About

Who we are.

A nonpartisan diaspora campaign with one concrete demand — a diaspora electoral district, so our votes abroad finally elect someone.

The Albania we're for.

Since communism fell, Albania has moved toward Europe — and, its own watchdogs and international monitors argue, toward state capture: public money misallocated, power narrowed to a few, merit pushed aside. The cost is measured in the people who leave, the institutions that stall, and the trust that drains away.

We're for the opposite — an Albania where opportunity is earned, talent stays, and institutions serve the many, not the few, built on transparency and accountability. Our part in it is specific: organize Albanians abroad into a vote the system at home can't buy, and win it a real seat. One clean input toward that country.

Our pledge

We back no party and no candidate. We stand for one thing every honest Albanian can stand for: fair rules, clean elections, and a real vote for the millions of us who live abroad.

Our promise on your data

We collect the minimum, we never sell or share it, and you can have it deleted on request. Your public exposure is always your own choice.

Who's behind Shqipëria Bashkuar

We're not anonymous. Shqipëria Bashkuar was started by two Albanian Americans who put their names — and their faces — to it.

Enri Zhulati

Enri Zhulati

Founder LinkedIn

Enri founded Shqipëria Bashkuar. He is Albanian-born and based in Texas; his family left Albania on a three-year student visa in 1991 and never returned, landing in America with almost nothing and building a life from zero — the diaspora experience Shqipëria Bashkuar is built around.

He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Texas and is an entrepreneur. He runs Compare Power, the largest energy marketplace in Texas, and founded Albania Visit. He also built the technology behind the National Albanian Registry (NAR) — where he serves on the executive board — and Shqipëria Bashkuar's own platform.

The fight for Albania's place in the democratic world runs in his family. His father, Dr. Ilia Zhulati, First Press Secretary at Albania's UN mission, ran a quiet channel from 1985 with Charles Moskos — the Northwestern sociologist acting on behalf of the U.S. State Department — that helped reopen relations between Albania and the United States. Enri co-authored his father's memoir, Lifting the Iron Curtain.

Through Shqipëria Bashkuar, Enri is working to turn the diaspora's scattered voice into real representation — a fair, accountable Albania its people don't have to leave.

Ervin Toro

Ervin Toro

Founder LinkedIn

Ervin is a founder of Shqipëria Bashkuar and a first-generation Albanian American who immigrated from Fier, Albania, to New York in 1997 at the age of 13, following the political and economic turmoil that accompanied the collapse of Albania's pyramid schemes. His experience shaped his commitment to strengthening the connection between Albanians abroad and their homeland.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pace University and an MBA from Wagner College. With nearly two decades of experience in international banking, he serves as a senior leader at Standard Chartered, specializing in global workforce strategy, immigration, and international mobility.

Beyond his professional career, Ervin is deeply involved in the Albanian-American community. He serves as President of the New York Chapter of the Albanian American National Organization (AANO), is a founding board member of the National Albanian Registry (NAR), co-hosts the Red Line Talk Show podcast, and founded Shq1pe Co., one of the first Albanian-American lifestyle brands.

Through Shqipëria Bashkuar, Ervin is working to unite Albanians across the diaspora around practical civic engagement, stronger representation, and long-term collaboration to strengthen Albania's democratic future.

Enri Zhulati

A letter from Enri

My family left Albania on a three-year visa. We never went back to stay.

My father had spent his life trying to fix the country from the inside — a believer who worked within the system, until the system decided it didn't want him and pushed us out. We landed in America with almost nothing and built a life from zero.

You don't stop being Albanian because you left. For years I've watched my birthplace lose its best people to corruption and bad government. A third of the nation lives abroad now. We send money home, we carry the place with us — and we have almost no say in its future.

Shqipëria Bashkuar is my answer to a question I couldn't shake: what is any of it worth if we can't help build a homeland worth returning to?

Let me be clear about what this is and what it isn't. It's a campaign, not a party. I'm not running for anything, and we back no one. We have one concrete demand: a diaspora electoral district — reserved seats in Parliament — so the million-plus of us abroad finally elect someone, instead of our votes scattering across 12 home districts and electing almost no one. Winning it takes numbers. Add your name — that's how a scattered diaspora becomes a force no one can ignore.

— Enri Zhulati, Founder

Join the movement