Donika Berisha Rizaj, Communication Officer at the Council of Europe Office in Pristina, has more than 20 years of experience in media and communications. Through beginning her career as an interpreter while a war refugee from Kosovo in North Macedonia, she transitioned to interpreting live on camera, which led to her working in one of Kosovo's biggest national television stations as a prime-time news anchor. Simultaneously, she was also managing education projects at the British Council Kosovo Office, juggling two workloads that she describes as “certainly challenging but extremely rewarding professionally.” This second career path drove her to deepen her knowledge and experience in communication strategies in international organizations at the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the largest Common Security and Defense Policy Mission in the European Union.
She brought her unique blend of knowledge and skillsets to Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) executive education where she earned her Executive Certificate in Public Policy through completing Persuasive Communication: Narrative, Evidence, and Impact, Leading Through the Changing Media Landscape, and Cybersecurity: The Intersection of Policy and Technology, programs that had an enormous effect on her. “HKS executive education is such a tremendously transformative learning journey, both personally and professionally,” she said.
Evidenced by her resume, Donika leads with an enthusiasm for curiosity, something she takes joy in sharing with others. “I believe that learning is a lifelong process, so that's why I am constantly 'hungry' to advance myself further. I am constantly striving to bring more to the table, whether it's contributing to the community where I live or my workplace,” she said. “A part of my job is to deliver tailored training in communication, public speaking/presenting and media appearances, to my colleagues. While exploring the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program, I was assured that this type of learning experience would undoubtedly help me to excel even more when designing the training courses for my colleagues.”
As someone who has managed two careers simultaneously, Donika is no stranger to multitasking. One of the primary benefits of her HKS executive education programs were their inherent ability to integrate with her already extremely busy schedule. “As a mother and full time professional, there is no other program that I would recommend more than a Harvard Kennedy School executive education program,” she said. “It tailors to your specific professional and academic needs like no other program that I've explored so far.”
She also found great value in taking these programs with so many years of experience already under her belt. “The beautiful side of completing these types of studies when you're emotionally and professionally more mature is that everything that I learned sunk in very organically and I immediately felt ready to integrate that gained knowledge and experience into my professional environment. I definitely feel more confident and transformed professionally,” she said.
Donika is now advancing her learnings from her three HKS programs further by implementing her own training programs for her colleagues in her organization, work she plans to continue doing to enable other people’s pursuit of lifelong learning and professional skill development. “The lessons learned, discussions and lectures delivered by our esteemed professors helped me tremendously to expand my thinking and generate more ideas during my daily work. I gained specific learning tools that truly helped me in initiating new training ideas and courses for my colleagues in the broad field of communications,” she said. “In the near future, I hope to be able to also provide independent consultancy services to international organizations and companies in media communication, public speaking and effective communication.”