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GREAT LAKES CONSORTIUM

for International Training andDevelopment (GLC) GLC is a

collaborative effort of the Bowling

Green State University, Lourdes Uni-

versity, The University of Toledo,and WSOS Community Action Com-

mission, Inc - Contract Agent and

Manager. Established in 1999.

Dr. Elizabeth Balint

Project Manager

Juli Bertalan,

Barbara Dennis,

Viktoriya Maryamova

Program Coordinators

GLC Toledo Office

P.O. Box 352424Toledo, OH 43635

Phone: 419-725-0440

Cell: 419-973-8007

Email:

[email protected]

Website:

www.GLC-Teachdemocracy2.org

www.gl-consortium.org

Find us on

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of the Educational and CulturalAffairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges, Professional Fellows Division

The Great Lakes Consortium through

WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc.

as Contract Agent and Manager received a

grant for a two-way exchange between Sep-

tember 2012 and August 2014 from the U.S.

Department of State for the Building Grass-

roots Democracy in Minority Communities

with at least 32 participants from four coun-

tries of Europe and for 18 U.S. mentors.

The overall goal of this exchange is to provide

a professional development opportunity for

up-and-coming and mid-level professionals

to gain knowledge of the U.S. practices in

citizen participation and advocacy, engaging

minorities, and marginalized populations in

civil society and politics, collaborating with

community leaders to inform changes in

legislation that make a difference in minority

communities (incl. Roma, disabled, homeless)

and building grassroots democracy.

Foreign participants will be exposed to

diverse community organizing methods for

citizens in solving problems in their own

communities and gain hands-on experience at

both public and civil society institutions in the

U.S. and a deeper understanding of U.S.

society, culture and people. They will

examine the relationship between civil society

and government and learn U.S. practices on

transparency and accountability. Through

internship placements at national, state or

local organizations across the U.S. they will

gain knowledge and experience as well as

adaptable approaches that they can implement

after their return.

U.S. mentors will travel for a reciprocal visit

overseas. They will have an opportunity to

share professional expertise and gain a deeper

understanding of the societies, cultures and

people of other countries. This citizen civic

exchange will promote mutual understanding,

create long-term professional ties, enhance the

collaboration between GLC and its partners.

The first delegation with a total of 19 fellows

from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slova-

kia visit the U.S. from April 1 May 11, 201

to participate in group seminars, round-tab

discussions, site visits, and will hav

interactions with United States leaders.

tailored 3-week internship with mentorin

multicultural events, and participation i

volunteer activities as well as in th

Professional Fellows Congress in Washington

D.C. will be also included in the 6-wee

professional fellows program. Participants wiprepare a 6-9 month individual and grou

Action Plan for follow on activities. They hav

various opportunities to experience th

American family life and the diversity in th

U.S. through staying with American ho

families during their internship in Little Roc

(Arkansas), Chicago (Illinois), Bosto

(Massachusetts), St. Louis (Missouri), Man

chester (New Hampshire), Raleigh (Nort

Carolina), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Cha

lottesville (Virginia), Seattle (Washington).

A second European delegation is expectedi

the U.S. from September 30 November

2013.

The Out-Bound component will include

least two American mentors teams to travel t

Europe (between June 2013 and March 2014

for up to 21 days to provide joint workshop

with the alumni and on-site consultation an

fieldwork, and conduct wider outreach pro

grams.

U.S. and foreign participants will be involve

in alumni activities through an alumni soci

network in each country. We will also establish an online network for continued learning

This program is a collaboration between GL

and its overseas partners: CEGA in Bulgari

Civil College Foundation in Hungary, CeRe i

Romania and Center for Community Organi

ing in Slovakia as well as the European Com

munity Organizing Network (ECON) an

many U.S. partner organizations involved i

the joint program and the tailored internship

and follow up mentoring activities.

Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

Professional Fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia

in the United States, April 1 - May 11, 2013

April2013


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Milenko MilenkovLom, BulgariaE-mail: [email protected]

Milenko Milenkov works at the Labor

Bureau in Lom, Bulgaria as a Job Media-

tor. His main responsibilities include infor-

mation and counseling of inactive and dis-

couraged Roma people for registration at

the Bureau of Labor Lom, promoting the

registration and inclusion on the labor mar-

ket through professional classes and train-

ings and also advice and assistance to job

seekers for inclusion in employment. His

daily activities include labor mediation in

finding jobs and training courses for

unemployed Roma, correspondence withemployers and so on.

Mr. Milenkov also works in two

NGOs in Lom. One of them is Commu-

nity Fund Lom, where he is Member of the

Board, since the establishment of the foun-

dation in 2005. He is involved in the activi-

ties of Community Fund Lom related to

stimulation of public dialogue and

participation of local resources to solve

social issues. He provides support for

talented children and preservation of life

style and culture and works for citizens

initiatives development and charity

traditions revival in Lom region.Mr. Milenkov is an important part of

the team of the organization, who contrib-

utes to the timely implementation of activi-

ties and tasks in different projects of the

foundation. For example he was the Project

Manager of "Together in Diversity through

Ages", a project financed by the Open So-

ciety Foundation in Budapest. The other

organization is the Mladenovo Founda-

tion, where Mr. Milenkov is the Chairman.

in Economics and a Masters Degree i

Business Administration. Both degree

obtained at the New Bulgarian Universit

in Sofia. Also Mr. Milenkov complete

several trainings in fields of computeknowledge and literacy certificates an

fundamentals in web-design, and took pa

in training for teamwork, project writing

project management, etc. He is fluent i

English, German and Russian.

Mr. Milenkov had several reasons t

apply for this fellowship, and one of them

is that he might be one very good examp

for the young Roma from the town of Lom

in Bulgaria. He wants to make change i

the thinking of the young people in Lom

The young people have to be active an

they have to bring the changes in the Bugarian society.

It will be his first visit to the Unite

States. While in the U.S., Mr. Milenko

would like to gain experience in differen

programs for developing talents.

After he will be back to Bulgari

through the two organizations (The Com

munity Fund Lom and Mladenovo Foun

dation), and using all of the local, region

and national media as partners, M

Milenkov will inform the community abou

the best practices in the U.S. He will try t

apply some of these practices in his com

munity, city and, if he has the toolMilenko will organize a national campaig

for some identified problem.

In his free time Milenko enjoys play

ing basketball, volleyball, searching th

internet for new technologies, and also ol

audio equipments - speakers, amplifier

and so on. He is also taking care of tw

aquariums full with little fishes and tha

also is his hobby.

The organization is new, registered in Au-

gust 2012. The mission of the organization

is to stimulate the development of talents

in Lom and in the region of Northwestern

Bulgaria. Primary task for Milenko is therecognition of the foundation as an active

working NGO for the development of

Lom. All actions in the organization are

focused on talented children and

youngsters in the field of arts, education,

culture, sport and dependences prevention.

In addition Mr. Milenkov is involved

in the activities of the Municipality of

Lom, related to social, education and cul-

tural activities, and also other activities for

integration of Roma people from Lom.

Previously, Mr. Milenkov has worked for

the Regional Governor of Montana in Bul-

garia. He was responsible for the imple-mentation of policies in the ethnic and

demographic issues, religious, cultural

activities and education in the region.

Mr. Milenko shows perfection in

organization, conducting and moderating

all kind of events, including presentations,

fairs, exhibitions, conferences, seminars,

workshops, missions, forums, etc.

Mr. Milenkov has a Bachelors Degree

Participants from Bulgaria

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PROJECT ADVISORS AND SUPPORTERS

David Beckwith, Cris Doby, Paul Cromwell,

Chuck Hirt, James Mumm, Bill O'Brien,

Greg Markus, Deb Martin, Peter Ujvagi,

Ramon Perez, Martin Nagy

Page 2 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities


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Delyana MihnevaPlovdiv, Bulgaria

Email: [email protected]

Delyana Mihneva is working as a re-

porter, host and editor in the first private

national radio at the Bulgaria Darik Radio

from 2011. She has been a volunteer in

National Alliance for Volunteer Action /

NAVA since 2010, and has a good experi-

ence in variety of volunteer actions as eco-

campaigns at schools, national exchanges

for youngsters, activities for better commu-

nication between youngsters and elderly

people, sport activities related to Interna-

tional Youth Day, Anti-AIDS campaigns,

fundraising for people with rare diseases

etc. As a journalist, she gives tribute tomany different minority groups: Roma,

LGBT, rare diseases, disabled, homeless

people etc.

Ms. Mihneva is a Youth Leader and

Trainer. Since she has been working for

NAVA, she is a trainer of young people

aged 15-29 in different spheres of non-

formal education, effective communication

and skills for planning of one-day and long

-term initiatives and campaigns.

Ms. Mihneva graduated with her

Bachelors Degree in Political Science

wants to find out how community group

work with the media and the media's in

volvement in social justice issues. Recentl

in Bulgaria the social side of media face

more obvious than few years ago and th

should be used to raise social consciou

ness and empathy in society.

Ms. Mihneva would like to train peo

ple from different communities in order t

work together, define problems and see

for solutions and wants to find out ho

things work in American society is it ju

a matter of law or there is something i

addition. She would like to learn successfu

social practices and how to implemen

them in Bulgaria.

Delyana would also like to learn t

prioritize tasks more clearly, to work mor

effectively with different minority groupto participate more actively in decisio

making process during a project, to lear

how community organizing works throug

field work. She would like to get mor

information about organizing groups b

interest, how to motivate people to figh

for their rights and to pursue their aims.

In her free time Ms. Mihneva like

outdoor activities, reading, dancing an

karaoke. Delyana is interested in multicu

tural communication, peace journalism an

conflict management.

from the Sofia University St. Kliment Oh-

rydsky in 2003. Delyana knows English

and Russian, and speaks a bit of Spanish,

Italian and Dutch. She has participated in

some international trainings in Italy, Ro-

mania, Turkey based on European UnionYouth in Action program.

Ms. Mihneva currently is involved in

LTTC in Budapest, Hungary focused on

raising awareness of diversity based on

gender, sex, nationality, social and marital

status, age etc. Also defining and decon-

structing stereotypes and creating new pro-

jects related to Social Justice Topics.

Ms. Mihneva is interested in Roma

inclusion and exploration of society readi-

ness to Roma integration and early leaving

school prevention. As a journalist, she

Dzhevid MahmudDobrich, Bulgaria


Dzhevid Mahmud has been working

until recently at the European Roma Rights

Centre (ERRC), an organization based in

Budapest, Hungary, combating anti-

Romani racism and human rights abuse ofRoma through strategic litigation advo-

cacy, human rights education, research,

and policy development.

At the ERRC Mr. Mahmud held the

position of Legal Fellow as his task in-

cluded assisting in developing and imple-

menting legal strategy, handling selected

cases, drafting amicus curiae briefs and

legal submissions to domestic and interna-

tional tribunals, working with lawyers,

judges, human rights organizations and

other relevant institutions. He was in-

volved in legislative and policy review anddrafting, advocacy and lobbying, providing

appropriate substantive input into research

reports, donor reports and funding propos-

als. Mr. Mahmud has been a Roma activist

since the beginning of 2000, when becom-

Hungary. During his student years, M

Mahmud participated in the Roma Acces

Program which aims at preparing youn

promising Roma for entering quality inte

national post-graduate studies. His secon

Masters degree in Law was completed

the Varna Free University in Bulgaria.

In addition in 2008, Mr. Mahmud wo

an internship with the European Commi

sion situated in Brussels, Belgium, sponsored by the Open Society Institute Rom

Initiatives. He speaks fluently in English

Turkish, Russian, and Bulgarian. The com

munity where Mr. Mahmud is interested i

organizing is geographically situated in th

North/East of Bulgaria consisted of Chri

tian and Muslim Roma, who face everyda

exclusion, discrimination, poverty, unem

ployment and lacks access to services an

goods.

Mr. Mahmud has never visited U.S.A

before, yet has been always interested i

getting to know more on minority community organizing and its ways of implemen

tation in the setting of Eastern Europe.

In his free time Dzhevid enjoys study

ing Romani culture from around Europ

and practicing sports.

ing a Member of the Board of the Student

Society for the Development of Interethnic

Dialogue in Bulgaria, an organization with

the mission to accomplish complete social-

educational cycle for the young Roma,

including popularization of education, dis-

semination of information on competitions,

scholarships, qualification courses, appren-

ticeships and carrying out pre-university

application preparation. Since then Dzhe-vid is actively involved in different initia-

tives related to Roma in Europe.

Mr. Mahmud has acquired Masters

degree in Public Policy at the Central

European University (CEU) in Budapest,

Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page


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Hajnalka KissBudapest, Hungary

E-mail: [email protected]

Hajnalka Kiss works at a Photography

School. She organizes photo exhibitions,

deals with students and teachers, she is in

charge of organizing events, responsible

for fundraising and project management,

and looks after the Foundations everyday

life. There was always something in com-

mon to organizing: Ms. Kiss started the

projects finding out what is the demand of

people; found the resources, co-workers

and kept the contact with partners and

sponsors. Ms. Kiss finds monitoring and

feedback very important to guarantee the

quality of any project.

In the last 20 years she coordinated

short and long term educational projects:trainings, seminars and conferences. She

has been a participant in several interna-

tional programs as coach and trainer

(Youth in Action, Salto, EUROMED).

Ms. Kiss still coordinates a project in

her free time, called Social Transport. This

project tries to bridge gaps between major-

ity and minority groups like Roma and non

-Roma. Within this project there was a

social ad shooting opportunity for film

students about minority peoples life. The

topic was inclusion. The short film clips

were taken to secondary schools and used

as inspiration, a non-formal educational

instrument encouraging dialogue, support-

ing integration. These works are also

screened at festivals, events and cinemas:

www.socialtransport.net

In 2007 in Cambodia through Global

Education Network Ms. Kiss worked 3months for a Health Sector Reform Pro-

gram. Her task was monitoring the process

concluding focus group discussions and

interviews in the field of providers and

clients rights and duties.

In 2009 in Canada she has spent 4 months

in Montreal with an exchange program at

McGill University. She visited the Faculty

of Management, studied Managing of

Globalization, HR, Managing of Organiza-

tional Teams and Leadership. During her

stay there, Ms. Kiss was very busy with the

life of immigrant people from Hungary

They left their country because of the 1s

and 2nd World War, or the revolution i

1956. She was so lucky that they opene

up for her.

Ms. Kiss holds a Diploma in Socia

Sciences, Economics and Organization

Development. She graduated with heMasters Degree in Sociology and Eco

nomics from the Corvinus University i

Budapest in 2009. After finishing her stud

ies she worked for small foundations a

Project Manager.

Within the frame of this fellowshi

program, Ms. Kiss wishes to learn mor

about community organizing, methods an

strategies for motivating volunteers

NGOs, learn about different projects aim

ing to assist minorities especially projec

focusing on young people.

Ms. Kiss would like to visit organizations, both governmental and nongovern

mental that deal with issues related to eth

nic minorities. She meets the problem o

racism and xenophobia every day and sh

would like to gain experience on how t

treat the question of minorities.

In her free time Ms. Kiss enjoys trav

elling, taking photographs, watching goo

films and discussing interesting storie

Hajnalka enjoys being and working in th

international environment.

Participants from Hungary

Georgi GeorgievLom, Bulgaria


Georgi Georgiev has been the founder

and member of the Managing Council of

the Roma Integration Center Lom

(RIC) since October 2012. The objectivesof RIC Association are to improve the

quality of life in Roma neighborhoods,

improve the level of education amongst

children and youth and help eliminate dis-

crimination. Before that he worked ac-

tively with young people from the Roma

community in Lom, and has been a youth

leader at the local church named Sinai

for the past 8 years.

Mr. Georgiev founded RIC because he

wanted to change the Roma neighborhood

and reduce the school drop-out for Roma

children, provide more opportunities for

ness Administration.

Georgi is actively looking to crea

contacts with NGOs outside of Bulgaria i

order to obtain and share experience i

rebuilding an entire community.

Mr. Georgiev would like to develo

partnerships with these U.S. organization

which will bring access to new exper

ences, opportunities to work with new parners, and large-scale initiatives which wi

help people. He would like to learn how t

better motivate young people so they wan

more out of their life, have higher expecta

tions and be able to achieve them, by a

lowing themselves to dream and work.

In his free time Mr. Georgiev likes t

practice his hobbies: playing basketball, a

well as volleyball and soccer. Georgi als

enjoys going to the gym and writing comi

book scripts.

the young to socialize and learn new useful

skills and discover their true potential.

Also Mr. Georgiev manages a TV program

at a newly established Gypsy TV channel

in Sofia. He is interested in the field of

journalism.

Mr. Georgiev graduated from the New

Bulgarian University of Bulgaria in 2005,

obtaining his Bachelors Degree in Busi-



5/16

Anita VodalBudapest, Hungary


Anita Vodal has been a Trainee Law-

yer at the Roma Program of the Hungarian

Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) since April

2012. She advises and assists on legal mat-ters in connection with legal empowerment

activities. She supervises the management

of all legal documentation for the legal

team. Ms. Vodal is responsible for the as-

sistance in performance of legal issues, the

assistance in negotiating terms and condi-

tions on national and international cases.

The main target group of the HCLUs

Roma Program is those living in deep pov-

erty; primarily the overrepresented Roma

population. The aim of this program is to

help the enforcement of their rights and

interests to become more efficient and take

a stand against discrimination based on

ethnic background and deep poverty;

therefore strive to provide the stakeholders

themselves, as well as their communities,

with the necessary knowledge and aware-

ness of their rights. HCLU is conducting

fieldwork in Northern Hungary and setting

up legal support stations in a growing num-

ber of settlements in order to provide free

legal aid to as many people as possible.

HCLUs Roma Program thus takes legal

tools to communities that live in complete

isolation and are therefore devoid of any

possibility to enforce their rights.

(such as refugees or stateless persons

Through their legal counseling and trainin

activities, they work towards ensuring hig

-quality and rights-based asylum proce

dures both in Hungary and the EU.

Ms. Vodal graduated as a Lawye

from the University of Szeged in 2010, an

wrote her thesis on statelessness. Befor

that, Anita worked for a year as volunteeat Belgian Youth Organization (JAVVA

in Brussels, where she was in charge of

European project.

Ms. Vodal organized internation

voluntary camps and discussions in orde

to raise awareness about tolerance, antidi

crimination and an open-minded attitud

towards others. She speaks English, Frenc

and Italian.

Ms. Vodal considers this fellowship t

be a great opportunity to acquire know

edge on community organizing method

and practical tools, and learn a new ap

proach of working with minority group

She is keen to see how American NGO

work and what kinds of difficulties the

face in working with minority groups. M

Vodal is ready to talk more in detail abou

the HCLUs network of legal support sta

tions, which is a unique structure even i

Hungary.

In her free time, Ms. Vodal rides he

bike, adores contemporary dance, whic

she has been pursuing as a hobby since sh

was eleven. Anita is fond of all kinds o

sweets.

Ms. Vodal has always been sensitive

to minority issues; especially in Hungary

where these matters are serious unsolved

problems. HCLU is an ideal workplace for

her, as she is involved in significant legal

cases before both international and national

courts. Ms. Vodal had the opportunity to

represent the HCLU in the annual confer-

ence of OSCE in October 2012 and held a

presentation on violence against Roma

people in Hungary.

Prior to the HCLU, Ms. Vodal worked

for almost two years as Project Coordina-

tor at the Refugee Program of the Hungar-

ian Helsinki Committee (HHC) on a pro-

ject funded by the European Union.

Ms. Vodal was in charge of the imple-

mentation of a European project that in-

volved three international partner organiza-

tions. The HHC provides free legal assis-

tance to asylum seekers arriving in Hun-

gary and strives to ensure access to asylum

for those in need of international protection

Laszlo Oliver JakabKistelek, HungaryE-mail: [email protected]

Laszlo Oliver Jakab is working as

trainee at Southern Great Plains Region

Social Research Association. His work

focuses on the disadvantaged children. He

is member of ternYPE International

Roma Youth Network Network of youthand youth associations, which creates

space for young people to become active

citizens through empowerment, mobiliza-

tion, self-organization and participation.

The ternYPE believes in the common ef-

forts by creating trust, and mutual respect

between Roma and non-Roma youth.

Since 2010 Mr. Jakab is a student at

Romaversitas Foundation. The Romaver-

sitas is the training and scholarship pro-

gram of Roma youngsters in higher educa-

tion. The Romaversitas Foundation has

been acting as a Funder of university and

college students for fourteen years.

Romaversitas not only gives scholar-

ships and various services, but also tries to

create space for vibrant social life.

Mr. Jakab graduated from The Univer-

sity of Szeged as Social Worker. At the

university, he was trainee in Szeged at the

Dr. Farkasinszky Terzia Drug Rehabilita-

tion Centre. He attended different kinds of

short-term training programs including: (1

ROMED European Training Program fo

Mediators working with Roma commun

ties organized by Council of Europe, an

(2) Equal Treatment Authority Figh

against discrimination project organized b

Equal Treatment Authority.

This is his first trip to the Unite

States. Mr. Jakab is interested in how

NGOs work in the U.S., how to involv

people from the minority community to bactive. He believes this six weeks fellow

ship in the U.S. can improve his skills an

competencies such as team building, inte

cultural communication, community orga

nizing, and English language.

Mr. Jakab would like to learn method

and strategies which can be useful in Hun

gary. He wants to visit NGOs workin

with minorities and disadvantaged peop

especially focusing on youth.

In his free time Mr. Jakab likes play

ing the guitar and watching movies.



6/16

Timea Eva KovacsDebrecen, HungaryE-mail:

[email protected]

Timea Eva Kovacs is a Social worker at

the Hungarian Baptist Aid The Happy

Garden - Residential Home Care for Men

with Addictions, which is a so-called Half-

way House, which provides a link between

the therapeutic community and independ-

ent life. Ms. Kovacs job is to help the inte-

gration/reintegration of 14 addicted men by

providing counseling to maintain their ab-

stinence, useful programs to spend their

free time, help them in job seeking or get-

ting the appropriate social service needed,

etc. In addition to her work, she is doing

voluntary work at a refugee camp. She is

also a volunteer at the Eletfa Support

Service Association, which has started

community organizing activities in seven

villages with significant Roma population

Hungary. Her favorite target groups t

work with are migrants, refugees and ad

dicted people.

Ms. Kovacs has a Bachelors degree i

Social Work from the University of Debre

cen. After graduation she started workinat Menedek Hungarian Association fo

Migrants at Debrecen Refugee Camp. I

2008 she participated in the Erasmus Pro

gram studying for one semester at the Un

versity College Cork in Ireland. In 201

Ms. Kovacs began her Masters program i

Social Policy majoring in Employmen

Policy in the same institution. Her nativ

language is Hungarian, but also fluentl

speaks Romanian and English.

Ms. Kovacs travels regularly to Roman

and Slovakia. This is her first visit to th

U.S., and she is looking forward to learn

ing new methods and sharing experiencon how to work with people in minorit

communities especially in the rural areas.

In her free time Timea loves biking, hik

ing, spending time with her friends.

in Northern Hungary.

Ms. Kovacs was born and raised in Ro-

mania as a member of the Hungarian mi-

nority. Her family immigrated to Hungary

in 2002. She has worked as a social worker

for 3 years. She began as a volunteer in

2008 during her university years at theCordelia Foundation for the Rehabilitation

of Torture Victims. That was the first time

she got in contact with the refugees living

in the second largest integration camp in

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

TO DAVID GUSTAFSON, PROGRAM OFFICER

AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE!

Csaba SzikraBudapest, Hungary


Csaba Szikra, as a Freelance

Intercultural Trainer, collaborates with

different NGOs and institutions. He is a

community worker in the Glaser JakabMemorial Foundation, where he is

responsible for the intercultural programs

in the Jewish and non-Jewish population.

Mr. Szikra helps to organize events for the

interfaith discussion, and he guides special

interactive tours in a slummy but

traditionally multi-cultural neighborhood

of Budapest: the Jzsefvros (Josephs-

town). By the JMPoint for Jewish

Community Public Benefit Foundation

(JMPoint Foundation) Csaba is involved in

the informal education program on

festivals basically on the Sziget Festival.

The JMPoint Foundation shares the

cultural values of the Jewish culture not

only among Jewish young people. By the

Balint House (American Jewish

Distribution Committees Community

experience with homeless peopl

alcoholics and drug addicts, and also h

worked for the Menedek Hungaria

Association for Migrants. Csaba manage

a summer camp for refugee teens and kid

and in his multi-ethnic neighborhood he

always focusing on these groups too.

Mr. Szikra has a Bachelors Degree i

Social Work, and he specialized in youtwork. In 2009, he began his Master

studies in Intercultural Psychology an

Education at the Etvs Lorand University

Mr. Szikra is working on his thesis abou

the multi-cultural environment o

Jzsefvros. Csaba fluently speaks Englis

and German.

Mr. Szikra is visiting the United State

for the first time. He expects to learn mor

about the minorities and cross-cultur

topics in America in order to involve th

locally applicable good practices into h

community organizing methods i

Jzsefvros.

Mr. Szikras favorite free tim

activities are travelling and sports such a

horseback riding and krav-maga, an

socializing.

House), Mr. Szikra has been teaching in

the KravJunior program: a unique

combination for learning self-defense,

playing games and also getting disciplined.

KravJunior contributes to multi-

culture through organizing multi-ethnic

and multi-religion groups. Mr. Szikras

students are Christian, Jewish, Muslim and

Buddhist children and teens with Roma,

Hungarian, Vietnamese, Georgian, French,

American and/or other background.

Besides his activities as a trainer, Mr.

Szikra participated in many projects as a

social worker. He has more than 8 years of



7/16

THANK YOU TO ALL

THE DRIVERS, ESCORTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS

ASSISTING IN THIS PROGRAM

ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND OVERSEAS!

THANK YOU TO THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES

IN BULGARIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA AND SLOVAKIA

FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT!

Raluca Mariana

NegulescuBucharest, Romania

E-mail:[email protected]

Raluca Mariana Negulescu has been

working as a Policy Officer and Project

Manager at the Policy Center for Roma

and Minorities Foundation since 2009,

when she started to collaborate as a volun-

teer. Raluca develops and coordinates pro-

grams focused on challenging negative

attitudes towards Roma and grassroots

projects aiming to stimulate active citizen-

ship among people living in marginal

Roma communities from ghetto type areas.On spring 2010, Ms. Negulescu started to

work in one of the worst ghetto type areas

in Bucharest Aleea Livezilor in Ferentari

neighborhood.

Through the European campaign RE-

ACT (Responsibility, Empowerment, Ac-

tivism, Citizenship, and Transparency) that

she coordinated between June 2010 and

December 2011, the Policy Center team

created a platform that links grassroots

level to local and national representatives,

as well as to the European policy makers.

Ms. Negulescu is very proud to contribute

to the development of the Alternative Edu-

cation Club (a safe haven for Roma and

non-Roma children in Ferentari that offers

them life and educational alternatives and

the main project of the foundation).

Prior to her collaboration with Policy

Center, Ms. Negulescu volunteered in

other NGOs and think tanks: Nu ma uita

Association (Barlad), the Association of

Political Science Students in the University

of Bucharest, LMT Club Third Millen-

nium Leaders Club, the Institute for the

Investigation of Communism Crimes and

the Black Sea Trust for Regional Coopera-tion (a project of the German Marshall

Fund of the United States). Currently she

voluntarily organizes activities for the chil-

dren in the Day and Night Shelter for

Street Children in Ferentari.

Ms. Negulescu is also interested in

academic research on the topic of ethnic

minorities, antidiscrimination policies and

European institutional mechanisms. In the

past years she contributed to the Shadow

reports on Romania for the European Net-

work against Racism in Europe (ENAR),

covering issues such as racism related dis-crimination in criminal justice, political

and legal developments in anti-racism and

anti-discrimination, policing and ethnic

profiling, racist violence and crime.

In 2010 Ms. Negulescu co-authored

the report Racist Violence in Romania. In

2011-2012 she contributed to the elabora-

tion of the Methodology Guide Social In

clusion through Sports: a possible mod

(project MIMoSA Migrants Inclusio

Model of Sports for All coordinated by th

Italian Union Sports for All).

Ms. Negulescu has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the Unive

sity of Bucharest. In 2008 she received a

Erasmus grant based on academic exce

lence, and she studied at the University o

Bologna for one semester. Raluca also ha

a certification in project management, an

completed trainings on the financial man

agement of structural funds, communica

tion, organizational analysis and leade

ship.

Ms. Negulescus field experience i

ghetto type communities and, in particula

in Ferentari neighborhood is strongly related to her professional interest to identif

efficient mechanisms to authentically con

nect grassroots issues to policy makin

level. In Romania, the Roma are the mo

marginal and discriminated ethnic grou

and target of racism and negative attitude

The persistence of this situation resides no

only in the inappropriate policies discon

nected from grassroots issues but also i

the lack of knowledge of the Roma com

munity members over their rights.

During the fellowship experience i

the U.S., Ms. Negulescu would like tlearn new methods on how to empowe

people in minority communities and to se

and understand the innovative approache

of the hosting organization. Also, she

very interested to learn more on commu

nity organizing and on developing loc

advocacy plans.

Participants from Romania



8/16

Ioana PetracheBucharest, Romania


Ioana Petrache works both as a com-

munity development facilitator and a com-

munity organizer. At this moment she is

working with three citizen initiative groups

two of them are located in Southern Ro-manian villages, and the third is a

neighborhood in the countrys capital. Her

involvement with the community initiative

groups in these villages is 3 years long.

Ms. Petrache started grassroots work

in 2009 with PACT Foundation, an NGO

that targets rural and small urban areas in

Southern Romania. Since then, she has

worked on various projects. Some of them

involved forming community development

initiative groups, others dealt with empow-

ering already formed community organiza-

tions or groups, and developing skills forcommunity members. Ms. Petrache also

worked as a researcher on assessing a rural

communitys potential for supporting the

development of agricultural social entre-

preneurship projects. Through this work

she has had several experiences of working

with ethnic and religious minorities.

Ms. Petrache facilitated the formation

of these initiative groups during a 2010-

2012 community-organization building

program of PACT Foundation. One of the

initiative groups has subscribed as an asso-

ciation and has been implementing several

community projects since. It represents

Roma Pentecostals in the village of Span-

tov. The other initiative group is represen-

tative of Romanian Orthodox in the villageof Facaeni.

Field experience in rural Romania,

made Ms. Petrache curious about doing

bottom-up work in Bucharest, where she

lives. She was also interested in trying

community organizing. This is how she

started her collaboration with CeRe. Ioana

has been organizing in a Buchare

neighborhood area since September 201

For Ms. Petrache community organizing i

Bucharest proves to be especially challeng

ing, but undoubtedly useful.

Ms. Petrache has a Bachelors Degre

from the Academy of Economic Science i

Bucharest. She says that grassroots work

her favorite type of work. This also ex

plains Ioanas decision to start a new fielof study, anthropology, at the University o

Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Soci

Work, in 2012. Her previous studies are i

business administration.

This will be Ms. Petraches first trip t

the United States, and she is especiall

curious about how a culture that she ha

seen depicted so often in the media look

and feels in real life.

Ioana looks forward to meeting organ

izers and community organizations, learn

ing more about how to build an initiativ

group into a long term community organzation, and how can community organiza

tions empower minorities and bridge soci

trust gaps.

What Ms. Petrache likes most are ex

plorations of all sorts, nature - includin

humans, games, her friends and spring.

Simona BarbuIlfov County, Romania


Simona Barbu is an activist for human

rights, working for one of the oldest Roma

nongovernmental organization in Romania,

for 5 years now. During this period she has

worked within Romani CRISS organiza-

tion with the purpose to promote human

rights of the Roma minority and improve

the access of the Roma in Romania to

health services and educational institutions.

In the past two years Ms. Barbu has

worked on projects meant to enlarge and

improve the access to education of the

Roma children, and she coordinated activi-

ties implemented in 22 schools from Ro-

mania. Her work is combining advocating

and promoting human rights and equal

access for the Roma communities in all

areas of life, project management and also

work in the community, organizing and

participating at meetings with the members

of the Roma community and accompany-

ing them when needed, to address different

services or institutions. At the same time,

Ms. Barbu has been a volunteer for the

Association of Health Mediators, a Roma

munication skills, has a developed team

spirit, perseverance, and seriousness, an

has experience and abilities in organizin

events and in project management. Simonhas been trained as an evaluator for th

professional competences of the Rom

health mediators, and she obtained a

evaluator certificate recognized by the Na

tional Council of Professional Training fo

the Adults in Romania in 2008.

Ms. Barbu is also co-author of tw

studies in the field of access to health o

the Roma population and the status o

health of the Roma in Romania, publishe

by Romani CRISS in 2009, and 2011.

This is her first trip to the U.S., an

Ms. Barbu looks forward to exchang

know-how with the other fellows, discovethe free American spirit and would like t

learn more about outside of the box wa

of thinking. Simona is interested in findin

out more about the organizing process o

minorities in America, methods of empow

ering the representatives of the minoritie

to stand for their rights and to learn mor

about advocating for public policies.

She loves to travel, read, listen to mu

sic, take photos or draw. Favorite sports

are salsa and bacchante, but enjoys a goo

soccer match of her favorite team.

women association initiated in 2010, help-

ing them to develop organizational support

for activities and capacity building plans of

the association and also for the members

individually.Ms. Barbu has a Bachelors Degree in

Sociology from the Faculty of Sociology

and Social Assistance at the University of

Bucharest in Romania. Currently she is the

1st year Masters student within the Uni-

versity of Bucharest, UNESCO Depart-

ment majoring in Intercultural and Inter-

religious exchange, and specialization in

Intercultural Management.

Ms. Barbu is an organized person. She

is able to complete the tasks that she im-

plements and coordinates, has good com-



9/16

Ruxandra BorcaPetrosani, Romania


Ruxandra Borca is writer and youth

worker. She works as a Youth Program

Coordinator at Spice of Life Youth Center,

a nongovernmental organization she has

founded in 2012 after she returned from

her voluntary service in Serbia in April of

the same year. Ms. Borca organizes train-

ings and seminars for the young, informing

them on the international opportunities

they have. She is in tight contact with the

migrant community in Cluj Napoca, work-

ing on advocacy campaigns for the social

integration of migrants.

Ms. Borca has been an active local and

international volunteer since her time in

high school. During her student years, she

volunteered at the Forum for Refugees inBucharest. For the last two years, Ms.

Borca has been working abroad as a volun-

teer in Serbia and Jordan, promoting diver-

sity in conflict areas.

Ruxandra has participated as a youth

worker in several projects developed by

the European Commission`s Youth in Ac-

tion program in Romania and abroad,

where she facilitated training sessions for

youth workers on several topics: social

inclusion, volunteering, mentoring, facili-

tating for NGO workers.

media. Previously, Ms. Borca has worke

with Hungarian historian Andrea Varg

under the supervision of the representatio

of the European Commission in Buchares

Together, they have edited a newspaper o

recent history topics to be disseminated i

schools: The Freedom Archive. The pro

ject forms part of a bigger project that in

tends to educate and inform people wh

cannot access formal education. Also, thehave collaborated on a project on the top

of refugees Borders Revisited, an exhib

tion of refugees of the WWII.

Ms. Borca holds the BAs degree i

Foreign Languages at the Spanish an

English department of the University o

Bucharest. At the present time, Ruxandr

is enrolling at the Master`s program i

American Cultural Studies at the Unive

sity of Bucharest. She is fluent in Spanis

and English, and has a good understandin

of Italian and Hungarian.

Ms. Borca has travelled intensively tEurope and Asia, but this is her first trip t

the United States. She would like to lear

how community organizing is done in th

U.S. migrant communities, how to identif

their problems, involve members of th

community in the decision-making proces

and make sustainable changes in the m

nority community.

In her free time, Ruxandra enjoys mu

sic, travelling, writing, she also like

meeting new people.

Deeply committed to the topic of in-

tercultural dialogue and gender issues, Ms.

Borca has conducted research on her own

while being abroad, writing several articles

on the condition of women in Muslim

countries. Her interest in empowerment of

women and human rights is also testified

by a research she is doing at the present

moment on sexual rights of women in

communism with a grant offered by Litera-turhaus Berlin and Herta Muller.

After coming back from Jordan in July

2012, Ms. Borca has started collaborating

as a journalist with the Intercultural Insti-

tute of Timisoara. Here she met representa-

tives of the migrant communities in Roma-

nia and started working on the Migrant in

Intercultural Romania project which prime

goal is to enable the integration of migrants

in the Romanian society, and diminish the

rate of discrimination and stereotypical

images of migrants created by the mass-


Silvia UrsuBucharest, Romania


Silvia Ursu has been working for two

years as a Communication Coordinator at

Romanian NGO, National Organization of

Disabled People Federation (NODPF) in

Romania, founded in 1995, The aim of

NODPF is to promote the rights of peoplewith disability, offering them direct

services, on one hand and also, on the

other hand, doing lobby and advocacy for

their rights. Ms. Ursu started working in

NGOs first as a volunteer, during high

school, and after that she kept being

involved in social projects. Ms. Ursu is

interested in communication, raising funds

and how to promote social projects with

zero budget. Also, after doing a web

research on some campaigns, Silvia

discovered some activation methods within

a community. Then, she started to search

Also, she took a 6 months trainin

course powered by the Internation

Advertising Association. Taking int

account all the tips learnt, Ms. Urs

pitched a project for disabled people at th

Restart Romania Gala, supported by th

U.S. Embassy, and won a grant for th

project. Ms. Ursu is fluent in speakin

English and French and she starte

learning Spanish.

Ms. Ursu has never been in the Unite

States before, but always wanted to. Wheshe was in college, she had a huge passio

on American Pop Art, from Jasper Johns t

Andy Warhol. While in the U.S., Silvi

would like to gaine the knowledge i

involving directly people with disabilitie

in gaining some practical skills for doin

so and also she is interested to find mor

about the American model for buildin

grassroots democracy and participation.

In her spare time, Silvia likes to rid

her bike, to read books (most of th

communication and multimedia books) an

also to find peoples stories.

about the topic and got information about

community organizing. Now she thinks

that community organizing is one of the

healthier ways to involve the beneficiaries

in a project. She is hoping to see disabled

people in Romania speak by themselves

and for their rights.

Ms. Ursu followed the classes of the

Faculty of Communication and Public

Relations, and also she has a Masters

Degree in Communication and Arts from

the University of Bucharest.


10/16

Participants from Slovakia

Daniela BatovaBratislava, Slovakia


Daniela Batova is working as a ProjectManager in the Office of the Slovak

Government Pleni-potentiary for Roma

Communities, an advisory body to the

government on the issues of Roma

communities in Slovakia. The office

performs the tasks aimed to addressing the

problems of Roma communities and

improvement of their situation and their

integration into society, particularly in the

development, implementation and

coordination of policies and effective

implementation of systematic measures

aimed at prevention of social exclusion ofRoma communities.

Ms. Batova is mainly responsible for

the areas of housing conditions, social

infrastructure and approach to job market

of marginalized Roma community. This

community is characterized by poor

housing conditions, low employment rate

and level of employability, low education

and discrimination, but also passivity and

distrust in state authorities. Ms. Batova

would like to gain some experience how to

lead the members of community to

become active in solution of their problems

and responsible for their lives and livingconditions.

Ms. Batova graduated with Masters

Degree in European Studies from the

Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences

at the Comenius University in Bratislava.

During the university time she was as

Erasmus student in University of Coimbra

in Portugal. As a student, Daniela worked

as a Project Assistant in NGO called Th

Transparency International Slovakia an

volunteered in NGO Scouting Slovakia

where she was actively involved in a

activities tackling the protection an

enhancement of the environmenprevention from the addictions, soci

activities, and work with children an

disabled people/communities. She als

took part in some activities of NGO calle

Independent Youth Organization an

dedicated mainly to campaign for health

lifestyle without alcohol and drugs fo

young people.

Ms. Batova has never been in the U.S

before. From this fellowship exchange sh

expects to gain skills and experience i

community organizing. She looks forwar

to see the work of the U.S. NGOs and thway, and how they work with minorit

communities to lead them to activ

citizenship and awareness of their ow

rights and duties.

In her free time, Ms. Batova enjoy

reading, mainly detective books, visitin

the course of Irish dance. She like

cooking traditional and special recipes.

Maros ChmelikZvolen, SlovakiaE-mail:

[email protected]

Maros Chmelik currently works as a

Project Manager in Education Center for

Non-Profit Organizations (CVNO), where

he provides consultation services to Roma

NGOs and leaders in the areas of

education, analysis, problem identification,

search for a solution, capacity building,

creation of concepts and strategies, fund-

raising, advocacy, etc. In addition, Mr.

Chmelik helps to NGOs working with

Roma population in process of preparing

applications for receiving grants. Maros

states: Our role is to advise them what

program or what type of program has

proved itself efficient and therefore

suitable to be financed in the future.

Mr. Chmelik would like to work more

with young leaders of Roma minority. As

he states: Young leaders are more willing

to change the current system. Their ideas

are based on courage and modern

opinions. He would like to be able to

establish sustainable projects where

mainly young leaders of Roma communitywould be involved with only a little help

and support from others.

Mr. Chmelik has a Bachelors Degree

in Political Science, and a Masters Degree

in Cultural Anthropology. Both Degrees

were obtained from the Westbohemian

University of Pilsen Czech Republic. As

a student Mr. Chmelik worked as volunteer

for Erasmus department in his Alma Mater

Westbohemian University of Pilsen in

Czech Republic.

Also Mr. Chmelik works part-time a

a Spanish teacher in Institute of Language

and Education. Maros is fluent in Englis

and Spanish and has a good knowledge o

French.

This will be his first trip to the Unite

States. While in the U.S., Mr. Chmeli

would like to learn how to motivate youn

people from Roma minorities to study an

work. He would like to see some example

of good practices in communit

organizing, to gain experiences in this fiel

and how to apply new skills into his work

In addition, Mr. Chmelik would like t

exchange professional experiences wit

young managers from Europe and U.S.Aand to transfer new ideas to Slovakia. Als

he expects to improve his leadership

networking and language skills.

In his free time, Mr. Chmelik

interested in traveling, doing all kinds o

sports activities, spending time with h

two dogs and tasting high-quality wine

while listening to jazz music. His mai

hobbies are socializing, hiking, reading an

watching good movies.



11/16

Martin KlusBanska Bystrica, Slovakia


Martin Klus is a Lecturer at the Fac-

ulty of Social Sciences University of SS.

Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia,

where he runs courses on Public Policy and

Political Sciences Issues.Mr. Klus actively participated in re-

search projects with e. g. University of

California Berkeley (USA), Charles Uni-

versity Prague (Czech Republic) and

Corvinus Society for Foreign Affairs and

Culture in Budapest (Hungary). During his

academic career he also actively partici-

pated at international conferences, semi-

nars, workshops and teaching nobilities,

published monographs, university text-

books and papers, some of them specifi-

cally oriented on minority or/and grass-

roots democracy topics.Also Mr. Klus is acting as Political

Analysts cooperating especially with Na-

tional radio and television RTVS, News

channel TA3 and nationwide newspapers

like Hospodarske Noviny and Pravda.

He is active blogger within Slovak eco-

nomic weekly - eTrend. Furthermore, Mr.

Klus is very active as a volunteer in vari-

ous NGOs in Slovakia - such as

Banskobystricky Okraslovaci Spolok,

the main aim of which is community-

Currently, Mr. Klus focuses on Euro

pean Studies, Public Policy issues as we

as on Comparative Public Policies; one o

the main topics within these fields is als

minority policy issue studied from diffe

ent perspectives.

Mr. Klus has rich traveling exper

ence. He has already been in the U.S. twic

as a Work and Travel program partic

pant, and twice as a Researcher at the Unversity of California Berkeley.

His fifth visit to the U.S. is aimed t

take part in grassroots democracy building

communication, mobilization and variou

kinds of event organization focused o

minority and university issues in the U.S

and Central Europe (particularly Slovakia

and write a complex comparative paper o

the subject. As an active volunteer of di

ferent NGOs, Mr. Klus would like to pre

pare special training for these NGOs vo

unteers based on the knowledge obtaine

during the fellowship program in the U.SHe is also interested in the opportunity t

make contacts with professional organiza

tions of teachers, students and researche

especially on the university level as well a

with politicians and public administrator

on various levels.

In his free time, Mr. Klus is occupie

with various sports activities like skiin

running, swimming, cycling and bowlin

He likes documentary movies and facto

graphic books and magazines.

building and community cleaning and

beautification activities; Turkish - Slovak

Alliance for Education and Development

(TSAFED), which focuses on NGO diplo-

macy; Aliancia Nezavislych (Alliance of

Independent) with community and civic

society building activities; and at last (but

not least), he is a volunteer of the Non-

Governmental Organization Welcome to

Slovakia, N.O., which focuses on commu-nity tourist industry and youth activities.

Within this organization, Mr. Klus partici-

pated in various youth seminars and train-

ing focused also on minority issues across

Europe and in Georgia (former USSR).

Mr. Klus graduated in Political Sci-

ences in 2003 and International Affairs and

Diplomacy in 2004 from the Molde Uni-

versity College in Norway. During aca-

demic year 2005/2006 he was granted a

Norwegian Government Scholarship.

Miroslav RagacBanska Bystrica, Slovakia


Miroslav Ragac is currently working

for Interantional Organization for

Migration (IOM) in Zvolen as a Project

Assistant since 2010. His main role

incudes integration of the migrants to

Slovak Republic and providing assistance

to the migrant during the resettlement

period. Miroslav provides necessary

assistance that is taking the form of one or

more of the following services:

employment search and placement

assistance, vocational trainings, housing

placement, medical assistance, language

training, social and cultural orientation,

assist the migrant to obtain the various

documents etc.

In 2008 Mr. Ragac started his work for

Center for Community Organizing in

Bansk Bystrica directed by Chuck Hirt.

His more than two years of experience

with community organizing gave him a lot

of practical skills and knowledge when

assisting with several larger and smaller

successful campaigns. As a community

organizer and project assistant working

with different communities he believes,

that the outreach work is one of the most

important part of any social work that

helps people and minorities to overcome

their problems.

In 2001 Mr. Ragac finished his higher

education in Social Work in Doln Kubn,

Slovakia with specialization in Social and

Legal Work and then he has remained true

to social work. His professional prortfoli

includes work with people with physic

and mental disablilities, with the homeles

or the elderly.

Five years of living and working i

United Kingdom for PHSS (Peterboroug

HIV Support Services) gave Miroslav a

opportunity to work with people livin

with HIV and AIDS, and help them wit

their reintegration into society.

Mr. Ragac has no previous experienc

travelling to the United States. Therefor

face to face contact, hands on outreac

work and using community organizin

practices as a problem solving method i

the community or neighborhoods wit

different backgrounds, cultures and issue

interest him the most during visiting th

United States.

Mr. Ragac enjoys travelling, meetin

new people, learning new cultures, cuisine

and history. He also enjoys maintaining h

personal fitness in the gym and by cycling

jogging, swimming, trekking and hiking.

Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page 1


12/16

Dr. Monika VaskovicovaBanska Bystrica, Slovakia


Monika Vaskovicova is working as

Director, Project and Financial Manager at

the Agency for Development of Gemer

region in Hnusta, south of Slovakia. She

established her agency in 2008 and ever

since she is together with her team and

volunteers working for the community.

The agency was established with the

aim of initiation, realization and coordina-

tion of strategic activities for multilateral

and dynamic development of Gemer re-

gion. Dr. Vaskovicova is preparing and

managing innovative projects in order to

obtain financial support for the schools,

municipalities, community centres and

minorities in the whole Gemer region.

Since 2008 the agency became a trustedpartner for development of Gemer region,

and viewed as an umbrella organization

not only for partners within the region, but

also on the international level.

Dr. Vaskovicova is through creative

projects, trying to move the development

of Gemer region forward, mainly by

pointing out the multicultural aspect of the

region and helping minorities to to be

included into educational process by using

special educational tools. She and her team

developed and copy-righted a non-formal

Continuing Education. In 2012, sh

received a Prince2 Certificate of th

internationally recognized proje

management methodology.

Dr. Vaskovicova attended variou

courses including non-formal learning an

regional marketing, active citizenshi

building and creation of social enterpris

principles. She speaks fluently English an

German.Dr. Vaskovicova has been in th

United States several times. Once, sh

visited as a participant of the Work

Travel program, and then she had a

internship in a private immigration la

office in Florida where she looked int

finding the appropriate law for asylees an

immigrants in the U.S.

Within this fellowship program D

Vaskovicova wishes to experience th

community collaboration in the Unite

States, the role, function and motivation

tools of the leaders in the community anthe principles of the informational system

and channels in terms of providin

effective information to the loc

communities. Monika likes turnin

impossible into possible, because sh

believes that everything is possible, it ju

takes a little BIT (Belief, Imaginatio

Time).

In her rare free time Dr. Vaskovicov

likes running, going to the fields collectin

herbs. She also is fond of music like

listening classic rock and jazz.

learning tool historical multicultural

game GemerNation(R). In addition, Dr.

Vaskovicova is a Project and Financial

Manager for another educational project

the creation of Museum of Socialist

Curiosities. By using some non-formal

learning approaches the young generation

should understand, and appreciate, and use

the rights and freedoms they have

nowadays as compared to the past socialistregime.

Also Ms. Vaskovicova is an active

volunteer in three NGOs working with

young Roma people and children with

cancer as a pro-bono Project Manager,

Lawyer and Facilitator.

Dr. Vaskovicova holds a Ph.D. in Law

(JUDr.) from Faculty of Law, Comenius

University in Slovakia. Also she holds the

Diploma in Introduction to English Law

and the Law of The European Union from

the University of Cambridge, Institute of

OUR SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR U.S. PARTNERS AND

INTERNSHIP HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:


Action North Carolina (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Action United (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Alliance for a Just Society (Seattle, Washington)

Arkansas Public Policy Panel (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (Chicago, Illinois)Granite State Organizing Project (Manchester, New Hampshire)

Logan Square Neighborhood Association & Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and

Refugee Rights (Chicago, Illinois)

Massachusetts Communities Action Network & Organizing and Leadership Training

Center (Boston, Massachusetts)

Missourian Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (St. Louis, Missouri)

Paraquad (St. Louis, Missouri)

Virginia Organizing (Charlottesville, Virginia)


13/16

ITINERARY*

Monday, April 1

Detroit, MI/Maumee, OH1:30PM: Arrival at Detroit airport,

Welcome by Elizabeth Balint and Mar-

tin Nagy; drive to hotel in Maumee

4:00PM: Check-in to hotel for 6 nights4:30PM: Pick-up GLC Orientation

materials and supplies for finishing

posters; finish the posters before dinner

6:00PM: Joint dinner out of the hotel

8:00PM: Return to hotel

Tuesday, April 2

Maumee, OH8:30AM: Set up the Poster Show by

participants in the meeting room of the

hotel

9:00AM: GLC Orientation with Eliza-

beth Balint

10:00-10:30AM: Distribute allowances

by Terri Laeng (WSOS)

10:30-12:30PM: Getting to know you

Poster Show and discussion in small

groups

Facilitators: Ramon Perez, Cris Doby,

Dave Beckwith, Martin Nagy

Discussion questions:

- What inspires you?

- Why do you want to work with mi-

norities?

- Best ideas from our work to solve

problems with minorities?

12:30-2:00PM: Lunch in the hotel;Selecting the two best posters to pre-

sent at the State Department in May

2:00-3:30PM: Brief Overview of the

Community Organizing Cris Doby

3:30-5:00PM: Joint Session discus-sion on experience learned from the

Poster session in small groups

Facilitators: Ramon Perez, Cris Doby,

Dave Beckwith, Martin Nagy5:00-5:30PM: Reflections hour

6:00PM: Dinner in the hotel

7:00PM: (Optional) Shopping or time

to rest

Wednesday, April 3

Detroit, MI8:00AM: Departing from the hotel and

drive to Detroit

9:30AM: Welcome at the Harriet Tub-

man Center; Introduction of the dele-

gation and the Detroit partners

10:00-11:30AM: Building a Powerful

Community Organizing Program toSolve Community Problems by Bill

OBrien, Director of HTC11:45AM: Departing to Capucin

Kitchen for lunch with Greg Markus,

Professor at the University of Michi-gan, teaching community organizing in

Ann Arbor, and volunteer leaders of

the Detroit Action Commonwealth

(1264 Meldrum St. Detroit, MI)

12:45PM: Visit Solanus Center;Presentation and discussion with DAC

leaders; learning about success stories

and methods in homeless organizing.

3:00-6:00PM: Travel to the meetingplace of the Youth Voice Leadership to

meet with: Kayla Mason, Lead Organ-

izer of Youth Voice and student volun-

teers, who are leading the different

chapters of Youth Voice in Detroit

supported by HTC; learn about the

Youth Voice activities

6:00PM: Travel to Krakus Polish Res-

taurant in Detroit with Bill OBrien

and Detroit partners for reflections and

dinner;

Discussion questions:- How do you see these concepts heard

today applying to the work youre do-

ing?

- What changes would you need to

make in order to implement some orga-

nizing elements into your work?

8:00PM: Travel back to the hotel in

Maumee

9:00PM: Drop off at the hotel

Thursday, April 4

Maumee, OH9:00AM-12:30PM: Discussion of the

short field experience in community

organizing in Europe in small groups

Facilitators: Dave Beckwith, Cris

Doby, Ramon Perez, Adam Keck

Topics to cover:

- Listening: door-to-door, one on one,

home meetings, etc.

- How to select leaders and prepare for

their role in the first community meet-

ings,

Posters Titles

BulgariaDelyana Mihneva:

We Act, We Organize

Dzhevid Mahmud: 10 Million Rom= 10 Million Different Stories

Georgi Georgiev:

Together We Can Do More

Milenko Milenkov:Together in Diversity

Hungary:Anita Vodal: Hungarian Civil Liber

ties Union - Roma Program Partnenot a target group

Csaba Szikra: Tikkun Olam Buda

pest - A Cross-Cultural Project in thDistrict 8

Hajnalka Kiss:Social Transport

Laszlo Oliver Jakab:

All in One Society

Timea Eve Kovacs:In Community We Trust

Romania:Ioana Petrache: BE THE CHANGE

inspired by Mahatma Gandhi

Raluca Negulescu:

Powerless to PowerfulRuxandra Borca:

Diversity is the Spice of Life

Silvia Elena Ursu:

Together, One Voice

Simona Barbu: The Roma: Nothin

for Them, Without Them

Slovakia:Daniela Batova: Social Inclusion o

Roma Communities up to 2020

Maros Chmelik: Giving the Rom

community from Zvolen the Opportunity to Help Themselves

Martin Klus: Grassroots Democrac

Building within Community and Aca

demic Environment

Miroslav Ragac:

Successful Integration =

Self-Sufficiency and Independence

Monika Vaskovicova:

RegiON OFF the Duty? Bring it ON

it is your RegiON!



14/16

* Itinerary as of April 1, 2013 subject to change without further notice


- How to prepare for community meet-

ing, media involvement etc.

- Identifying issues, the top 3 issues

12:30-2:00PM: Lunch in the hotel

Facilitators will do an assessment and

prepare for experience learned andhow to improve in each area

2:00-5:00PM: Joint mentoring session

with facilitators to improve experience

5:00-5:30PM: Reflections hour

Covered topics:

- How do you see these concepts ap-

plying to the work youre doing?




6:00PM: Dinner at the hotel

7:00PM: (Optional) Shopping

Friday, April 5

Toledo, OH8:30AM: Departure from the hotel

(passport is needed to enter to the Gov-

ernment Center)

9:00AM: Visit the One Government

Center in downtown Toledo 8th floor

9:30AM-12:30PM: Panel discussion

on grassroots democracy & communityorganizing with elected leaders and

community organizers from Toledo,and City or County representatives.

Meeting with: Congresswoman Marcy

Kaptur, Wade Kapszukiewicz12:30-2:00PM: Lunch

2:30-4:30PM: Artists and social jus-

tice discussion

Facilitator: Martin Nagy

Covered topic: Creative solutions toreduce the impact of unemployment

with tourism, crafts, engaging youth in

democracy, fundraising, etc.

4:30-5:00PM: Reflections hourDiscussion questions:

- How do you see these concepts ap-

plying to the work youre doing?




5:00-5:30PM: Program assessment

with Elizabeth Balint in preparation of

the Chicago trip

6:00PM: Joint dinner

8:00PM: Visit the Toledo Museum of

Art Its Friday activities with Martin

Nagy (art and music)

10:00PM: Return to the hotel

Saturday, April 6

Toledo, OH10:00AM: Departing from the hotel;

Sightseeing (Optional) - Toledo Zoo

and/or shopping

5:00PM: Return to the hotel

7:00PM: (Optional) Enjoy a dinner

and the nightlife of Toledo

Sunday, April 7

Chicago, IL

8:00AM: Leaving by bus to Chicagofrom the hotel (with all luggage)

1:00PM: Arrive in Chicago; Sightsee-

ing in downtown Chicago (as weather

permits) Millennium Park, Navy Pier

5:00PM: Check-in to hotel for 4 nights

7:00PM: Dinner

Monday, April 8

Chicago, ILTraining day 1 at the Whitehall Hotel

(105 East Delaware Place, Salon III)

9:00-9:30AM: I. Overview of Training& Ice Breaker by Jim Field

9:30-11:00 AM: II. History and Princi-

ples of Organizing by Jim Field

11:00-11:15 AM: Break

11:15AM-12:45PM: III. Relationship

Building by Jim Picchetti

12:45-1:45PM: Lunch on your own

1:45-3:15PM: IV. Effective Meetings

by Rachel Ramirez

3:15-4:30PM: Debriefing and program

assessment

4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for individ-ual travel to internship sites with

Elizabeth Balint

6:00PM: Enjoy Chicago, dinner on

your own

Tuesday, April 9

Chicago, ILTraining day 2 at the Whitehall Hotel

(105 East Delaware Place, Salon III)

9:00-10:30AM: V. World As It I

World as You Want It to Be by E

Shurna (CHH)

10:30-10:45AM: Break

10:45AM-12:1PM: VI. Power an

Power Analysis by Hannah Gelde(LAC)

12:15-1:00 PM: Lunch on your own

1:00-2:30 PM: VII. Cutting an Issue

Wayne Richard (CCH)

2:30-2:45PM: Break

2:45-4:15PM: VIII. Media, Messagin

and Actions - Jim Field (CCH)

4:15-4:30PM: Debriefing

4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for stayin

with host families by Elizabet

Balint

6:00PM: Enjoy Chicago, sightseeingdinner on your own

Wednesday, April 10

Chicago, IL8:15AM: Departing from hotel to th

training site

Training day 3 at Chicago Coalition fo

the Homeless (70 East Lake Street, 3r

Floor Conference Room)

9:00-10:30AM: IX. Grass Roots Fundraising by Jeff Pinzino (NPA)

10:30-10:45AM: Break10:45AM-1:00PM: X. Popular Educa

tion Methodology by Kara Bende

and Saskia Harak (JASCC)1:00- 1:45PM: Lunch on your own

1:45-3:15PM: XI. Path to Power th

Magic Schematic by Josh Hoy

(ICIRR)

3:15-3:30PM: Break

3:30-5:00PM: Evaluation of the 3-da

training and discussion how to us

these materials in community organiz

ing field activities in EuropewitNancy Aardema (LSNA) & ActioPlanning with Elizabeth Balint an

Martin Nagy

6:00PM: Joint dinner and discussio

of the Chicago program

Thursday, April 11

Travel da8:00-11:00AM: Check-out from th

ITINERARY*


15/16

hotel; travel to internship site for 3

weeks (the transportation to the airport,

and/or to the host family have to be

arranged on your own in advance)

April 11 May 23-week Internship

Tailored 3-week internship experience

at the 11 U.S. hosting organizations in

9 states across the United States

Thursday, May 2

Travel DayDeparture from the internship site and

travel to Washington, D.C.; travel on

your own to the downtown hotel and

check-in for 6 nights

7:00PM: Meet at the hotel lobby; joint

dinner; planning for the weekend with

Elizabeth Balint

Friday, May 3

Washington D.C.9:00AM: Depart to Center for Com-

munity Change conference room (1536

U Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

20009)9:30-12:00Noon: Discussion of the

fellowship experience based on the

field diary overview of ECON

(European Community Organizing

Network) and how ECON can help

implementing your action plans with

Juli Bertalan, Friends of ECON U.S.

Field Coordinator

Session I What have you learned

about the work of community organiz-ing and how might you apply this in

your country & your field project?

Reports on individual and group action

plans & summaries by countries for the

next 6-9 months

Session IIHow does your host organi-

zation work with minority communi-

ties and those in poverty?


1:30-3:30PM: Individual and groupreport on planning of the Summer 2013

U.S. Mentors visit to Europe

Evening: Enjoy Washington D.C.

night views; (Optional) travel to New

York on your own

Saturday, May 4

Washington D.C.Enjoy sightseeing in Washington D.C.

(Optional) Opportunity to have a day-

trip to New York on your own

Sunday, May 5

Washington D.C.Sightseeing continues; free time

Monday, May 6

Washington D.C.9:00AM: Depart to Center for Com-

munity Change conference room (1536

U Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

20009)

9:30AM-12:00Noon: Discussion ofthe fellowship experience based on the

field diary

Meeting with: Cathy Woodson, Vir-

ginia Organizing

Session I How are citizen organiza-

tions built, structured, grown and sus-

tained?

Focus on leadership development


1:30-3:00PM: Session II How does

the organization deal with issues of

transparency and visibility?

3:15-4:15PM: Session III What the

U.S. mentors find interesting during

their trip to Europe? by Cathy

Woodson (member of the Summer

2012 delegation; share her Outbound

experience and suggestions)

4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for the Con-

gress review of Congress activitieswith Elizabeth Balint

6:00PM: Dinner on your own

Evening: Free time to enjoy the night

in Washington,

Tuesday, May 7

Washington, D.C.8:30AM: Depart to the meeting loca-

tion at the Stewart R. Mott Foundation

(122 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington,

D.C. 20002)

9:00AM-12:00Noon: Discussion of

fellowship experience based on the

field diary

Meeting with: Ken Grossinger Co-

founder and Chairman of the Cros

Currents Foundation

Session ICultural differences betwee

your country and the United States?

Session II How is community orga

nizing funded and how is this differenfrom the experience in your country?

Discussion topics:

- Funding community organizing baseon your internship experience (grant

membership, grassroots fundraising)

- How cultural differences will have a

impact on possible funding.

- Resources available/needed for implementing follow on activities


1:30-4:30PM: Evaluation of the pro

gram with Elizabeth Balint and JuBertalan and finishing the testimonia

video clips;

5:00PM: Early dinner on your own

7:00PM: Joint Farewell Celebration

presentation program completion ce

tificates; group photo

Location: Ken Grossinger and his wif

Michelines home in Georgetown

Wednesday, May 8

Washington, D.C.

Congress, 1 da11:00AM: Check-out of the downtow

hotel with all luggage

11:15AM: Depart to the hotel of th

Professional Fellows Congress site an

check-in for 3 nights; Lunch on you

own

12:00-5:30PM: Ongoing - Congres

Registration (2nd floor); Early dinne

on your own

6:00-8:30PM: Orientation and Ne

working of the Congress in the Bal

room6:30PM: World Learning Welcome

by Dr. Peter Simpson, World Learning

6:40PM: Professional Fellows Pro

gram Overview by Ms. Caro

Herrera, U.S. Department of Stat

Professional Fellows Division

7:00PM: Orientation Information bMr. Adam Meier, U.S. Department o

State Professional Fellows Division

7:20PM: Introduction of Distinguishe

Alumni

ITINERARY*



16/16

ITINERARY*

7:45PM: Icebreaker Activity intro-

duced by Dr. Patricia Harrison, World

Learning

8:30PM: Refreshments at the foyerand casual conversation.

Thursday, May 9

Washington D.C.

Congress Conference, Day 27:30-9:00AM: Breakfast

9:00-10:15AM: Opening Plenary in

the Grand Ballroom.

9:00-9:10AM: State Department Wel-come by Mr. Michael Stanton, Chief,

Professional Fellows Division, Office

of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Edu-

cational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. De-

partment of State.

9:10-9:15AM: Introduction of Keynote

Speaker by Dr. Peter Simpson,

World Learning.

9:15-10:00AM: Keynote Address

10:00-10:15AM: Short Break

10:15AM: Return to Ballroom for Ex-

planation of Fellowship Experience

Exercise.

10:15AM-12:00PM: Fellowship Ex-

perience Small Group Exercise

12:00-1:45PM: Citizen Diplomacy

Lunch with Local Ambassadors andEmbassy staff in the Ballroom;

Welcome to Diplomats and Fellows

1:45-3:15PM: Skill-Building Work-

shops:

1. Coalition Building

2. Strategic Planning for Your Organi-

zation

3. Media for the Next Generation4. Funding for Development

5. Political Messaging and Speech-writing

6. Social Entrepreneurship

7. Community Mapping8. Grassroots Activism

3:15- 3:45PM: Break

3:45-5:15PM: Skill Building Work-

shops (Sessions will be repeated with

the same moderators).

5:15 - 5:30PM: Group photo taken by

Photographer Ralph Blessing.

5:30-6:30PM: Dinner in the Hotel.

Evening: Free time

Friday, May 10

Washington D.C.

Congress Conference, Day 36:45-7:30AM: Breakfast at hotel

7:45AM: Departure for Department of

State (DOS) by board buses; bring

your passport to enter).

8:15-9:00AM: Arrival at DOS; Secu-

rity Screening at DOS.

9:00-9:30AM: Distinguished Alumni

Award Presentations.9:30-11:00AM: Regional Briefings

with Q & A

11:00AM-12:45PM: Return to the ho-

tel by board buses for lunch.

12:45-2:15PM: Open Space Activity

break.

2:30PM: Return to Ballroom.

2:30-3:15PM: Open Space Presentations: Three Things in Three Minutes

3:15-3:30PM: Break to prepare foPoster Show.

3:30-6:30PM: Poster Show Session

6:30PM: Dinner at the Hotel.

Evening: (Possible) Networking an

Dancing Event at the Hotel.

Saturday, May 11

Washington D.C.

Congress Closing, Day 7:30-9:00AM: Breakfast at hotel

9:00-10:15AM: Alumni Panel an

Outbound Planning Session: PFAlumni, DOS Alumni Outreach an

others will share best practices.

10:15-11:00AM: Farewell Session

10:15-10:30AM: Alumni Outreac

Representative, U.S. Department o

State.

10:30-10:45AM: Remarks by M

Adam Meier, U.S. Department of Stat

10:45-11:00AM: Evaluations and Ce

tificates by Dr. Peter Simpson, Worl

Learning.

11:00AM-12:00Noon: Check-out fromhotel; travel to the airport with th

group or on your own.

Have a safe trip back home!

* Itinerary as of April 1, 2013 subject to change without further notice


Special Thanks to the U.S. Mentors, their organizationsand all U.S. host families for welcoming the European fellows

and working with them in the U.S. in April 2013:

Dominik & Georgia Mjartan, Barbara Miles & Hank Bates, Debbie & Bill Goolsby from Arkansas (AR);

Joanna Brown & Joshua Hoyt, Laurene Heybach, Jaquie Algee, Jim Field & Rachel Ramirez, Richard

Goldstein & Julie O'Brien from Illinois (IL); Rachie Lewis (Moishe Kavod House), Sheila Decter,

Beverly Ann Rock, Ann Grady from Massachusetts (MA); Tom & Carol Braford, Kathy & Julio

Zegarra Ballons, Dana Gray & Jerry Basye, Brian & Dana Wallace, Sarah Durbin from Missouri (MO);

Sarah Jane Knoy & Kevin Kintner, Kathy Urie from New

spring2013_europenewsletter_finalpost

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