Member of the United Nations Women's Guild

Ioana is also a human rights activist, dedicating her time to developing early childhood education, offering pro bono legal services to economically disadvantaged immigrants and assisting survivors of domestic violence.

Ambassador of the Romanian Community Center

"Hey everybody… It’s that time of year again! I’m turning 25 again 😂😂. This year I want to help our community by creating a place that we can call a home away from home—The Romanian Community Center! Let’s perpetuate and enjoy a variety of ethnicities, cultures and traditions. Let’s build together a place where our kids can play and learn, stay off the streets. Let’s do this together!

Let’s unite by building our community center together…. let’s dedicate our time and effort….$10 a month can bring a lifetime of memories!" - Ioana Salajanu, Sep 2021

About Ioana....

Born in Oradea, Romania, her family immigrated to Detroit, Michigan after obtaining political asylum. Her family fled the communist regime which oppressed basic human liberties such as religious, speech, and social cultivation. Living on welfare helped them through tough times and to start a new life in the land of opportunity. Ioana learned English, studied hard and earned good grades which resulted in a political science degree from the University of Michigan. She moved to Chicago and attended the Loyola School of Law on a scholarship.

Living the American dream, she ran her own private practice for several years. Ioana has been practicing commercial litigation and transactional work since 2000. She is a dedicated community leader focusing on early childhood education, creating opportunities for startup businesses, and assisting the immigrant community. She is the mother of three boys, ages 14, 12 and 8. The oldest and the middle are avid soccer players who hope to win the World Cup and the youngest, with a smile as wide as the sun, who hopes not to be nagged by his older brothers.

Today she is a full time professional attorney representing governments in investment-based litigation and arbitration involving  sovereign immunity issues.

FOUNDER OF CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL

Children’s International, NFP ("CI") is a not-for-profit organization that was founded, organized and run by a group of Romanian mothers from Chicago who volunteer their time and effort. It is an entity that assumes its role in implementing the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations. CI relies on partnerships with community members and organizations to effectuate these ideologies.  CI has created partnerships worldwide to broaden the minds and experiences of children by creating school partnership to effectuate an exchange of ideas between schools via a controlled and developed involving:  (a) a pen pal letter writing system starting in second grade; (b) mini student exchange in the fifth grade; (c) implementing humanitarian aid programs in schools where students devise, control and implement humanitarian aid programs; (d) training children with first response/first aid techniques; (e) creating partnerships with organizations and institutions to provide a greater access of information, knowledge and experience to our youth; and (f) summer camps.

Investing in our youth’s education is the path to a solid foundation of our future. It is the tool that provides children with the skills to navigate the world.  Education extends beyond the limitations of the classroom. It is a global notion that expands to arts, sports, and the world at large. It is an ongoing process that should develop the child’s thinking, perceptions, and activities in order to integrate into his/her local community and global scale