Economic Development
Designs and deploys high-impact development programs that unlock investment, modernise value chains, and accelerate SME growth.
Leadership Collective
Skender Rama
Managing Partner & Chief Executive Officer
With more than 25 years of executive leadership across complex USAID-funded initiatives, Skender leads Empower Partners’ strategy, market expansion, and diaspora capital programs. His tenure as Chief of Party for the USAID EMPOWER Private Sector Project delivered transformational results in job creation, exports, and enterprise competitiveness across the Western Balkans.
Focus Areas
Private Sector Growth
Guides scale-up strategies for export-ready companies, strengthening governance, operations, and access to finance.
Stakeholder Partnerships
Builds trusted alliances between public institutions, investors, and diaspora leaders to deliver sustainable market outcomes.
Role at Empower Partners
Executive Leadership
Skender steers the firm’s portfolio of private sector, donor, and public transformation projects.
He works side-by-side with clients to craft economic growth strategies, advance policy reforms, and channel diaspora investments into long-term ventures.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead economic development strategies and policy implementation.
- Drive private sector growth initiatives and expansion programs.
- Design investor outreach and partnership roadmaps.
- Broker cross-sector alliances for transformational delivery.
- Provide economic insights that shape programme design.
Career Highlights
Former Chief of Party of the USAID EMPOWER Private Sector Project, recognised for pioneering job creation and export acceleration programmes across Kosovo and the wider region.
Trusted advisor to international donors, financial institutions, and high-growth ventures seeking to unlock new markets.
Approach & Insights
Systems Thinking
Applies data-backed diagnostics to identify growth levers, ensuring interventions deliver measurable, scalable impact.
Diaspora Engagement
Mobilises diaspora expertise and capital, structuring co-investment platforms that align global networks with local opportunity.
Execution Discipline
Instils clear governance, adaptive delivery, and results frameworks that keep multi-stakeholder programmes accountable.