently an Adviser to Governor of the Bank of Albania. She has extensive experience in the financial sector having previously served as a Member of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Albania and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, Chairperson of the Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority, Chairwoman Commissioner of the Albanian Securities Commission, and as a financial advisor to the President of Albania. She has also previously been an employee of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund. During her professional career, Elisabeta has participated as a full-time or visiting lecturer at different universities in Tirana. She is also the author of several professional publications. Mrs. Gjoni serves on the board of Albanian Children Foundation.

  • Aida Repishti

    Aida Repishti

    Mrs. Aida Repishti is the Co-founder and President of the Lincoln Center of Albania, an educational not-for-profit institution devoted to equipping Albanian youth and professionals with best-in-class language, communication, and professional skills.  Since 1997, she has played a leadership role in creating and establishing a professional staff and program, resulting in Lincoln Center becoming a leader in Albania for business and language training. Previously Mrs. Repishti worked as an architect in the Office of Urban Planning and Architecture in Tirana and the Syska & Henessy Group in New York, USA.

  • IN MEMORIAM

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  • Domenick G. Scaglione

    Domenick G. Scaglione

    Mr. Scaglione was the former Vice President of the International Department of Chase Manhattan Bank responsible for Western European Institutions. He founded Intercontinental Associates, Inc. from which he retired. Mr. Scaglione served on the Board of the AAEF since its inception in 1995 and the Board of the AADF until 2019. He was also the founder of the Albanian Children Fund in New York and the Albanian Children Foundation in Albania. He founded and chaired the American Bank of Albania. He was the former Chairman of the American Foreign Policy Institute of Washington. He also founded the Albanian Cultural Society. Mr. Scaglione was awarded the Order of Mother Teresa Medal by President Rexhep Meidani in 2000 and the Order of Skanderberg Medal from president Bujar Nishani in 2013. He authored four books.

  • James H. Duffy

    James H. Duffy

    Mr. Duffy was a retired partner of the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and a successful author. He served on the Board of the AAEF since its inception in 1995 and the Board of the AADF until 2018. He was a Life Trustee of the New York Public Library, and on the Board of Directors of the Commonweal Foundation, the Baryshnikov Arts Center and the School of American Ballet. Mr. Duffy held a B.A. from Princeton University and his LL. B from Harvard Law School.