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Blog Post
Litera Bruchsal $1,000 Microgrant
Funds Sources: Romanian United Foundation
Project Name: Romanian LETTERS – International Festival of Literary Creation for Romanian Children and Youth from the Diaspora and Romania
Partner: Litera Bruchsal (🔗 website)
Starting Date: November, 2025
Financing: Completed
Project Status: Finished
Financed by RUF: $1,000
Short Description:
Romanian United Foundation awards a $1,000 grant from its RUF Microgrants Fund for the Diaspora to LITERA Bruchsal to deliver the 3rd edition of “Romanian LETTERS,” an international literary festival for Romanian children and youth from the diaspora and Romania, which takes place between October and December 2025 and promotes the Romanian language, creativity, and cultural identity.
Details:
Organized annually by the German–Romanian Association LITERA Bruchsal, the “Romanian LETTERS” festival offers an international literary creation contest for Romanian-speaking children and youth from Romania and the diaspora, with around 300 participants submitting original works under the guidance of teachers and parents.
The 2025 edition combines a digital call for entries, professional jury evaluation, an online awards ceremony, and post-event dissemination to highlight young voices and connect schools and communities across countries. The RUF grant supports essential costs, including prizes, jury honoraria, logistics, and communications, thereby helping to ensure a high-quality contest with strong international visibility.
The initiative advances RUF’s GlobalRomania and Diaspora priorities by preserving the Romanian language, strengthening cultural identity, and building a recurring transnational educational platform around literature and creativity.
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Blog Post
Emanuel University $1,000 Microgrant
Funds Sources: Romanian United Foundation
Project Name: Emanuel University Community Builders Microgrant
Partner: Emanuel University (🔗 website)
Starting Date: October, 2025
Financing: Completed
Project Status: Finished
Financed by RUF: $1,000
Short Description:
Romanian United Foundation awards a $1,000 grant from its RUF Microgrants Fund for the Diaspora to Emanuel University to support academic formation and leadership development, preparing students for responsible service and long-term contribution to society.
Details:
Emanuel University of Oradea offers a rigorous academic environment focused on intellectual development, leadership skills, and ethical responsibility.
Members of Romanian United Foundation leadership were present at the University’s gala to recognize this initiative and strengthen relationships between institutional and diaspora communities.
The $1,000 microgrant advances RUF’s diaspora priorities by building bridges, reinforcing cross-community ties, and investing in individuals who will contribute to society in Romania and beyond.
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Blog Post
Romani de Succes $1,000 Microgrant
Funds Sources: Romanian United Foundation
Project Name: Români de Succes – Global Romania Dialogues LIVE
Partner: Rozoom Press (🔗 website)
Starting Date: March, 2025
Financing: Completed
Project Status: Finished
Financed by RUF: $1,000
Short Description:
Romanian United Foundation awards a $1,000 grant from its RUF Microgrants Fund for the Diaspora to RoZoom Press to support “Români de Succes – Dialoguri LIVE,” a live interview series amplifying diaspora success stories and strengthening global Romanian connections through dialogue and visibility.
Details:
“Români de Succes – Dialoguri LIVE” is a weekly live interview series featuring Romanian professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, and civic leaders living abroad, with interactive audience engagement and broad digital dissemination.
The microgrant supports content production and distribution across live and recorded platforms, creating a growing archive of diaspora expertise and experience.
The initiative directly advances Global Romania, a cornerstone of RUF’s five-year vision to build a vetted global diaspora network, by connecting communities, showcasing talent, and creating bridges that enable collaboration, shared identity, and long-term impact worldwide.
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Blog Post
RTN $1,000 Microgrant
Funds Sources: Romanian United Foundation
Project Name: RTN Grant
Starting Date: November, 2024
Financing: Completed
Project Status: Finished
Financed by RUF: $1,000
Short Description:
Romanian United Foundation (RUF) has pledged a $1,000 grant to Romanian Christian Television (RCT) in recognition of its 30th Anniversary and its continued commitment to uplifting and connecting the Romanian Diaspora.
Details:
Since its founding in 1994 under the leadership of Petru Amarei, RCT has been a vital platform for Romanian communities worldwide, fostering connections, supporting businesses, and amplifying the work of nonprofit organizations. RCT’s dedication to advancing the development and cohesion of the diaspora aligns closely with RUF’s mission to empower changemakers and create a strong, connected global community.
This partnership embodies a shared vision of strengthening the cultural and social identity of the Romanian Diaspora, highlighting impactful initiatives while fostering collaboration among organizations, and promoting unity to advance the progress of Romania and its global communities.
In recognition of this grant, RCT has generously offered an in-kind donation valued at $1,000 to both RUF and ROCO, designating them as Bronze Sponsors for RCT’s 30th Anniversary Fund. This collaboration underscores the power of working together to support shared goals.
RUF is proud to partner with RCT in its efforts to strengthen the bonds within the Romanian Diaspora, fostering a thriving and connected global community.
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Blog Post
Biomentorhub $1,100
Funds Sources: Romanian United Fund
Project Name: Biomentorhub Grant
Partner: Biomentorub (🔗 website)
Starting Date: October, 2023
Financing: Completed
Project Status: Finished
Financed by RUF: $1,100
Short Description:
The project aims to tackle several key issues: first, the limited connectivity and collaboration among Romanian young specialists aged 25-35 in the bioscience and biomedicine fields who pursued their studies and careers abroad. Second, the lack of information within the Romanian scientific diaspora regarding the current state of the biotech, medtech, and pharma sectors in Romania, as well as professional and funding opportunities. Third, the absence of multi-disciplinary networking opportunities for researchers, medical professionals, tech experts, and business development specialists, crucial roles in biotech startups. Fourth, the need for collaborative workspaces with lab facilities for biotech startups in Romania. Lastly, addressing the shortage of biotech startups in the country.
Details:
The inaugural 4BiOMed event in London is set to gather 30 participants. We anticipate approximately 100 beneficiaries, encompassing current Biomentorhub association members and mentors (50) and individuals joining the 4BiOMed community in the following month, engaging on a dedicated platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The replication of the 4BiOMed model in other diaspora locations like New York and Zürich, as outlined in the impact section, will further increase the beneficiary count. Estimating the contribution of beneficiaries to the project activities in Romania will be conducted after the event, considering the outcomes.
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Blog Post
Who am I? - Documenting Romanian Immigration to the US
Funds Sources: Fundraising Campaign, Facebook Fundraiser
Project Name: Who am I?
Diaspora Partner: HORA (Profile | Website)
Starting Date: January 2023
Project Status: In Progress
Project Budget: $15,000
Financed Amount: N/A
Donate to the project
Short Description:In January 2021, HORA (Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans in MN) started working on the third project documenting Romanian Immigration in Minnesota. This follows the previous two projects that focused on the beginning of Romanian immigration in Minnesota (“A Thousand Dollars and Back,” made in collaboration with RGS, nominated for a regional Emmy award in 2015) and the immigration during the communist era (“Through the Iron Curtain- from Romania”).
The current project's goal is to explore the issue of identity with first and second-generation immigrants. The exploration is done through candid interviews between parents and their teenage or adult children about love, loss, career, trauma, hopes and dreams, and the ancestral "dor," longing in English translation. These documentaries are the first to focus on Romanian Immigration to the United States. We hope our work encourages other organizations to start documenting Romanian immigration stories and preserve our cultural heritage.
The $15K will cover the costs for the documentary script, which is needed before applying for more grants in 2023 to complete the documentary.
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Blog Post
RDFN Donors Circle 2022, $2,000
Funds Sources: RUF Pledge Your Birthday
Project Name: Donors Circle
Community Partner: RDFN (Profile)
Starting Date: 11/2022
Matching Funds: $2,000
Project Status: CLOSED
Short Description:
On November 17th, the Romanian diaspora from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, and the USA gathered for the second edition of the Romanian Diaspora Funding Network (RDFN) Donors' Circle, an online event where to support 3 organizations that are constantly working for change.
RUF provided $2,000 in matching funds and helped raise over $10,000 for the supported projects.
🔵 Caravana Terapeutica (Tent Therapy project) is Romania's only mobile psychotherapy practice. The team's objective is to promote psychotherapy and change the general perception of the need to see a psychologist. Visitors have the chance to talk freely with specialists, have access to support and information materials about anxiety, depression, etc. and benefit from two free psychotherapy sessions with psychologists from the cities where the Caravan operates.
🔵 The "Școli cu scLipici" project of the New Horizons Foundation aims to support 130 preparatory and first-grade pupils to develop the minimum literacy skills (writing-reading) aimed at their class/age level. It targets children from socio-economically and educationally disadvantaged communities and schools with below-average results in national assessments.
🔵 MamaPan - The bakery with Maia has been providing vocational training in the bakery trade and decent jobs to women in difficult life situations for over 7 years: mothers raising their children alone, Roma mothers, mothers who have had no access to formal education or vocational training, etc. In order to be able to continue its work, the bakery proposes to relocate to a new space, which would optimize its operating costs and also allow for a place where MamaPan can sell its products directly.
RDFN is a philanthropic network of 8 diaspora groups and organizations, including the Brussels Donors Circle. We bring together and support Romanians in the diaspora to contribute, through philanthropy, to change for Romania, providing support and resources to civil society at home. Since 2017, we have raised over 116,000 euros, supported 35 projects, and mobilized hundreds of donors in 12 Diaspora Donor Circles. The first edition of the RDFN Donors' Circle took place in June 2021, with over 100 donors supporting 3 projects in Romania with €14,000.
