Ilir Zherka

Executive Director of DC Vote

Ilir Zherka is the Executive Director of DC Vote, an educational and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to secure full voting representation in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia.

A life-long advocate and respected voice of civil, human and worker rights in both the national and international communities, Mr. Zherka is leading efforts to end the denial of fundamental civil rights to District residents.

Before joining DC Vote, Mr. Zherka served as President of the National Albanian American Council (NAAC), which is dedicated to promoting democracy and human rights in the Balkans.

Mr. Zherka promoted worker rights issues while working at the U.S. Department of Labor, where he served between 1997 and 1998 as a Senior Legislative Officer for U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman. He has also worked for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign and for Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.)

Mr. Zherka is an ethnic Albanian, having immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of two.

He graduated from Cornell University with distinction — and received his law degree from the University of Virginia.

Mr. Zherka and his wife, Linda Kinney, have a son and a daughter.