Ligia Apostoaia

Secretary and Founding Member
Ligia acts as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of RUF. Ligia’s charity and non-profit involvement began at a very young age, helping her family foundation with the distribution of humanitarian aid to the families in need in the area immediately.
Mirela Birta

Founding Member
Mirela is co-founder of Spera Foundation, an organization that provides opportunities to underprivileged children in Romania to continue their education, achieve academic excellence, and ultimately make a positive impact in their communities.
Mihai Bora

Founding Member
Mircea Campean

Founding Member
Real Estate Broker at Century 21 SGR
Alina Cumpan

Founding Member
Ariana Drule

Founding Member, Volunteer Coordinator
Since she moved to Chicago, Ariana earned two Master's degrees, International Public Service and Leadership Communication . Thanks to a local NPO, Upwardly Global, she was able to start her career in the US in international higher education.
Monica Horga

Founding Member
Mihai Lehene

President and Founding Member of RUF
Mihai is a Founding Member and the President of RUF. Passionate and caring, Mihai’s goal is to inspire all around him to be better and help each other, especially his fellow Romanian Americans.
twitter.com/mlehene
Mihaela Livanu

Community Partners Department Director
Mihaela is a social worker and co-founder of Spera Foundation, a nonprofit that provides educational opportunities for underprivileged children in Romania. She is also serving as an Educational Programs Advisor for SPOC Charity.
Georgiana Merdariu

Founding Member
Georgiana is bringing extensive experience in Communication & Marketing gained from her previous roles as a journalist in the biggest media trust in Romania and coordinator of international campaigns for well-established clients at Ogilvy and Grey G2.
Anamaria Neamt

Founding Member, Word Whisperer
“Don’t Panic” (aka Douglas Adams’ version of today’s “stay calm”) Born with an affinity for numbers and words in a family of educators. My journey: music school, writing club, math, economics, and, closing the circle, teaching. Going back to the roots se
Casandra Rdzak

Fonding Member
Casandra is an employment lawyer and has practiced law for nearly 10 years as an associate at two well-respected Chicago law firms and as in-house counsel at a large international bank. Casandra obtained her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Adina Sandu

Founding Member
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” Incurable optimistic? Adina says no. We need to believe in the good that lies ahead and we can do amazing things together. Random fact: she would rather carry a camera than a purse.
Miruna Zamfirescu

Founding Member, Reporting Officer
Originally from Bistrita, Miruna earned her BA in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has built her career in the financial markets as an algorithmic trader/quantitative analyst.