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Establishment of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC).&nbsp;ERIAC is the first transnational organisation dedicated to promoting Roma culture, arts and rights. It is a joint initiative of the Council of Europe, the Open Society Foundations and the Alliance for ERIAC, a group of public intellectuals and advocates who have promoted the idea. The German government joins the initiative by welcoming the headquarters of ERIAC in Berlin and providing financial support.

2017

Creation of Roma for Democracy.&nbsp;The Roma Initiatives Office launches a new special initiative called Roma for Democracy to scale up its voter empowerment work.

2023

Anita worked for the Open Society Foundations from 2006 to 2024, first for the Roma Participation Program and then for the Roma Initiatives Office. Anita holds an MA in international studies–European studies from Berzsenyi Daniel College in Szombathely, Hungary, as well as an MA in sociology and social anthropology from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

AnitaCzinkóczi

Mensur oversees Roma for Democracy and Governance at the Roma Foundation for Europe, having previously held the same role at the Open Society Roma Initiatives until 2024. With a background spanning international organisations, a Roma political party, public institutions and civil society groups, his expertise lies in public governance and corruption control as well as empowering Roma voters, fostering democratic dialogue, and ensuring free and fair representation. He holds an EMPA from the Hertie School of Governance and has completed advanced leadership and management programmes at the Harvard Kennedy School, the MIT Sloan School of Management and Said Business School, Oxford. Dedicated to enhancing Roma leadership, Mensur focuses on strengthening abilities, collective self-determination and ethical political foundations. He contributes to discourse on leadership, political organisation, and strategy in social movements, civic associations and politics.

MensurHaliti

Creation of the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI). The Open Society Foundations initiate REDI as the first institution dedicated to facilitating access to finance for Roma entrepreneurs in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. In the following years, REDI creates a unique investment fund, with the Open Society Foundations and the Council of Europe Development Bank as initial investors.

2016

RIO takes a leading role in Open Society's work on Roma.&nbsp;The Roma Initiatives Office is given the mandate to lead and coordinate Roma-related efforts within the Open Society Foundations, which are implemented at the time by some 15 programs and foundations. RIO’s strategy focuses on building Roma leadership and Roma-led advocacy.

2011

Petrica Dulgheru is executive director of the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI) and a former member of the Roma Advisory Board of the Open Society Foundations. In 2011, he received his PhD in chemistry from University College Dublin, Ireland. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Belgium, where he held a management position in a private company and continued his academic career with a post-doctoral fellowship at the Free University of Brussels. As a Roma who has spent substantial time working in largely non-Roma private and government organisations, Petrica is able to provide both insider and outsider views about Roma issues and policies.

PetricaDulgheru

Network leadership

The Roma Initiatives Office and the Roma Participation Program merge.

2008

Creation of the Roma Participation Program (RPP). Ongoing efforts by the Open Society Foundations to combat discrimination against the Roma gain momentum with the opening of the Roma Participation Program in Budapest, Hungary. RPP begins work to fight segregation, counter stereotypes, and create opportunities for Europe's largest and most excluded ethnic minority.

1997

With dedicated partners and a strong network, we develop solutions for a Europe that lives up to its potential.

Together, we're building a better Europe&nbsp;

The Roma Foundation for Europe is a new, Roma-led organization, but our work builds on more than three decades of support for Roma by the Open Society Foundations.

Our history

Ciprian is chair of the Roma Education Fund. He started his career as a human rights activist under the supervision and mentorship of Nicolae Gheorghe, using innovative tools to address the stereotypes and prejudices against Roma. He has been a journalist, a leader of public campaigns, a promoter of social-economic projects, a political analyst, co-founder of a social enterprise, the leader of a Roma NGO, a consultant for international organisations and a debater in public media. In addition, he has served as State Secretary in the Romanian Ministry of European Funds and is a founding member of the Roma civic platform Aresel. Ciprian holds a PhD in Sociology and teaches ethnicity and masculinity at SNSPA University in Bucharest, coordinating the first European Master programme on Romani Studies.

CiprianNecula

The Roma Initiatives Office transforms into an independent foundation. Building on RIO’s work to strengthen Roma leadership, the Open Society Foundations <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-commits-100-million-to-new-roma-led-foundation" target="_blank">announce a pledge of €100 million</a> to empower and support Europe's Roma communities through the Roma Foundation for Europe. The new foundation, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is the first institution of its scale and scope to be managed by Roma leaders. The Roma for Democracy initiative is also registered as a foundation, becoming the fifth Roma-led organisation in the Roma Foundation for Europe's network. The national movements supported by the Roma Foundation to empower Roma voters now operate under the Roma for Democracy name.&nbsp;

2024

Donors

Neda leads the foundation’s portfolio supporting advocacy aimed at influencing public decision-making, service delivery, and state responses to acts of hate and violence. From 2015 to 2024, she oversaw advocacy work at the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office. Previously, she led the Macedonian think tank Reactor – Research in Action, led the law program at the Foundation Open Society–Macedonia (2006–2011), and worked for the American Bar Association. She has also been active in various youth-led organizations. Neda is a graduate of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Law School in Skopje, North Macedonia, with specializations in public policy. She has been awarded a Diversity Fellowship at Demos in the United Kingdom and has also participated in the US International Visitor Leadership Program and the European Union Visitors Program. She has published numerous articles and reports.

NedaKorunovska

Zeljko Jovanovic is president of the Roma Foundation for Europe. From 2010–2024, he was director of the Roma Initiatives Office of the Open Society Foundations. He is board chair of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture and also a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Institute. Before joining the Open Society Foundations in 2006, he worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Catholic Relief Services. He also led a grassroots Roma organization, a community radio, civic and political campaigns, and mentored and trained managers, advocates, and leaders. Jovanovic graduated in law from the University of Belgrade and in governance from the University of Oxford.

ZeljkoJovanovic

Sophia worked in the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office from 2019 to 2024. She was previously a budget manager and assistant for Microsoft’s Corporate Affairs Team in Berlin and worked for several years managing events at MCI Germany. Sophia holds a BA in theatre design from Nottingham Trent University, UK.

SophiaYamaguchi

The Roma Initiatives Office shifts to a new strategy.&nbsp;The strategy aims to consolidate a transnational network of Roma-led organisations and a new effort to empower Roma voters.&nbsp; RIO moves to Berlin, Germany.

2018

Board members

RIO leads the way in reforming the Roma Decade. <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/why-europe-s-roma-decade-didn-t-lead-inclusion" target="_blank">Learning from the failure of the Decade of Roma Inclusion</a>, the Roma Initiatives Office advocates for the establishment of a new initiative in the Western Balkans that takes a different approach: encouraging governments to incorporate Roma integration goals in mainstream policies and to link those goals to public budgets. This effort results in the establishment in 2016 of Roma Integration 2020, funded by the European Union and the Open Society Foundations and led by the Regional Cooperation Council.

2014

In an ageing Europe, Roma, the largest and youngest ethnic minority, represent enormous economic potential. Harnessing that potential, however, requires a change of perspective: instead of seeing the situation of Roma as a matter of public spending, we should view it as a case for public investment, not only for the sake of the Roma but also for the benefit of European economies.&nbsp;With this idea in mind, we are building solutions to show the way. With the Roma Education Fund (REF), we are developing new ways of educating Roma children and youth for employment, especially in the context of the digital and green transitions that will determine our future. These include home learning and afterschool programs as well as alternative models of digital education. Apart from education for children and youth, we are also investing in developing the skills of adults and assisting their paths to jobs that are available today.Together with the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI), we are supporting Roma entrepreneurs in accessing financing to start or scale up businesses, both for self-employment and for job creation within Roma communities. With REDI, we are also building models for public-private partnerships that bring together public and private finance, businesses, and governmental and nongovernmental actors.

Money

In Europe’s democracies under threat, the Roma vote—often quite sizable—has frequently been manipulated. Political parties buy votes and intimidate Roma voters, and, in the most extreme cases, municipalities where Roma are a majority do not have a single representative on the local council. Rampant racism, combined with economic deprivation, cultural subjugation and political exclusion, has been used against Roma voters for decades. These patterns of political behaviour have not only harmed the Roma but have been early signals of the eroding integrity of European democracies.&nbsp;﻿We work with Roma communities to break down the structures of prejudice, corruption and repression that enable the exploitation of Roma voters. By establishing the new Roma for Democracy (RFD) initiative, we aim to protect the integrity of elections and empower Roma voters, encouraging them to resist vote-buying and other electoral manipulations that undermine genuine representation and democratic institutions. In addition, we work to change the dynamics between Roma voters and political candidates, pushing for democratic accountability. We also educate and train future Roma civic and political leaders together with the Roma Education Fund’s scholarship program and provide networking platforms for Roma who are already in public administration or elected positions.&nbsp;

Power

Anti-Roma racism, often called Romaphobia or anti-Gypsyism, has been an early warning of today’s culture wars in Europe. However, it has long been ignored as an aberration in an overall European culture of tolerance. This has helped reinforce the cultural subjugation of Roma and the racist politics that threaten the whole of Europe.&nbsp;﻿Contrary to these trends, we support cohesion, mutual respect and solidarity based on the European values of equality and diversity. With the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), we are building a progressive space for artistic and cultural expression in Europe. This means creating cultural infrastructure and introducing and reinforcing the teaching of history in schools. It also means creating a sense of pride, dignity and self-respect among the Roma themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also, through Roma for Democracy (RFD), we support the development of a democratic culture of dialogue. We are striving to establish platforms and practices upon which democratic culture depends and which the echo-chambers of social media algorithms work against.&nbsp;For example, we organise public forums for dialogue among Roma as well as between Roma voters and political candidates, working to develop mutual understanding of shared identities and interests among diverse Roma groups as well as between Roma and non-Roma.

Values

Edit worked for the Open Society Foundations from 2002 to 2024, first for the Higher Education Support Program and then for the Roma Initiatives Office, which she joined in 2016. Previously, she dealt with international relations at the Hungarian Post and worked on European Union–funded regional development projects. Edit holds BA degrees in English teaching and in English language and literature from the University of Szeged, Hungary, as well as an MA in economics from the College of Szolnok, Hungary.

EditKöblös

Lord Simon Woolley is Principal of Homerton College, and the Deputy Vice Chanceller at Cambridge University. He is the first Black man to hold such a post at either Oxford or Cambridge University. He is the former director and co-founder of Operation Black Vote, an internationally renowned race equality organisation. He is one of the founders and Trustee for Youth Futures Foundation which helps get disadvantaged youths back into employment. He is also Trustee for Police Now. In 2017, Operation Black Vote launched the ground-breaking The Colour of Power, the most in-depth look at the racial make-up of Britain's top jobs across 389 sectors that dominate British society. In July 2021, OBV launched the next iteration of The Colour of Power. Lord Woolley is seen as the inspiration and one of the architects for the United Kingdom’s Race Disparity Unit and served as the Advisory Chair of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Race Disparity Unit. Lord Woolley received a Knighthood in the 2019 Birthday Honours for his services to race equality and was nominated for a life peerage in the United Kingdom House of Lords where he sits as a Crossbench peer. He has been in the Black Powerlist for the last 10 years. Lord Woolley regularly writes for the National press, including the Guardian and the Independent, and is often called on to BBC Radio 4 The Today programme.

Lord SimonWoolley

Timea Junghaus is an art historian, a leader of the Roma cultural and political movement, and a contemporary art curator. She is the executive director of the Berlin-based European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture founded in September, 2017 by the Council of Europe, the Open Society Foundations and the Alliance for the European Roma Institute. She has researched and published extensively on the conjunctions of modern and contemporary art with critical theory, with particular reference to issues of cultural difference, colonialism, and minority representation. Junghaus was a scientific fellow of the Working Group for Critical Theories at the Institute for Art History, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2010-2017). In recognition of her curatorial activities Junghaus received the Kairos - European Cultural Price from the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., in 2008. She is the curator of the Visual Art Section for the RomArchive Initiative of the Kulturstiftung Des Bundes, (2016-2017). Junghaus was founding director of Gallery8 - Roma Contemporary Art Space (www.gallery8.org) in the middle of the "Roma district" of Budapest (2013-2017).

TimeaJunghaus

Partners

Advisors

Lolita brings communications and institutional cooperation expertise to her advisory role at the Roma Foundation for Europe. She previously held positions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, where she worked in the Office for Public Relations of the Foreign Minister and the Directorate for the European Union. In her role at the Directorate, Lolita was responsible for the file of alignment of North Macedonia with the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. She also served at North Macedonia’s mission to the EU in Brussels, gaining valuable insights into European affairs and diplomacy. Lolita graduated from the Faculty of Law at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje. She holds master's degrees in international law and international relations from the Faculty of Law and in EU International Relations and Diplomacy from the College of Europe in Belgium. She participated in trainee programs at the European Commission and the European Parliament in Brussels and has attended courses by the Cligendael Institute for International Relations in the Netherlands, the French National School of Administration and the Centre for Political and Diplomatic Studies in the UK.

Lolita Hasani Grasmann

Sonja Licht is a board member for the Roma Foundation for Europe and the Roma Education Fund. From 2012 to 2024, she was a member of the Roma Advisory Board of the Open Society Foundations. She is founder and president of the Belgrade-based Foundation BFPE for a Responsible Society, which organized the Belgrade Security Forum from 2011 to 2022. Sonja was part of the Yugoslav dissident movement from the late ‘60s. She was among the founders of numerous human rights, anti-war and women’s organisations in the ‘80s as well as co-chair of the international Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (1991–1995). From 1991 to 2003, she was the president of the Fund for an Open Society (Soros Foundation) in Yugoslavia (later Serbia), well known for its commitment to building democracy, rule of law and civil society, with a strong emphasis on empowering the human rights and Roma movements. From its inception in July 1999, she led the Task Force of the Bratislava Process, established to support the democratic opposition of Serbia. Sonja has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pro Merit Medal of the Council of Europe, the Star of Italian Solidarity, France’s Legion of Honour and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. She is a Richard von Weizsacker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

SonjaLicht

Eszter worked in the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office from 2011 to 2024, most recently as senior program administrative specialist. Previously, she worked for Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Eszter holds a BA in English language and literature and translation studies from Partium University in Oradea, Romania, and a master’s degree in sociology and social anthropology from Central European University.

EszterSipos

Start of the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The Open Society Foundations and the World Bank initiate the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015, an unprecedented collaboration among 12 European countries that pledge to “close the gaps between Roma and the rest of society” and commit to fulfill this promise by 2015. Creation of the Roma Initiatives Office (RIO) and the Roma Education Fund (REF). The Open Society Foundations establish the Roma Initiatives Office in Budapest to coordinate their contributions to the Decade of Roma Inclusion. At the same time, Open Society and the World Bank create the Roma Education Fund to emphasize the pivotal role of education in the overall effort.

2005

In this advisory role, Viktor is responsible for financial management, including planning and monitoring, reporting and payroll functions. From 2010 to 2024, he was internal audit manager at the Open Society Foundations, where he coordinated and supervised financial audits of various Open Society entities, provided grantee support, and worked on compliance audits and fraud investigations. Viktor joined Open Society in 2010 as senior internal auditor in Budapest, where he worked closely with the office of the CFO on financial audits and also worked with programs including the Roma Initiatives Office. Previously, he was a financial auditor at KPMG, serving multinational clients on assurance and advisory engagements, focusing on systems of internal controls and financial management. Viktor graduated from the College of Finance and Accountancy of the Budapest Business School and has been a member the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants since 2007. He obtained the Certified Internal Auditor qualification from the Institute of Internal Auditors in 2022.

ViktorDobos

Andy worked for the Open Society Foundations for almost 30 years. From 2006 to 2024, he was information officer for the Roma Initiatives Office. He holds a BA in international relations from the University of California at Davis and a master’s degree in European studies from Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz, Austria.

AndyHaupert

Kinga is executive vice president of the Roma Foundation for Europe, where she leads operations and supports the institutional development of organisations in the foundation’s network. Until 2024, she was deputy director of the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office. Her experience ranges from working with national governments and international institutions—mostly through the Decade of Roma Inclusion—to working with Roma communities across Europe as well as with majority populations on challenging anti-Roma prejudice and discrimination. Kinga joined the Open Society Foundations in 1997 as an intern and continued to work as a paralegal for the New York–based General Counsel’s Office. She then served as an executive officer to the Open Society Foundations and Central European University, working closely with their respective boards and executives, before transitioning to work on Roma programmes. Kinga holds bachelor’s degrees in communications and sociology, with minors in English and psychology, and a master’s degree in sociology and social anthropology. She has studied and lived in the United States and South Korea and has attended executive courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School and INSEAD. She is a certified coach, accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

KingaRéthy

Our Team

Rahiela worked for the Open Society Foundations from 2008 to 2024, first in the Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma initiative. Before joining the foundation, she was senior program analyst in the Roma Initiatives Office, where she contributed to the Roma and EU Enlargement portfolio. Rahiela previously worked for the Civil Society Research Center, a domestic human rights NGO based in Skopje, North Macedonia, acting as a legal representative for stateless people and asylum seekers of concern to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She holds an MA in public policy from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

RahielaMustafovska

Network

Before starting in his role as the foundation's lead communications advisor, Thorsten worked as a journalist and communications consultant for more than 15 years. Most recently, he worked for the Open Society Foundations’ Europa and Central Asia program. He covered U.S. politics and economics for German-speaking media and was the political correspondent for Zeit Online during the Trump presidency. He has worked on election campaigns for the European Parliament and explored the intersection of arts and politics in Eastern Europe with his magazine, Béton Bleu. Thorsten attended the Cologne Journalism School and studied in Passau, Paris and Cologne. He holds a master’s in economics and political science.

English

Together, we're building a better Europe

With dedicated partners and a strong network, we develop solutions for a Europe that lives up to its potential.

Money

Power

Values

Our Team

AnitaCzinkóczi

AnitaCzinkóczi

MensurHaliti

MensurHaliti

AndyHaupert

AndyHaupert

ZeljkoJovanovic

ZeljkoJovanovic

EditKöblös

EditKöblös

NedaKorunovska

NedaKorunovska

RahielaMustafovska

RahielaMustafovska

KingaRéthy

KingaRéthy

EszterSipos

EszterSipos

SophiaYamaguchi

SophiaYamaguchi

Advisors

ViktorDobos

ViktorDobos

Lolita Hasani Grasmann

Lolita Hasani Grasmann

ThorstenSchröder

ThorstenSchröder

Network leadership

PetricaDulgheru

PetricaDulgheru

TimeaJunghaus

TimeaJunghaus

CiprianNecula

CiprianNecula

Board members

SonjaLicht

SonjaLicht

Lord SimonWoolley

Lord SimonWoolley

Our history

Network

Partners

Donors

English

Anita
Czinkóczi

Anita
Czinkóczi

Mensur
Haliti

Mensur
Haliti

Andy
Haupert

Andy
Haupert

Zeljko
Jovanovic

Zeljko
Jovanovic

Edit
Köblös

Edit
Köblös

Neda
Korunovska

Neda
Korunovska

Rahiela
Mustafovska

Rahiela
Mustafovska

Kinga
Réthy

Kinga
Réthy

Eszter
Sipos

Eszter
Sipos

Sophia
Yamaguchi

Sophia
Yamaguchi

Viktor
Dobos

Viktor
Dobos

Thorsten
Schröder

Thorsten
Schröder

Petrica
Dulgheru

Petrica
Dulgheru

Timea
Junghaus

Timea
Junghaus

Ciprian
Necula

Ciprian
Necula

Sonja
Licht

Sonja
Licht

Lord Simon
Woolley

Lord Simon
Woolley