DARDAN KELMENI: FROM BEING IN THE MIDST OF TWO BALKAN WARS TO A CO-FOUNDER OF OVER $9M COMPANY
Today, Dardan Kelmeni is a successful entrepreneur, a co-founder and a COO of the delivery management platform application ‘Eva’ worth over nine million. Eva is also now Canada’s largest legal cannabis delivery service. The company has several Albanian- Americans among its investors, and for a time, the company operated a remote software development team in Kosovo. Kelmeni comes with an impressive resume. He combines his passion for humanitarianism, his family’s military roots blending with opportunities Canada has been able to offer to him. He is also a TD scholar and served on various board of directors, including Amnesty International and held TED Talks. He also took part in the Diaspora School of Kosovo with the orientation and funding of the Germin organization, led back then by now Kosova's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Liza Gashi.
Kelmeni studied Political Science at McGill University and was an Infantry Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, based at the Royal Montreal Regiment, following in the footsteps of his father and maternal grandfather “this experience offered valuable insights into military conflicts and geopolitics'” His family all offering inspiration to other newcomers. His sister Donika is completing her master's degree in teaching, and his brother Veton is working toward his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering. Kelmeni’s parents were role models for him in giving back to the community from being interpreters to other Kosovar refugees in 1999 to being activists in Kosovo and abroad.
The success of Kelmeni and his family is nothing short from extraordinary but before he reached the height of his success and giving back; being a community leader which earned him a full $70,000 TD scholarship, his family was living in the midst of the Balkan wars, affected from both sides of his family in Kosovo and Bosnia. Kelmeni was born in Switzerland, “My parents stayed in a residential complex for asylum seekers in Zurich, Switzerland, alongside others seeking refuge. When they immigrated in Canada, they settled in the city of Granby”
Kelmeni’s mother Amela Kelmeni, grew up in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a Kosovar father and a Bosnian mother. She met Kelmeni’s father in 1992 during the ethnic cleansing that was taking place in Bosnia. Kelmeni says the war shaped the foundation of their relationship. As Serbian militias advanced with ethnic cleansing, genocide, and other war crimes, Kelmeni’s maternal grandparents remained in Goražde, Bosnia-Herzegovina, while his uncle from his mother’s side fought in the Bosnian resistance. At the same time, conditions in Kosovo were deteriorating under escalating Serbian authoritarianism. Kelmeni says while his family was very lucky as they didn’t lose any family member on neither war [Kosovo and Bosnia] his paternal grandfather was jailed and tortured on credible suspicion of possessing firearms, as he actively participated in peaceful protests in Kamenica, Kosovo which left him deaf on one ear.
“My parents’ youth was profoundly marked by the war, as they spent most of the years in Switzerland, working to fund the resistance and help family” says Isufi. By 1998, as violence in Kosovo intensified, they sought asylum in Canada and immigrated as refugees with Kelmeni and his siblings who were all very young at the time. By 1999, Kelmeni’s family would apply for family reunification and help other family members who were stuck in the middle of the Kosovo war during Canada’s emergency response program ‘Operation Parasol’.
A Hopeful New Beginning
He says he is lucky Canada has given him and other refugees the opportunities to fulfill their passions without feeling oppressed. “Currently I’m working on Eva and on persuing my childhood dream of flying as I work toward obtaining my private pilot’s license, enjoy various mechanical projects, and prepare for upcoming ventures.” Kelmeni says he is grateful to have grown up in Canada and passionate about honouring his family’s sacrifices while becoming a force for positive change in society “I'm committed to fighting for the liberation of all people — yesterday it was Bosnians and Albanians, today it's Palestinians, Tibetans, and countless others.”
Dardan Kelmeni and his family during their Canadian citizenship ceremony.