Zana Beqiri
Zana joined HQAI in 2026 as R&D Project Manager, bringing over 25 years of progressive experience across humanitarian operations, organisational development, partnership management, and donor-funded programmes in some of the most complex and under-resourced environments.
In her current role, Zana leads research into quality assurance needs across new and existing partner organisations, supports the development and diversification of HQAI's services, and engages with potential new partners to strengthen HQAI's reach and impact across the humanitarian and development sector.
Zana's career spans a remarkable range of locations, context, and organisations, from Oxfam GB and Mercy Corps in post-conflict Kosovo and Iraq, to the National Democratic Institute in Yemen, Malteser International in Iraq, LuxDev across the Western Balkans, and the Falkland Islands Company in the South Atlantic. She has led finance, HR, audit support, and operations functions, built partnerships across civil society, government at local and central level, and the private sector, and coordinated multi-country and multi-budgeted programmes funded by the European Commission, WB, USAID, GIZ, SIDA, Luxembourg, and others.
She has also led grassroots to sustainability and social inclusion initiatives, reflecting her commitment to community driven approaches alongside institutional work.
She holds a BA in International Business Management from Iliria College, Prishtina, and is a native Albanian speaker with fluency in English and Serbo-Croatian.
Zana is motivated by the belief that organisations committed to quality deserve the means to prove it, and that independent quality assurance is the most credible way to do so.
Follow up, question, research, connect, build
Many many things, but these stand out:
- Necessity: the growing demand for accountability make HQAI's work not just relevant, but essential.
- Honesty: HQAI holds up a mirror to organisations not to judge them, but to help them improve.
- Reach: HQAI's commitment to accessibility means quality assurance is not reserved for the well-resourced.
- People: Multicultural, deeply committed, and genuinely passionate about making aid better for the people it serves.
"Test" - because the only way to know if something works is to try it.
Adaptability: find solid ground in unfamiliar territory and turn complexity into clarity