Page 11 - AACL 25th anniversary

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DR. GEZIM “Gez” AGOLLI was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1964. His father, Lufti
Agolli, was born in Pogradec, Albania, and his mother, Drita, in Gjilan, Kosova. At the tender age of twelve, Gez’s father escaped the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha in Albania, arriving in Macedonia where he grew up without his family. But because he had escaped Albania, the Hoxha regime sent the rest of his family to prison. Years later, in 1961, Gez’s father met his mother in a refugee camp in Italy in 1961, who had arrived there after her father, the Mayor of Gjilan, had been killed by the Serbian government, and her mother had married Sabri Domi, an Albanian refugee from northern Albania. In 1962, Lufti and Drita immigrated with other family members to Canada, where part of the family remained, while they moved on to the United States. In 1986, Lufti, Gez’s father, would die at an early age, five years before the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha fell in Albania. In 1992, a year after the Hoxha regime collapsed, Gez was able to visit his paternal grandfather, Avdyl. Forty years after Avdyl’s son, Lufti, had fled Albania, his son, Gez, returned to represent him. At that time, Gez was becoming a leader in the field of integrative medicine. Dr. Agolli is the founder of the Progressive Medical Centers in Atlanta, Georgia. He is Board Certified in Integrative Medicine by the American Association of Integrative Medicine. He earned a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from the United States School of Naturopathy and Allied Sciences, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Nutrition from First National University. He lives with his wife, Donna. They have three children, Jayce, Jordan, and Morgan.
AGIM ALIÇKAJ, born and raised in Deçan, Kosova, is an Albanian American who owns Kosovatours
International, a travel agency specializing in travel to Southeast Europe. Agim has been on the Board of Directors of the Albanian American Civic League and Foundation for twenty-five years, and he has made a significant contribution to the AACL’s successful effort to resolve the Albanian national cause. Agim attended the University of Rijeka and Zagreb in Croatia, graduating with a master’s degree in economics in 1985. From 1976 to1985, he held senior positions in the tourist industry and was responsible for resorts in Croatia and Kosova. From 1985 to 1990, chosen by Kosova, Agim was based in New York City and was in charge of tourism for Kosova and the Former Yugoslavia as Deputy Director for North America. In August 1990, eight months after Agim returned to Kosova, he was forced to flee back to the United States, after Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic stripped Kosova of its autonomy and occupied the country with his troops. In December 1990, Agim opened Kosovatours International in Yonkers, New York, which became a leading travel agency serving the Albanian American community, as well as non-Albanian Americans professionally involved in Eastern Europe. Agim lives in Bronxville, New York, with his wife, Sadete. They are the parents of four children: Betim, Dafina, Diana, and Anita. Agim’s late father, Arif Alicaj, was Deputy Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Municipality of Decan during the Nazi occupation of Kosova in World War II. In this position, when approached by fellow Kosovar Arsllan Rezniqi, Arif played a pivotal role in saving Jews during the Holocaust. Four of Agim’s five brothers escaped to Oslo, Norway, during the Serbian occupation. They have been supporters of the Albanian American Civic League for many years.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
88 Saluting Albanian Religious Tolerance in an Age of Intolerance 11