Top 100 Social Capital

RUF - Romanian United Foundation
1
RUF unites the global Romanian diaspora to foster strategic change through philanthropy, innovation, and community-building. By connecting leaders worldwide, RUF positions Romania as a dynamic force in the global economy for future generations.
 
Mihai Lehene
2

Board of Directors 
Founding Angel 
Founder, Romanian United Foundation
Founder  Volunteer (full)  Teacher 
Mihai is the Owner of MDL Investments, a real-estate and VC family-office with a focus on emerging technologies, including fintech, biotech and crypto. In 2020 Mihai resigned his business roles to run RUF, and in 2022 he was elected as President of FORA.
 
Simona Oarga
3

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Chicago, IL
Volunteer 
Simona Oarga assists taxpayers and small businesses with taxes in Chicago IL and the surrounding communities. Whether you are an individual or a local business in or around Chicago IL, Simona C. Oarga has years of valuable experience as an IRS registered
 
Cristian Merdariu
4

Board of Directors 
Founding Angel 
ROCO Biz
Founding Angel, RCC Chicago Ambassador
Founding Member 
Cristian is co-founder and owner of City Habitat Realty, a successful real estate company in Chicago. He believes Romanians should work harder to express and identify themselves as one nation, to earn their own sense of value and the right to be proud.
 
Monica Ferchi
5

Founding Angel 
RUF Fundraiser & Founding Angel, Honorary Member of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Founder and CEO of TransUSA Exchange, a cultural exchange organization that specializes in placing international students and young professionals with industry leaders in the U.S.
 
Constantin Marius Emil  Raduca
6

Founding Angel 
Angel Funding,Supporter of ROCO
Volunteer 
Cristina Haidau
7

Member 
Volunteer, ROCO Edu Chapter Lead, Supporter of ROCO
Volunteer 
Miruna Zamfirescu
8

Founding Angel 
Founding Member, Reporting Officer, VP of Fundraising
Founding Member  Volunteer 
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.
Dan Serban
9

Founding Angel 
RUF Fundraiser & Founding Angel, Key West, Florida; Honorary Member of RoCo
Dan is one of the best-connected Real Estate Agents and a Top Producer in the Luxury Real Estate market in Key West. He is passionate about preserving Romanian American values and being an Ambassador of the Romanian United Fund in the Key West Area.
 
Diana Gini
10

Founding Angel 
Global Romania Diaspora Director - RUF
Staff 
Diana Gini serves as the GlobalRomania Director at RUF, where she is deeply committed to strengthening the Romanian diaspora community. She is also a Founding Angel and RUF Ambassador to Madrid for the organization.
Adina Sandu
11

Founding Angel 
Tech Support/Events
Founding Member  Volunteer 
Graduated from UIC, College of Business, with a degree in finance and works as a Digital Manager at Mainland. Fun facts: prefers a camera, unable to make a choice between hiking a mountain or walking in the sand, an incurable optimist.
 
George Roth
12

Board of Advisors 
Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Member of the Board of Directors
George is the Subject Matter Expert of the Document Understanding vertical at UiPath. He is also the Honorary Consul of Romania at the Honorary Consulate of Romania in San Francisco and Honorary Senator of the University Babes Bolyai in Cluj, Romania.
 
Diana Dram
13

Board of Advisors 
Founding Angel 
ROCO Biz
GlobalRomania Business Connector Liaison & ROCO Business Chapter Lead
Diana is acting as Global Strategic Sourcing Director with McDonaldโ€™s. She leads business relationships and strategies that leverage scale for positive impact on the environment and communities globally.
 
Ciprian Fiastru
14

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Honorary Member of RoCo
Volunteer 
Ciprian is the owner of Chicago Clean Home since 2013. The company was founded with a great desire to offer top-quality, detail-oriented cleaning services to home and business owners that aim at having not just cleaner spaces, but also healthier ones.
 
Oana Dobrean-Urzica
15

Founding Angel 
ROCO Executive Director
Staff 
Oana is the Executive Director of ROCO. Prior to this role, she was one of the most active volunteers. She believes in the strength of our community, in doing good things, and in leaving something worthwhile behind.
 
Ligia Apostoaia
16

Board of Directors 
Founding Angel 
Secretary of the Board, CEO of MDL Investments
Founding Member  Volunteer  Teacher 
Ligiaโ€™s charity 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. Today she continues to do what she is most passionate about: doing good.
Cosmina Ungur
17

Member 
Office Manager, Chicago
Founding Member  Volunteer 
Cosmina has a Master Degree in Economics from University of Targu Mures. She is the RUF office wizard, handling all accounting and administrative issues. She moved to Chicago from Romania more than a decade ago and she is passionate about helping people.
Cristian Luput
18

Board of Directors 
Founding Angel 
Founder & CEO, Optimus Realty
The founder and CEO of Optimus Realty Inc, Cristian strongly believes in the power of charity to improve people's lives and change the mentalities and hopes of the less fortunate ones. Cristian is acting Treasurer of RUF.
 
Maria Molnar
19

Member 
Ambassador of the Chicago Community Center, Volunteer Storyteller
Stefania Suciu
20

Founding Angel 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Iuliana Niculescu
21

Senior Partner at Hospital Consultants PC
Valentin Daraban
22

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Ambassador of the Romanian Community Center of Chicago
Volunteer 
Real Estate Developer for Keeper Development INC
Beatrice Radu
23

Board of Advisors 
Beatrice Radu
Volunteer 
Beatrice Radu is a business and life coach with expertise in management, community-building, and holistic practices like yogic astrology, empowering clients to align personal and professional goals.
Monica Zaha
24
Anamaria Neamt
25

Member 
Founding Member, Word Whisperer (Newsletter), Supporter of the Romanian Community Center of Chicago
Founding Member  Volunteer 
โ€œDonโ€™t Panicโ€ (aka Douglas Adamsโ€™ version of todayโ€™s โ€œstay calmโ€) 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
 
Diana Muresan
26

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Honorary Member of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Diana Muresan is Mortgage Banker with The Federal Savings Bank, member of the Chairman Club and currently creating the first Senior Housing Department at the TFSB. She has a master degree from DuPaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
 
Georgi Merdariu
27

Founding Angel 
Chief Engagement Officer
Founding Member  Staff  Teacher 
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.
Ana Grecu
28

Member 
Ambassador and Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
I love to be involved in community projects! Ready to be involved in projects to make others people life better! Being helpful is what i love to do!
 
Mike Dinescu
29

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, RUF Ambassador in Irvine, CA
Volunteer  Teacher 
Full stack engineer working at Amazon/Alexa. Not long ago, breaking the cloud at AWS, building web services at scale to solve BigData problems. Mike lives in San Diego and chose to teach Math to be an inspiration for children, including his two daughters.
Flaviu Simihaian
30

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, CEO at Troy Medicare, Charlotte, NC
Volunteer 
Flaviu is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Troy Medicare and previously iMedicare, a Software-as-a-Service platformย that 10,000+ pharmacies use to grow their business and care for each patient.
 
Lavinia Tomescu
31

Member 
Ambassador of RoCo, Supporter of RoCo, Member of the RoCo Chicago Community Council
Asociatia Monumentum
32

Ambulance for Monuments
The "Ambulance for Monuments" project is targeting, in a desperate race against time, the salvation from collapse and degradation of hundreds of Romanian threatened historical buildings that are listed.
Horatiu Suciu
33

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Chicago, Il
Managing Partner at City Habitat Properties
 
Simona Vasile
34

Board of Advisors 
Founding Angel 
Tax Principal and Global Mobility Expert | KPMG Culture Champion & Leadership Advocate
Volunteer 
Simona is a Tax Principal in the Global Mobility Services (GMS). She is a KPMG Culture Champion, a member of the KPMG KNOW NYO Leadership Council, RomAmPro board member, and Ms. President US advisory board member.
Monica Magdas Miller
35

Founding Angel 
CEO of Iconoclast Studio/Creative Director of Santicler
Raised in Romania, Monica's upbringing involved learning traditional textile techniques, which fueled her passion for fashion and sustainability. Monica has an extensive background as an apparel industry executive, including a role as Senior Design Direct
 
Irina Nedeljkovic
36

Member 
RUF Core Team Member, ROCO Events Team Coordinator, "Trips To Romania" Program Manager
Staff 
I am a dedicated member of the Romanian United Foundation (RUF) Core Team, I'm serving as the "Trips to Romania" Program Manager. Born and raised in Romania, I immigrated to the United States in 2006 at the age of 23. At RUF, I coordinate annual Trips to
 
Mihai Popovici
37

Founding Angel 
CEO and Chairman at Z-Terra
Volunteer 
Alexander Mihai Popovici is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman at Z-Terra Inc., a provider of state-of-the-art geophysical and geological technology, services and software for the oil and gas industry. He holds a Ph.D. in geophysics from Stanford Univ.
Allan Cruse
38

Member 
Professor Emeritus, Founding Angel
Alex Popa
39

Founding Angel 
Investor & Finance Leaders Fellow, The Aspen Institute
Alex Popa is a global technology, venture, and growth investor. He spent the last sixteen years at The Capital Group, one of the world's largest and oldest investment firms, where he was a Partner and a Portfolio Manager for the largest actively managed f
Marcel Podar
40
Owner at Limo Pro Chicago Inc
Radu Georgescu
41

Founding Angel 
Serial Entrepreneur and Venture Capitalist, Founder of Seedblink, RUF Founding Angel
One of the most prominent and successful entrepreneurs in Eastern Europe, Radu founded GECAD in 1992. He focuses on identifying and on-boarding new investment opportunities, as well as promoting entrepreneurship in the new generation of innovators.
 
Miron Lila
44

Founding Angel 
Healthcare Executive, Caidya, Hong Kong
Marian Tanau
45

Founding Angel 
Founder, American Romanian Music Festival, Ann Arbor, MI
Ruxandra Muys-Stoian
46

Founding Angel 
Co-Founder WIT Angels Club
Ruxandra Stoian co-founder of the Bucharest-based Women Invest in Tech Angels Club, launched 2021. Ruxandra Muys-Stoian has a background in public health and health services management.
 
Cristina Costea
47

Member 
Supporter of the Romanian Community Center of Chicago
Volunteer 
Romina Ionascu
48

Founding Angel 
Executive Assistant
Staff 
Originally from Romania, I relocated to the US in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics. Currently, I serve as the administrative expert at RUF, where I handle all accounting and administrative issues. I have a passion for teaching young children.
Jim Rosapepe
49

Senator Jim Rosapepe, Former Ambassador of the United States to Romania
James Carew Rosapepe (born May 20, 1951) is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party.
Gabriela Tatar-Cordos
51

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel Liaison
Volunteer 
MSW from Washington University in St. Louis, firm believer in the importance of building a strong Romanian community to enrich the lives of individuals, their families, and society as a whole. Currently volunteers as Founding Angels Liaison for RUF
 
Cristian Sabo
52

Supporter, Chicago Community Center
Volunteer 
Dan Cosma
53

Member 
Ambassador of RoCo, Supporter of RoCo
Volunteer 
Monica Horga
54

Member 
Founding Member, Ambassador of RoCo, Supporter of RoCo
Founding Member  Volunteer 
Asociatia Ovidiuro
55

Access to quality early education for disadvantaged children
OvidiuRo focuses on making early education accessible to and effective for disadvantaged children throughout Romania via teacher training, providing rich educational materials, and parent education. We focus on early literacy for children.
Diana Ulici
56

Member 
ROCO Member, ROCO Fun Chapter Lead, Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Cente
Volunteer 
Diana has an extensive background in Sports and Management, and graduated with a Master's in Healthcare Administration from National Louis University in Chicago.
 
Mihaela Livanu
57

Founding Angel 
Community Partners Director
Founding Member  Volunteer 
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.
Dan Nicolae
58

Board of Directors 
Founding Angel 
Vice President of Romanian United Foundation
Dan Nicolae serves as the Faculty co-Director of the Data Science Institute and the Committee on Data Scienceat the University of Chicago and is a Professor in the Departments of Statistics, Human Genetics, and Medicine. His research interests are in the
Paula Telcian
59

ROCO Chicago: Community Outreach Liaison
Volunteer 
A dedicated leader that volunteers through her church and Romanian Community in Chicago. Passionate about teaching her culture, traditions, and faith to children and youth, organizes various social, cultural, and religious events in the community. Studie
 
Cosmin Lehene
60
Live and die by the data. Founder https://t.co/UJURPIiMJd embedded working capital for vertical SaaS. Former Adobe built Experience Cloud, Big Data Analytics, open-source.
 
Iulia Dima
61

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer  Teacher 
Paula Cernucan
62

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Just me
 
Mihaela Campion
63

Member 
Founder, Psychotherapy and Transformational Movement and ARCHER
Mihaela is the founder of the Psychotherapy and Transformational Movement with over twenty-two years of clinical experience. She received an MA in Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, specializing in Counseling Psychology.
 
Victor Poenar
64

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Dragos Iliescu
65

Board of Advisors 
Member 
ROCO Biz
Chief Operating Officer
Volunteer 
Finance professional with more than 12 years of experience in sustainable/impact investment
 
Catalin Oancea
66

Ambassador of the Romanian Community Center of Chicago
Volunteer 
Is a finance major with a Masterโ€™s degree in Project and Process Management. He gained extensive experience in change management, designing roadmaps, and managing client relationships at both institutional and individual levels.
Marius Moldovan
67

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Laura Bercean
68

Fundraising Coordinator, Key West
Volunteer  Teacher 
Laura lives in Key West with her family, including her 4 children Andrei, Thea, Nyssa, and Clara. Laura has been working with SOS Mission, a nonprofit focused on helping homeless people and poor families. She believes all Romanians should work together.
 
Oana Pastean
69

Member 
Supporter of RoCo
Volunteer 
Ioana Guset
70

Board of Directors 
Member 
Legal Counsel to the Board of Directors
Ioana is an attorney with Taft Stettinius & Hollister. She focuses her practice on commercial litigation matters. She has guided her clients in complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts, at both the trial and appellate levels.
Casandra Rdzak
71

Member 
Founding Member
Founding 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.
Gabriela Hanta
72

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer  Teacher 
Since she moved to Chicago, Gabiโ€™s Romanian roots became stronger. She believes in community and giving back and wants her children to be proud Romanians. Sheโ€™s been a passionate teacher of Italian for over 25 years.
 
Marius Stan
73

Board of Directors 
Member 
Scientist, Author and Actor
Volunteer 
Marius is internationally recognized as one of the founders of computer simulation of complex phenomena. He was Principal Investigator at the Argonne Laboratory and an Associate Professor at the Univ. of Chicago and Northwestern University.
 
Ioana Savos
74

Founding Angel 
RUF Founding Angel, Member of the Chicago Community Council, Honorary Member of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Lia Dancu Fratila
75

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Daniela Kammrath
76

Board of Directors 
Executive Director Emerita, Member of the Board of Directors
Volunteer 
Daniela Kammrath, RUF's ED, is an experienced marketing and business development consultant, with entrepreneurial, nonprofit, and fundraising experience. She believes in doing good, empowering women, and the power of example.
 
Bianca Mancas
77

Founding Angel 
RUF Volunteer, Ambassador and Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Liviu Olos
78

Board of Advisors 
Frequent RUF donor, RUF volunteer, Entrepreneur
Volunteer 
His beliefs about a Global Romania come from his father that talked about "Romanirea omenirii". Liviu is an entrepreneur, a life long learner, a business advisor and a father of two great boys. Please connect on LinkedIn to know more.
 
Nicoleta Roman
79

Mezzo-Soprano, RUF Ambassador & VP of Donor Relations, RCCC Ambassador
Volunteer 
Romanian-American Mezzo-Soprano Nicoleta Roman has been a prominent member of the Romanian community in Chicago for over 23 years. She is fond of her Romanian heritage, constantly promoting her values through her voice.
Raluca Nicolae
80

Member 
Ambasador al Romanian Community Center of Chicago
Cera Stan
81

Member 
Friend of the Romanian Community and Supporter of RUF
Liana Sava
82

Member 
Supporter of RoCo
Volunteer 
Gabriela Cosma
83

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Bachelorโ€™s Degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Masters of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University. She taught Science, Social Studies, and English as a Second Language to refugees from the Middle East in public school
Rusalina Mincu
84

Member 
Ambassador of RoCo, Supporter of RoCo
 
Valentin Stoica
85

Founding Angel 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Adriana Rosca
86

Member 
Program Coordinator. Volunteer Storyteller. Member of ROCO
Volunteer  Teacher 
Adriana moved to Chicago from Romania in 2008. Sheโ€™s a passionate storyteller and public speaker that wants to give back to her community.
 
Mihaela Lujerdean
87
Florian Militaru
88
Is the Founder of Protek-IT, where he successfully manages a team of eight highly skilled IT professionals, supporting over 100 Chicago businesses and non-profits.
 
Dana Surcel
89

Member 
ROCO Biz
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
With over 17 Years of Real Estate sales and property management experience and as a licensed and certified manager of Comunity Associations, Dana provides top-notch service with every aspect of purchasing and selling a home.
 
Melania Revnic
90

Member 
Ambassador of the Community Center of Chicago
Luminita Ispas
91

Member 
Top Producing Real Estate Agent, Century 21
Volunteer 
Luminita (โ€œLumiโ€) Ispas has been an award-winning top producer, an effective team leader, and a successful real estate investor & developer for more than 20 years.
 
Mirela Birta
92

Founding Member
Founding Member  Teacher 
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.
 
Alexander Turik
93
Alex Turik is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish United Fund and the immediate past Chairman of JUF's Russian Jewish Division Advisory Board and one of the founders of RJD.
 
Vlad Vitoc
94

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel, Founder and CEO of MAIA Biotechnology
Vlad is the Founder of CEO of Maia Biotechnologies,ย anย immuno-oncology company focused on the development and commercialization of potential first-in-class drugs.
 
Adrian Nechiti
95

Founder, Vox Maris Band
I always felt that something was missing in our Community, in Chicago, a central point of connection for our people. It was a dream "if somebody would open a Community Center for all of us, that would be nice ..."
 
Ioana Salajanu
96

Board of Advisors 
Founding Angel 
Attorney at Law; Member of the United Nations Women's Guild and RUF Board of Advisors; Childrenโ€™s International NFP, founder
Ioana is an attorney and human rights activist, dedicating her time to developing early childhood education, offering pro bono legal services to economically disadvantaged immigrants and survivors of domestic violence.
 
Ramona Florescu
97

Member 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Beata Naศ™cu
98

Volunteer 
Dan Patrascan
99

Founding Angel 
Supporter of ROCO, the Romanian Community Center
Volunteer 
Ted Cominos
100

Founding Angel 
Founding Angel; RUF Board of Directors; Venture Capital / Private Equity Attorney
Ted Cominos is Corporate / Private Capital partner with the Global-10 law firm, Eversheds-Sutherland.

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