We are proud to present the 19th Generation of the Aspen Young Leaders Program!

Since its foundation 20 years ago, Aspen Institute Romania has remained committed to promoting and advancing values-based leadership, through our endeavour of investing in the next generation of leaders in our region.

After a very complex selection process, we proudly present the 2026 participants of our fellowship-based flagship leadership program – the Aspen Young Leaders Program. This year, we were once again impressed by the high quality of the applications we received, reaffirming the commitment and enthusiasm of a new generation of leaders from our region. The selection process was both rigorous and highly competitive, with a diverse pool of talented candidates bringing forward impressive personal and professional journeys.

The first module of the 2026 edition was organized in physical format between May 4 and 9, in Sâmbăta de Sus, Brașov County. (Romania).

List of participants:

Liliia ANTONIUK | Ukraine
| Executive Director
| NGO “Women’s League”

Mihaela Andreea APOSTU | Romania
| Secretary General & Community Builder
|  Federația Tinerilor din Cluj

Alina Ionela ARSANI | Romania
| Head of Energy Systems
| Energy Policy Group

Andra BĂLAN | Romania
| Public Leader in institution-building and crisis response
| Berceni Arena

Maria BANU | Romania
| Public Policy & Governance Consultant
| Ernst & Young Romania

Andreea COJOCARU | Romania
| Public Affairs Specialist
| Concordia Employers’ Confederation

Ștefan-Florin CORCODEL | Romania
| Grants Advisory and Financing Team Coordinator
| BCR

Andrei GOLDIS | Romania/ Belgium
| EU Policy Lead – Trade & Defense
| Boeing

Daniela GOREACII | Romania
| In-house Lawyer
| PPC Trading

Ilinca IOANIȚESCU | Romania
| Account Management Analyst
| Mastercard

Danilo KALEZIC | Montenegro
| Senior Research Fellow
| University of Montenegro

Margarita KHAMOYAN | Armenia
| Head of Teacher-Leadership Program
| Teach For Armenia Educational Foundation

Adrian LIȚĂ | Romania/ Belgium
| Senior Contracting Officer
| NATO Communications and Information Agency

Cristian LOLEV | Romania
| Capital Markets
| Raiffeisen Bank

Adrian MATEIANU | Romania
| Advisory & Management Consulting, Global Practice Lead
| Nagarro

Anais NEGULESCU | Romania
| Case Handler
| Romanian Competition Council

Andreeas NOVACOVICI | Romania
| Global Child Protection and Social Policy Specialist
| YouHub Association/ West University of Timișoara

Ana-Maria OLARU | Romania/ Germany
| Senior Engagement Manager
| Amazon Web Services

Teodor Ștefan PINTEA | Romania
| Technical Lead
| ENEVO CyberSec

Ecaterina PITEL | Republic of Moldova
| CEO & Co-Founder
| We4Health

Ștefan RUSU | Romania/ Germany
| Product Owner & Founder
| European Central Bank & AI SOLUTIONS

Sebastian ȘERBAN | Romania
| Senior Economist
| The Tax Institute

Alexandra ȘTEFAN | Romania
| Diplomat
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania

Alexandru-Valentin TEODOROV | Romania
| Cyber Security Expert
| Romanian National Cybersecurity Directorate

Tonia VĂLEANU | Romania
| Co-founder & Vice President
| Zuralo