Breaking Down Barriers and Building Community and Business for Ukrainian Refugees in Romania

When war broke out in Ukraine, refugees flooded into Romania. Exchange Alumni Theresa Carrington recognized that the refugees especially needed help in the city of Făgăraș. Using a Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF) grant, Theresa and fellow Exchange Alumni Stefan Cibian crafted a series of workshops to empower Ukrainian refugees and Romanians alike with entrepreneurship skills such as networking, community outreach, and commercial partnerships.

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U.S. Speakers Program Exchange Alumni and CEO Theresa Carrington shares her expertise in a presentation during her CDAF project in Făgăraș, Romania. Photo by Sergiu Mihailescu.

“We want to provide a safe space for Romanians and Ukrainians to have a conversation about their hopes and their dreams,” says Theresa.

Theresa, who went to Togo with the U.S. Speakers Program and is the founder and CEO of Ten by Three, specializes in social entrepreneurship. She partnered with BridgeUSA Secondary School Exchange Alumni Dr. Stefan Cibian, whom she met in a Global Diplomacy Lab, with the goal to equip the many qualified and talented Ukrainian refugees with the skills and spark needed to start a successful business, while empowering social enterprises and non-profits across the region.

Theresa reflects that the workshops were a transformative experience for not only the Ukrainian participants, but also for her. She often offers workshops at the State Department on social enterprise and what she calls “entrepreneurial DNA.” In Romania, “there was magic in the air,” as translators supported by the CDAF broke down language barriers and the “silos” Romanians and Ukrainians of Făgăraș live in to form cross-cultural partnerships.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem

There is a grin on Theresa’s face as she recalls the enthusiasm with which one participant’s idea of bringing Ukrainian beer to Romania was received.

“I guess that’s the next huge thing in Romania,” she laughs.

But bringing new products to be produced in the Romanian market wasn’t the only win of the workshops. Theresa also ended up teaching a member of the Romanian Roma community to sign their name on their products, giving them ownership of their crafts. While the Roma artisans’ inability to write their names was once a running joke among local nonprofits, one of the participants from a local non-profit admitted she'd never joke about that stereotype again, recognizing that they had an opportunity to empower those in the community.

Theresa, of course, is an avid supporter of the CDAF grant and all that it can do. She says anyone thinking about applying for one who wants to change their local community or region should go for it.

“We believe we ignited something there,” she says. “We left behind the tiny seeds of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Those interested in learning more about the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund can follow our stories about the grant opportunity that awards up to $10,000 for teams of U.S. government-sponsored exchange program alumni. Grants are awarded for public service projects that utilize the skills, knowledge, and networks exchange alumni gained through their exchange experiences and are awarded yearly.