About our Founder
Iliriana Kaçaniku, the visionary founder of Open Solve Studio, boasts over two decades of expertise in guiding diverse organizations to harness the power of openness, fostering innovation and purposeful growth. With a distinguished career spanning 20+ years, Iliriana is renowned for her strategic acumen, driving systemic change through openness and innovation. As a skilled systems-thinker, she adeptly translates visions for systemic changes into innovative programs, ensuring their successful implementation. In her role as an intrapreneur, Iliriana has played a pivotal role in supporting government, philanthropic, and private sector organizations, facilitating impactful interventions that drive positive change.
Building on her rich intrapreneurial experience, Iliriana has embarked on a new chapter by founding Open Solve Studio. Here, she continues her mission to empower organizations, guiding them in embracing openness and nurturing innovation cultures within their organizations and broader ecosystems.
As the inaugural Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at the Open Visibility Network, Iliriana made significant contributions by uncovering innovation opportunities, identifying strategic directions, fostering membership growth, and designing programs that facilitate open visibility collaborations among its members.
Among her notable achievements is the expansion of support for federal practitioners of open innovation at the General Services Administration (GSA), coupled with enhancing public engagement to collaboratively address critical issues alongside the government.
In collaboration with IDEO, Iliriana spearheaded communities of global innovators participating in open innovation competitions, addressing pressing social challenges such as early childhood development and education in emergencies.
Iliriana's strategic direction of philanthropic investments has left a lasting impact, promoting open society values, championing open government practices, and contributing to state-building efforts in post-war Kosova. During her tenure, she launched multiple innovative programs that empowered leaders across sectors for effective problem-solving and governance improvement, resulting in a seven-fold growth of her program portfolio.
Ms. Kaçaniku holds an MBA in Business Administration from Hult International Business School in San Francisco, CA, a MALD in International Development from The Fletcher School at Tufts University in Medford, MA, and an MA in International Politics and Security Studies from the University of Bradford, UK.