Членове на Съвета
REF North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia
Ciprian Necula | Chairman
He began his career as a human rights activist under the supervision and guidance of Nicolae Gheorghe, using innovative tools to address stereotypes and prejudices against Roma. He was a journalist, initiator of public campaigns, promoter of socio-economic projects, political analyst, co-founder of a social enterprise, leader of a Roma non-governmental organization, consultant for international organizations.
He held the position of State Secretary in the Ministry of European Funds and is a founding member of the Roma civic platform Aresel.
Ciprian is a doctor in sociology and teaches the course “Masculinity and ethnicity” at SNSPA University in Bucharest. He coordinates the first European master’s program in Romani Studies.
Sonja Licht
She is the President of the BFPE for a Responsible Society. Between 1991 and 2003 she was the Executive Director and President of the Fund for an Open Society (Soros Foundation) in Yugoslavia (later Serbia). As a civic activist, she was the co-chair of the international Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly and numerous other national and international organizations and initiatives. She was the head of the Task Force of the Bratislava Process 1999-2002, that supported the broad coalition of democratic opposition forces in Serbia. In 2010 she participated in the Council of Europe’s Group of Eminent Persons that prepared the report: Living Together: Combining Freedom and Diversity in Europe of 21st Century. Sonja is the laureate of numerous awards including the Star of Italian Solidarity, the French Legion of Honor and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. She is a Richard von Weizsacker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy for 2015.
Kinga Rethy
She is the 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.
