This is a portrait of Shkendije Himaj shot in the Capital, Prishtina, Kosova, on Monday, Feb 27, 2023. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)
Shkendije Himaj is 40; she is a married and successful woman and a mother of two, a daughter, 19, born in Canada, and a son, 11, born in Kosovo, both Canadian citizens.
Shkendije Himaj is one of four top-ranking and only female candidates competing against three other men for the Governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo.
Fehmi Mehmeti - the current governor, is out-listed for the job due to identified lack of professional capacity and integrity. The board of the Central Bank does the process of recruiting the governor. It interviews all the candidates, and the process is monitored by the British company hired by the Gov of Kosovo to ensure merit-based hiring processes for high-level Gov public servants.
In this list of candidates, the current governor is out of the list, and Shkendije Himaj is ranked the highest; meanwhile, on the Central Bank board members list, she’s ranked fourth.
With the Brits, the current governor was the sixth one, the lowest, while Shkendije was the highest ranking top of the list.
Her vision is to give all Kosovars easy access to banking products and services on equal grounds.