August 26-30, Tirana, Albania
From August 26 to 30, 2026, the vibrant city of Tirana, Albania, plays host to the 22nd edition of the JA Alumni Conference, marking a historic milestone as the city welcomes this flagship event for the very first time. Bringing together 135 passionate young leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from 28 European countries and regions under the overarching theme “Navigate,” the event connects the next generation of changemakers. This high-impact gathering is powered by JA Alumni Europe, the official alumni network uniting leaders across 29 countries, with JA Albania serving as the principal local partner of this year’s edition, building upon the incredible foundation of JA Europe, the continent’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people with nearly 7 million annual learning experiences across 42 member nations.
The multi-day program is structured to address the most critical facets of modern leadership, technological scaling, and sustainable career growth. Following the opening remarks delivered by Blerina Guga, CEO of JA Albania, and Martin Mata, CEO of AADF and Chairman of the Board of JA Albania, alongside official proceedings hosted by JA Alumni Europe President Silvan Vifian and Vice President Defne Saylik, the conference dives deep into actionable innovation. Notably, Tirana stands out as one of the select few locations worldwide chosen to host the exclusive “World Action for Youth Introduction” by JA Worldwide, integrating groundbreaking youth advocacy and global action initiatives directly into the agenda. The JA Worldwide session was hosted by Sarah Rapp (Senior Director of Youth Advocacy) and Emmalyn Green (Director of Learning Design), followed by an interactive workshop on Saturday.
High-impact discussions are further anchored by Antigoni Komodiki, CEO of JA Cyprus and Chairwoman of the Board of Executives at JA Europe, who leads the flagship panel “1 in 3: Rewriting the Leadership Equation for Europe” to tackle gender balance and next-generation leadership pipelines. This panel hosted executives such as Blerina Guga, Milena Stoycheva, and two alumni leaders Eliise Lehtsaar (President of JA Alumni Estonia and Founder&CEO at Voon) and Silvan Vifian (President at JA Alumni Europe and Product Owner at Yarowa). Milena Stoycheva, Managing Director of Precede and Chairwoman JA Bulgaria, later introduced Precede with a special session, followed up with a workshop on Saturday. Embodying the core network ethos of giving back, successful JA alumni founders behind thriving ventures such as Switch Technologies and Pigi lead hands-on workshops on product-market fit and scaling strategies, reinforcing the conference’s mission to foster resilient entrepreneurs, cultivate cross-border collaboration, and showcase Albania’s rising prominence in the European entrepreneurial ecosystem. On Friday, JA Albania hosted a panel about building a meaningful career special to our starter alumni, where Elizabeth Pulo (Senior Event Manager & GEN-E Lead at JA Europe) was hosted as a panelist with her inspiring journey.
The agenda of the conference concluded with the traditional gala night on Saturday, hosted by JA Alumni Europe President Silvan Vifian and Vice President Defne Saylik. This gala was the platform to acknowledge the work of the member nations, alongside the awards ceremony. The new board of JA Alumni Europe was also announced at the end of the gala night, alongside the new conference hosts, marking the end of an alumni season.
To learn more about the JA Alumni in Europe, click here!
