Shqipe Vela

Shqipe Vela is an international development expert with 20 years of experience leading complex projects in energy and anti-corruption across multiple countries. She is a Program Manager at the International Secretariat of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Norway, where she leads global efforts to enhance transparency, accountability, and gender equality in the governance of oil, gas, and mineral resources.

Shqipe mentors emerging professionals through the Global Women in Energy Transition Network, Global Engineer Girls, and the Association for Women in Energy and Extractives in Kenya. She has served on the Advisory Council of International Women in Mining, is a member of Women in Green Hydrogen, and the Transparency International Expert Network. She is also the co-founder and chairperson of Kosovo Women in Energy and Mining.

A former U.S. congressional fellow on energy policy, she has lectured on global energy policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Kosovo and co-authored research on energy transition, gender equality, and anti-corruption.

She holds dual master’s degrees in public administration and public policy from the Central European University and the University of York, and a bachelor’s degree from the American University in Kosovo.