BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ROSE DOSTI, AHRP FOUNDER
Rose Dosti was born and raised in New York City, second daughter of immigrant Albanian parents. As a journalist and wife of a political immigre whose entire family had been imprisoned during the Communist regime from 1944-1991 she saw a need to preserve the testimonies of survivors. Following guidelines set by the Shoah Foundation, Rose Dosti founded AHRP to film and preserve the testimonies of survivors for scholarly study, education and inspiration.
Dosti is a former staff writer/columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and author of eight books on food. She is a twice-awarded Fulbright Scholar, having lectured on journalism at the University of Tirana, Albania. While in Albania she also taught English conversation and writing at The Lincoln Center, a foreign language/business school in Tirana. Work as founder of The Albanian Human Rights Project (AHRP) since 2008 resulted in producing 100 testimonies of survivors from many regions of Albania, who were persecuted during the Communist regime from 1944-1991, and two short documentary films, “Prison Nation: Albania 1944-1991” and “Lost Voices Making History.”
Dosti taught journalism at UCLA and currently holds classes on restaurant critiquing at Santa Monica College Emeritus. She presents and lectures on AHRP documentaries at schools, organizations, clubs and institutions. As an artist, she uses her artwork to raise funds for her projects. Dosti is listed in Who’s Who of American Women, The World Who’s Who of Women, and in Two Thousand Notable American Women.
Rose is joined by an outstanding group of volunteers to fulfill the mission of AHRP.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Armen Alajian AHRP Director - Proprietor, Artobrick Manufacturing
Donika Bardha AHRP Director - Founder Albanian Arts Foundation and the Albanian Aid Society; Real Estate Developer
Ed Birce AHRP Chairman of the Board - Civil Rights Officer, Washington, D.C.
Rose Dosti AHRP President - Journalist, Author, Fulbright scholar, Lecturer
Paulina Kalaj AHRP Director - Director of Communications & Media Relations
Katherine Richards AHRP Director - University Librarian, Retired
Mary Thomas AHRP Director - M.ED. Educator and Advocate
Arta Zeciri AHRP Director - Student Marketing; Account Manager
HONORARY BOARD
Lillian Appleby - Branch Manager, LPL Investments
Vehbi Bajrami - Publisher, Illyria Albanian Newspaper
Evelyn De Wolfe - Journalist and Author
Bruria Finkel - International Artist and Curator
Agim Karagjozi - Former President of Vatra the Pan-Albanian Foundation.
Dr. Anna Kohen - President, Albanian American Women’s Organization “Motrat Qirazi”
Joan Fultz Kontos - Former Director of the Harry T. Fultz Foundation
Malcolm Romano Esq. - Attorney-at-Law
Hon. William E. Ryerson - First American Ambassador to Albania 1991
Morton Zarcoff - Motion Picture Director, Writer, Producer and former Chairman of the USC Cinema School