Chief Investment Officer, Erste Asset Management. Romania
Nicolae Albu holds a B.Sc. in International Business and wrote his final thesis on "Interest Rate Risk Management in Foreign Investments". He is currently Chief Investment Officer at Erste Asset Management. He believes that many things have to be changed or improved during this period of transition but every change should begin with the people themselves. He has had the opportunity to bring his own contribution to the development of the mutual funds industry, by promoting high professional standards and by introducing new financial products.

Vice President, Youth Organization, LDPM. Republic of Moldova
Nighina Azizov has been actively involved in the development of political parties in Moldova, contributing with her knowledge, skills, experience and hard work to the enhancement of the women and youth political organizations. She holds a Master degree in Political Sciences and is now working for a Liberal Democratic Party. Her goal is to live in an authentic democracy with citizens who respect the rights of each other. Nighina has had several initiatives in her professional and personal life that prove leadership, determination and vision: alongside other women representing political parties, civil society and private sector she has established the Women's Democracy Network Moldova Branch to encourage women leaders to participate in political decision-making and run for elections in Moldova. In her private life, one of the many leadership experiences she can share is travelling alone all across Asia to Tadjikistan to find her family roots.

Managing Director, Romedia Foundation. Hungary
Katalin Barsony is a sociologist, filmmaker and project manager at the Budapest-based Roma NGO Romedia Foundation where she has used her understanding of minority issues and her expertise to create a first-ever documentary series on Roma communities around the world. She believes that behind each concrete action directed at bringing about social empowerment, we have to build a larger framework. She also considers essential the formation of a modern, positive and mobilizing Romani identity as a means of empowerment for the Roma. Her films in the Hungarian media shape Roma's perceptions of their own identity and promote group mobilization and solidarity.

Youth Program Coordinator, Youth Program Coordinator, UNFPA. Georgia
Matuta Bjalava holds a Master Degree in Public Health at the Management and Behavior School of Public Health, New York State University and is the Principal Author of the report "New York Community Health Profiles". She is very familiar with youth matters in Georgia, while being Youth Program Coordinator at the United Nations Population Fund. Matuta has also demonstrated commitment to improving skills of Georgian youth in underserved communities and believes that power stands in unity.

President, EcoAssist Association. Romania
Liana Buzea studied Economic Management at the Academy of Economic Studies. She has been the initiator and main coordinator of the "Let's Do It, Romania!" initiative which has succeeded in meeting and exceeding all its objectives and has turned into an unprecedented mass movement that has redeemed a decades-long history of mistaking volunteer work for forced labor and of the subsequent mockery. She believes that the only thing driving her throughout the years was the need to make a difference in society, to accomplish bigger things and the satisfaction to have driven other people along into this change.

Chief Operations Officer, Fundatia Noi Orizonturi.Romania
For the past 7 years Diana has been helping build and lead the New Horizons Foundation as Chief Operations Officer and a highly respected and influential actor within the Romania civil society. New Horizons Foundation is now the largest Romanian nonprofit organization that uses "learn by doing" programs for youth, transforming youth into agents of change in order to act on behalf of and contribute to their communities. She is a Political Science graduate of the Babes-Bolyai University, with a Master degree in Community Development and has always been a strong believer in the importance of volunteering. Diana has developed a national program which is now implemented in 12 counties in Romania and in other 3 countries: Honduras, Moldova and the USA.  The values that guide her life are summarized in Mahatma Gandhi's words "You must be the change you want to see in the world".

GRSC Director, Oracle Romania. Romania
Robert studied at the University of Trier and holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Economics. For the last 6 years Robert has been working at Oracle Corporation where he currently holds the position of GRSC Director. He strongly believes in accountability as a value per se not only in a corporation but also in society as a whole thinking that where accountability lacks there can be no team spirit and therefore no progress.

External Fellow Assistant, Law School, Bucharest University. Romania
Bogdan Dima currently holds the position of External Fellow Assistant at the Faculty of Law in Bucharest and is attending PhD Studies in Administrative Law at the same institution. The main topic of his studies is the balance of power between the Romanian President, the Prime-minister and the Parliament in post-communist Romania. He participated in the implementation of European funded projects regarding the development of judicial statistical system and the human resources trainings for a more effective public administration, but also developed entrepreneurial skills as managing partner of a political consultancy firm. Bogdan is sure that any change to Romanian society is firmly related to institutional performance. He is currently working in the direction of creating sustainable institutional development through his projects with the Horia Rusu Foundation of a New Constitution.

Executive Director, ACRAFE. Romania
Marian is the Executive Manager of the Association of Romania Consultants specialized in European Funds Absorption, association which he has initiated and founded 3 years ago. By doing so, he has proposed a new concept, that of "a common voice" in an environment where everyone was by his own and assured that the voice of the professionals is listened and their actions are powerful and efficient. The first value that guides his life is the word of honor, a value he promotes relentless within his business environment.

Country Facilitator, Roma Education Fund - Budapest. Romania
Danut Dumitru graduated Sociology and Social Work and also holds a Master degree in Administration of Community Justice. He is currently working as a Country Facilitator in Romania for Roma Education Fund, after almost four years of work with Open Society Institute as Program Coordinator. Danut considers that the relationships, communication and team work among the individuals might be a solution in combating the social provocations especially while living in a challenging society, where many social, economic and cultural challenges occur on a daily basis. This is the reason why he plans to further focus his work and efforts on education and team work.

Strategy and Business Transformation, IBM Middle East and Africa. Romania
Mugurel Florea describes himself as being a passionate, energetic and highly motivated young professional with educational background in managerial accounting and informatics. He is experienced in marketing, sales, training and business processes consulting in Emerging Markets for several multinational companies. Mugurel currently holds the position of Offering Leader at IMB Middle East and is responsible with the development of the IBM business in the Middle East through MTS coverage. In Romania, he is in the process of creating a foundation that will run a project in the village of his parents with the aim of facilitating access to education for children who, because of lack of various resources, would otherwise not have a fair chance to grow as individuals.

Manager BP Group, Azerbaijan Regional Performance Unit. Azerbaijan
Ibrahim is managing the Communication and External Affairs Department within British Petroleum Azerbaijan having a significant role in the company and in the region, in the field of industry and regional development. He is also an active member of the Association of Scout of Azerbaijan and an experienced trainer and development professional with notable achievements in youth work and development field. He was recently nominated to stand in the elections for role in the World Scout Committee. He has actively engaged in civic projects and was recognized on national and international levels for his contribution towards youth policy and youth work and also socio-economic development. Since the formative years of his childhood he set on to work hard to "make the world a better place than he had found it".

Executive Director, Liberty Institute. Georgia
Giorgi started his career as student leader by joining activist group at Tbilisi State University. Seeking a lasting institutional change, Mr. Meladze and a group of friends founded the first elected student body to lead future reform initiatives. After having completed his studies with a law degree in Georgia Mr. Meladze was accepted to Columbia University Law faculty program.
Upon returning to Tbilisi, Giorgi led several of the campaigns that ultimately resulted to Georgia's Rose Revolution, the bloodless revolt in 2003 that effectively removed President Eduard Shevardnadze from power. After this successful experience, he worked with civil movements engendering them in other parts of the world.
Today, Mr. Meladze serves on the Board of Public Broadcasters. He also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities implementing protocols of the framework under the Council of Europe.
In addition to serving on the Advisory Committee, Mr. Meladze teaches freedom of religion and media law at Ilia State University. In 2010 he was invited to run a class on Constitutional Political Economy at Free University of Tbilisi.

Head of Department at the Organization for SME Sector Development within the Ministry of Economy. Republic of Moldova
A native of Chisinau City, Republic of Moldova, born in 1982, Olga Melniciuc obtained her BA in International Economics at ULIM (Chisinau, Moldova, 2004), followed by Masters Degree in European Studies at the Center for Advanced European Studies and Research (Novi Sad, Serbia, 2007) and Masters Degree in Business Administration at ASEM (Chisinau, Moldova, 2010). With over 10 years of work experience in both private and public sector, Olga is currently employed as Head of Department at the Organization for SME Sector Development within the Ministry of Economy. Being a young leading professional in the field of planning, coordination and monitoring of business related programs, Olga developed and promoted such socio-economic initiatives as National Programme for Youth Economic Empowerment (PNAET) and Programme on Attraction of Remittances in Economy (PARE 1+1), as well as other smaller, but similar in importance projects. Because of her passion for entrepreneurial development, women and young people economic empowerment and promotion of corporate social responsibility, Olga is an active volunteer at such non-profit organizations as: Junior Chamber International Chisinau (2011VP), International Center for Advancement of Women in Business and Global Compact Network Moldova.

 

Governance Program Coordinator, Oxfam GB. Azerbaijan
Elshad Mikayilov is the Governance Program coordinator at Oxfam GB in Azerbaijan where he is promoting and implementing development projects about local governments. He holds both a BA and a MA in English Language from Azerbaijan Languages University and he has also completed a MA in Public Policy at the Central European University, Budapest. He has extended experience in policy analysis, decentralization issues and project management in the humanitarian aid sector. 

Founder, Euro Asia Projects Istanbul. Romania
Ana Oprisan is a PhD Candidate in Development Studies at the University of London having chosen "The Roma in Turkey - From Survival Mechanism to Development Strategies" as subject for her thesis. She is also the founder and general manager of the Euro Asia Projects, a consultancy firm that is involved in EU funding, project management and implementation, training/capacity building, EU policies or regional development. Ana has been active in the Roma civil society in Romania and in Turkey, she managed humanitarian missions in Iran, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Syria, directly implementing aid programs, disaster mitigation and management, community rehabilitation and development, exploring practices and acquiring skills that no other environment could have taught her.

Project Coordinator, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Romania
She currently holds the position of Project Coordinator at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for the Rule of Law Program South East Europe. Corina has always been very interested in national and international politics, justice and human rights so it was a natural choice for her to contribute to the development of these fields by working with people's minds. Corina studied at the University of Manchester, University of Bucharest and University of Liege and is a founding member of the LeadJust Association and of the One World Romania Association.

Lecturer, Istanbul Sehir University. Turkey
Muzaffer Senel works at the Istanbul Sehir University's Political Science and International Relations department as well as at the Science and Arts Foundation. He has previously conducted research at Oxford University, being funded by notable research organizations. He is currently enrolled in a PhD at the Marmara University, Turkey where he conducts research on Security and Order in Europe, Turkish Foreign Policy, Cyprus Issues, Politics and International Relations of the European Union and EU Policies towards the Middle East and New Neighborhood Policy.

Head of External Communication, BCR Erste Bank. Romania
Ionut Stanimir attended the Faculty of Political Sciences in Bucharest and currently works as Head of External Communication at BCR Erste Bank. With 8 years of professional, Ionut's career goal is to activate as a top communication professional and to set industry benchmarks for corporate and financial communication. He also wants to work and achieve constructive public understanding of finance and financial services for the benefit of a sustainable development.

External Partner. Center for Peace Studies. Croatia
Leila Younis is working in the field of conflict transformation in former Yugoslavia as part of ConSol Group and Interkultura. Currently she is undertaking a Master degree within the Department of History of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Zagreb. She is involved in various youth groups and initiatives bringing together young activists from South Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and Northern Africa and the Middle East, while she believes that through education, people will become more open to live with different nations and customs.

Executive Board Member, MedLife SA (Romania)
Ciprian Ciobanu has been responsible for the last 9 years for the sales and development strategy of the most important healthcare provider in Romania and is also responsible for the company's investment plans and business forecast. He also integrates overtaken local healthcare providers in the MedLife business. Although he works in a very competitive business environment, he believes that failing with people means failing in business and vice-versa.