Following my studies at the Budapest Business School, faculty of finance and accountancy, I specialized in internal audit. After several years of practice in both public and at a Fortune 500 company, I earned globally recognized certification from The Institute of Internal Auditors. I had the chance to switch to business development role, where I learned from planning and execution of renewable fuel strategies and energy investments for four years. Since I have used the gained skills to support small and middle-sized enterprises while started to dive into the world of social entrepreneurship with numerous volunteer and consultancy based projects.

In Ashoka since December 2018, responsible for program WzmocniONE, that aims to support initiatives empowering women to fulfil their own potential and building their sense of agency. She is also responsible for program Tackle Fuel Poverty in Poland.

Martyna is a trainer, project coordinator and community organiser. She is passionate about working with people and finding innovative ways of creating space and support for individuals as well as organisational growth. For the last 12 years she has worked with various organisations, institutions, groups. She has worked as an activism coordinator for Amnesty International Poland and the coordinator of the Paca Community Centre among others and also co-founded two non governmental organisations. Human rights, preventing discrimination and global education are her main areas of expertise. Martyna is also a certified drama trainer, actress and joker of Theatre of the Oppressed., working with various groups, mostly around the issue of gender oppression. She is a design thinking moderator. Martyna has the experience of working with the business sector, mostly in HR. In her free time she makes jams.

Emiliya Angelova is operating director of MOVE.BG and the leader of its social innovation program in Bulgaria. Previously she was managing an incubation program at Impact Hub Zagreb (largest network of social entrepreneurs across the globe). Prior to that, Emiliya worked as an investment banker in Vienna, London and Moscow.

She holds a Master’s in Finance degree from Bocconi University in Milan and a Bachelor’s from LMU Munich.

Gabriela joined Ashoka at the beginning of 2018 as a strategic partnership manager. She dedicates her life to empoverment of civil society organizations by strenghtening their capacity, strategy and fundraising vision and by building strong cross-sectoral partnerships. Gabriela believes that mainly together, based on strong cooperation between civil society and business sector, we can change broken systems and rules and achieve system changes. Before that, Gabriela worked for Amnesty International, aiming at bringing know how from abroad, and for anti-corruption platform the Reconstruction of the State. Next to it, she helps several non-for-profit organization pro bono and runs small family business with hand-made ecofriendly wooden glasses in order to provide specific and unique product on Czech market. 

Patricia joined Schneider Electric in 1992 as Internal Communications Officer. In 2003, she became Director of Sustainable Development Communication and in 2011 took over as Head of the Schneider Electric Foundation. From 2014 Patricia Benchenna is Schneider Electric's Corporate Philanthropy Director.

She has been coordinating Schneider Electric Foundation's activities, the goal of which is to help reduce the world's energy divide. She collaborated with the Ashoka Foundation to set up the Europe-wide initiative for Social Innovation to Tackle Energy Poverty, and helped develop Schneider Electric's fuel poverty programme. She runs Schneider VolunteerIn, the community engagement programme for Schneider Electric employees. Patricia also serves on the boards of directors of the endowment fund Les Petites Pierres, the Centre International des Etudes Pédagogiques, and the Pro Bono Lab Association. Patricia has a Masters Degree in Foreign Languages, a BA in Public Law, and a postgraduate diploma (DESS) in International Negotiations.

Ovidiu got in contact with Ashoka as a volunteer at their launch event for the Romanian Office. Soon after he joined the team as intern and currently is Community Builder and the Regional Project Manager of the Social Innovation to Tackle Energy Poverty Solutions Accelerator.

Although Ovidiu has a background in economic studies, gratuating at Bucharest's Academy of Economic Studies, he wanted to be involved in education and learning projects. As a result he enroled to be a volunteer for the Romanian Economy Students Association and later he studied and worked for the Alternative University and Restart in Education community.

Ovidiu has a very strong passion for Olympism and volunteering at sports event as he was the team ssistant for the Romanian delegation at the Paralympic games in Rio 2016 and he coordinated volunteers at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Cluj-Napoca 2017. He also co-founded The Coubertin Crew, a NGO focused on developing the sports volunteering ecosystem in Romania. From 2017 he is also an ENGSO Youth Young Delegate for Romania.

Corina Murafa has always focused, in her various professional engagements, on producing long-lasting positive change in Romania. She is passionate about public policy, especially in the energy and sustainability field. Between 2014 and 2015 she worked as a local expert for the World Bank, assisting the Prime Minister in an administrative reform project focused on corporate governance of state-owned enterprises and on the protection of energy consumers. She continued next year as a consultant in European affairs and corporate governance for the Ministries of Energy and of Finance. Before 2014, she worked for almost four years for OMV Petrom, as a public affairs expert. She is the author of a public policy text-book, delivers analyses for Romania’s most reputable think tanks and also public policy trainings. She is an active contributor to Romanian civil society, as an affiliate member to the Aspen Institute and as the co-founder of Romania’s first fact-checking platform. She studied political science and economy at Bucharest University, New York University and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin. With Ashoka, Corina resumed her older passion for social innovation, which determined her to organize almost ten years ago the first summer school on social entrepreneurship in Romania, shortly after completing her mandate as the first national Youth Delegate to the United Nations.

With Ashoka, Corina resumed her older passion for social innovation, which determined her to organize almost ten years ago the first summer school on social entrepreneurship in Romania, shortly after completing her mandate as the first national Youth Delegate to the United Nations.