Pomona chief award

The chief executive of Pomona Capital, Michael D Granoff, was awarded the Order of Mother Teresa Medal by the president of Albania on June 16 in the Albanian capital of Tirana for his work as chairman of the Albanian American Enterprise Fund (AAEF.) Only three other individuals have received the medal, including US Senator Hillary Clinton, the former Prime Minister of Germany and AAEF Chairman Emeritus Domenick Scaglione.

The Order of Mother Teresa Medal was awarded to Granoff for “distinguished merits to the benefit of the development of the Albanian Nation and its economic, political and human progress.” Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano nominated Granoff for the Order. Albanian President Alfred Moisiu presented the Award to Granoff in a formal ceremony at the presidential office in Tirana.

In his acceptance speech, Granoff said, “I realise that this award is really not about me. It is about the efforts of many people in the private sector and in government working together for almost a decade towards a single goal; to build a free and fair private sector economy in Albania.”Granoff was appointed by US President Bill Clinton to the board of directors of the AAEF in 1995.

He was later elected chairman. The AAEF is one of a number of enterprise funds created by the US Government to promote the development of the private sector in the formerly communist nations of Europe.