Board of Trustees
Narcisa Cumpana, Bacau School Inspectorate Cumpana was born in 1978 to a Roma family in Bacau County. Forced into an arranged marriage at 16, she had to quit school before completing the 9th grade and was the mother of two daughters before she reached the age of 20. Through the “Gata, Dispus si Capabil” Mothers Program she began working as a teacher's aide in 2001. In 2004 she became a Roma Health Mediator and co-founder of Asociatia Ovidiu Rom. In 2005 Narcisa graduated from the Global Students Leadership program at Manhattanville College in New York.
Autumn 2009, Narcisa graduated from the Babes-Bolay University in Cluj-Napoca and is now a certified teacher. She teaches at a kindergarten in Bacau.
Leslie Hawke, The Alex Fund. Hawke is the president and founder of The Alex Fund, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and co-founder of Asociatia Ovidiu Rom, Romania. She started “Gata, Dispus si Capabil” as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2001, in Bacau, Romania, with a grant from USAID . Before coming to Romania, Hawke had over 25 years experience as an executive in educational & professional publishing and non-profit fundraising and program development. Formerly the Director of Development for The Princeton Center for Leadership Training and a trustee of The Doe Fund, NY (1998-2004) she founded The Alex Fund in 2001 to raise funds in the U.S. for programs to help Romania's poorest citizens become self-sufficient. In January, 2005, she was the eighth recipient of USAID’s Outstanding Citizen Citation. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, she has done graduate work in public policy and in elementary education.
Maria Gheorghiu, Ovidiu Rom. Gheorghiu has 18 years teaching experience and a degree in Psychology from the University of Bucharest. She participated in professional trainings in progressive education techniques in the US and the UK thanks to a Soros Foundation grant. She also participated in the first “Step-by-Step” alternative education program introduced to Romania through the Soros Foundation in 1997. In 2008 she completed the Project Zero Classroom at Harward Graduate School of Education.
Mihaela Masica, Bacau Health Department. Masica is a Roma woman who graduated the second “Gata, Dispus si Capabil” training group for impoverished mothers in 2001. In 2003 she was trained as a health mediator and hired by the Bacau Health Department to help the people living in the impoverished community of Colonia Bistritei, Buhusi to obtain the medical assistance to which they were entitled. In April 2004, Mihaela founded Asociatia Ovidiu Rom together with Narcisa Cumpana and Leslie Hawke.
Sandra Pralong, Synergy Group. Pralong currently directs Synergy Group International in Bucharest. Formerly Regional Communications Advisor with the United Nations Development Programme and a prior director of the Soros Foundation in Romania, Pralong was an advisor to the President of Romania from 1998-2002. She holds a Masters Degree in Political Science, Columbia University, a Masters in Law and Diplomacy/International Relations from the Fletcher School, and an MBA from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Advisory Board
Bogdan Atanasiu, Dan International
Andrew Begg, Vivid Magazine
Daniel Daianu, SNSPA
Alexandra Gatej, Consultant
Anca Harasim, American Chamber of Commerce in Romania
Mike Holmes Pepsi/Prigat
Shahmir Khaliq, Citi
Catalin Mardare, Romanian Senate
Roxana Marin, G. Cosbuc High School
Oliver Meister, Media Pro
Sadoukhas Meraliyev, Rompetrol
Mariela Neagu, Consultant
Friedrich Niemann, Athenee Palace Hilton
Liliana Preoteasa, Ministry of Education
Elena Serban, Vodafone
Camelia Sucu, Class Living
Alexandra Tinjala, Sister & Co.
