REF Headquarters, Hungary

Nadir Redzepi
Former Executive Director (2016- February 2020)

Email: nadirr@romaeducationfund.org

Nadir Redzepi, born in 1963, is a Macedonian Roma. He holds a degree in Sociology from Corvinus University. Previously, he served as Senior Program Manager at Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma, an Open Society Foundations’ program from 2010-2015. He managed a portfolio of seven countries, providing technical assistance and capacity building interventions for accessing European Union funds, facilitating cooperation and institutional dialogue at the local level, and mobilizing civil society networks for advocating on behalf of Roma inclusion policies at the national level. Mr. Redzepi has extensive experience in Roma policies and initiatives, including Roma children’s education, Roma participation in policy design and policymaking, and the use of EU funds for Roma policy implementation. Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, he was Executive Director of the Roma Democratic Development Association – Sonce in Tetovo, Macedonia (2004-2009). As a representative of Roma civil society organizations, he also was chosen as a delegate to the National Working Group that was formed as part of the Decade of Roma Inclusion initiative in Macedonia. Mr. Redzepi has served as a member of the Board of the Roma Education Fund (2007-2014) and shortly a member of the board of Roma Initiative Office at Open Society Foundations (2008-2009). Over the years, he has acted as an analyst and researcher, evaluator and trainer for the Council of Europe, the United Nations Development Programme, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Minority Rights Group and Open Society Institute, to name just a few. He has published a number of articles on Roma issues and he is presently an active member of the Alliance Group of the European Roma Institute (ERI).

Azra Junuzovic

Azra Junuzovic 
Deputy Director
 
Azra Junuzovic is a Bosnian national. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Sarajevo and an MA in Sociology from Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Turkey. She also studied at Rutgers University in the United States focusing on inclusion of children with special needs in mainstream education settings. Azra most recently served as a Deputy Head of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). She led, coordinated and aligned activities in the area of tolerance and non-discrimination in 57 participating States of the OSCE. She has published extensively on the OSCE’s involvement in non-discrimination issues, education access in post-conflict environments and ethnicity and modern identities, including a book Sarajevo Roses – Towards Politics of Memory. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, she worked on humanitarian issues with the Danish Save the Children.

Anastasia Primbas JelasityAnastasia Primpa Jelasity
Fundraising and Communication Officer

Email: ajelasity@romaeducationfund.org

Anastasia Primpa Jelasity, a dual citizen of Greece and USA, started her career working as a business English and communications trainer in the US, Czech Republic, and Germany. After moving to Serbia in 2002, Anastasia made the change to civil society, first implementing Gender and Corporate Social Responsibility programs at Center for Democracy Foundation, and later responsible for strategic planning for the Association of Business Women in Serbia. Anastasia has a BA in Political Science from DePaul University and MA in Applied Linguistics from University of Illinois in Chicago.

Anasztazia NagyAnasztazia Nagy
Program Officer

Email: anagy@romaeducationfund.org

Anasztazia Nagy is a Roma from Hungary working as programme officer at the REF. Currently she is coordinating and managing the Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin project portfolio. She graduated at the Budapest Corvinus University – Faculty of Public administration in 2002 and holds a MA degree in public policy, Central European University, Budapest.  She is very committed to improve the educational situation of Roma since she believes that this is the field which can significantly change the future of the Roma pupils. She was also active member of the Roma community during her studies.

Dorombozo

Andrea Dorombozo
Chief Financial Officer

Email: adorombozo@romaeducationfund.org 

Andrea Dorombozo is a Hungarian Roma who has over seven years’ financial experience in the non-profit sector. She worked for Roma Education Fund between 2010-2015 as Financial Officer, then relocated to the United Kingdom where she gained international experience in the charity sector. Andrea worked for GOAL, an INGO that specializes in emergency response and was in charge of the financial and administrative operation of the UK office. Andrea most recently gained financial and grant management experience at Action Against Hunger UK that leads a global fight against hunger across nearly 50 countries. She holds a BA as Teacher of English Language and Literature from ELTE University.

Beata ProkajBeáta Prokaj
Finance and Administrative Coordinator

Email: bprokaj@romaeducationfund.org
 
Beata Prokaj, a Hungarian national, holds an MA degree in Economics. Beata’s career started in the private sector, from which she moved to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as a Staff Development Clerk. She joined REF in June 2010 as a Finance and Administrative Coordinator working on the EU Roma Pilot A Good Start project.

 

Csaba Oláh
Csaba Oláh
Project Coordinator for Velux 2 project in Hungary
 

Csaba Oláh is a Hungarian Roma who holds an MA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Central European University, where he also participated in the Roma English Language Program and the Roma Graduate Preparation Program. Oláh was a trainee at OSF’s Roma Initiatives Office for almost two years. He taught Social Studies at the afterschool prgoram of Dr. Ámbédkar Secondary School for pupils coming from disadvantaged families. Oláh is very much concerned about the collective rights of Roma as a minority and the survival of the historically unwelcomed Romani identity in Europe.


dzhevid mahmud

Dzhevid Mahmud
Program Officer
 
 
Dzhevid Mahmud is a Roma from Bulgaria. He holds a Masters in Law from Bulgaria and MA in Public Policies from the Central European University, Budapest. His career working for wider Romani participation began when he was part of the first Roma Political Academy in Bulgaria in 2001. More recently he worked for the Open Society Archives Roma Digital Repository Project and held several consultancies with the World Bank and the Roma Education Fund. He has also been involved in Human Rights litigation and education as Legal Trainee at the European Roma Rights Centre. In 2013, he won a professional fellowship from the US State Department for exchanging experience in the field of community organising and empowerment. In 2015-16 he led the New Professional Program of the International Council on Archives for a year.

Erzsebet Bader
REF Scholarship Program Officer

Email: ebader@romaeducationfund.org

Erzsebet Bader is a Hungarian Roma, holds a BA degree in English studies. She worked as international coordinator at the Roma Press Center in Budapest, prior to that participated in one project of the European Roma Rights Centre as a researcher, focusing on Roma education in Hungary and took part in a Media and Marketing training program of the Centre for Independent Journalism, Budapest, held for local TV stations in Hungary as assistant. In 2007 Erzsebet was a press coordinator of the Chachipe photo contest, organized by the Open Society Archives and Open Society Institute, Hungary.
 

Lorand GyengeLorand Gyenge
Chief Finance Officer of REF Serbia

Email: lgyenge@romaeducationfund.org

Lorand Gyenge was born in Romania, and he joined REF in 2018. He studied Romanian literature at ELTE and later Economics and Management at János Selye University in Komarno. He has was worked in the NGO sector since 2004, beginning as a youth helper and accountant that grew into a role in financial control and management. He previously worked at Transparency International, Minority Rights Group Europe and also has some experience with SMEs.

Marko PecakMarko Pecak
Research Officer

Email: mpecak@romaeducationfund.org

Marko Pecak is a Roma who was raised in the US. He holds a BA in Economics and an MA in Public Policy from University of California Berkeley. Marko was a Roma Education Fund intern in 2012, and his professional experience includes establishing and managing a Native American Public Health Research Center with a focus on community-based participatory research. While at UC Berkeley he received the school’s Human Rights Fellowship where he supported Romani research and advocacy projects at Harvard University. Marko’s professional focus is on community participation in the research and policymaking process, as well as how research and advocacy can be used for community empowerment.

milena babic

Milena Babic
Project Manager of EU Regional Action for Roma Education in Western Balkans and Turkey (2020-)
Former Grants Officer

Email: mbabic@romaeducationfund.org

Milena Babic, a Croatian and Serbian national, holds an MA in Social Development Practice from London Metropolitan University, UK, and BA from Pedagogy University of Osijek, Croatia. Milena’s interest in Roma integration issues commenced with the launch of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and her work in that area intensified through the activities of local Croatian organization Center for Peace, Legal Advice and Psychosocial Assistance – Vukovar where she was the Project Manager of OSI/MtM supported Project Generation Facility Croatia. She also consulted to the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities of the Government of Croatia in various Roma integration related activities, among which in creation of the National Strategy for Roma Inclusion 2013-2020 and the Action Plan for implementation of the NSUR 2017-2019.

Nevsija Durmish

Nevsija Durmish
Program Officer

Email: ndurmish@romaeducationfund.org

Nevsija Durmish is a Roma national from Macedonia. She holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma from United World College of the Adriatic in Italy, and a BA degree in English Language and Literature. She has a 9-year work experience in the field of education. With previous work at the Program for Higher Education of Roma – Romaversitas in Skopje and coordinating the project “Alliance for Inclusion of Roma in Education” at the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, Nevsija is also a published co-author of the Romani language grammar “Gramatika Romskog Jezika” in Croatia and primary school textbook “Romani čhib 1” in Kosovo*. 

 

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

 

Radoslav Kuzmanov
REF Scholarship Program Officer

Email: rkuzmanov@romaeducationfund.org

Radoslav Kuzmanov is from Bulgaria. Before joining REF as Program Officer in Scholarship Program, he   worked for more than 6 years for the Roma NGO Organization Drom, Vidin, Bulgaria, where he was involved in the implementation of projects dealing with Roma education, desegregation, public awareness, and advocacy campaigns. He holds a Master Degree in Psychology from South West University in Bulgaria. In 2012 he graduated the Roma Access Program in Central European University – Budapest.

 

roland ferkovics

Roland Ferkovics
Advocacy Officer

Email: rferkovics@romaeducationfund.org

Roland Ferkovics is a Roma from Hungary. He holds a BA degree from the University of Szeged and an MA in Political Science from the Central European University. His interest is on Roma political representation and participation with a special focus on Hungary. Roland worked in researches related to these issues for various institutions and universities. Among others he was researcher in the work of Penn State University, Columbia University, Roma Education Fund and Open Society Justice Initiative. In early 2016, he has been appointed by the US Embassy of Budapest to the Transatlantic Inclusive Leadership Network of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is also the main author of a study being recently published in the Croatian Political Science Review as well as the co-author of other work published in the Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Svetlana D. Hristova

Svetlana Hristova
Senior Communication Officer

Email: shristova@romaeducationfund.org  

Svetlana D. Hristova graduated with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from Sofia University in 1998 and obtained a MA in Sociology from Central European University in 2000. In 2010 she defended her PhD thesis, “The Public Image of Roma, Constructed by Community Media,” at the Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She previously worked as a public relations specialist for a public health program at the Ministry of Health in Bulgaria, funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Her interests encompass ethnic minorities, educational inequalities and community media.


Zsolt FeketeFekete

Finance Officer

Email: zsfekete@romaeducationfund.org

Zsolt Fekete is a hungarian national holding a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University, Erinburgh. He has several years’ professional experiencein finance and HR project management. He served as Grants and Budget Manager at the Open Society Institute from 1994 to 2002, and then sought to broaden his business experience in multinational companies. Most recently he had worked in the private sector.