In Romaversitas we support Roma students to gain access to quality education.
We believe that education provides choices for children and a means to accomplish their goals and full potentials.
We support them on the path to become Romani intellectuals, who advocate for their communities and shape the narratives about Roma.
Our team
Boglárka Fedorkó
Executive Director
I am a human rights expert and Roma feminist activist. I am an economist by training, who is passionate about social justice and has been active in diverse fields, such as international education inclusion projects, Roma rights advocacy and women empowerment. In the past 10 years, I have worked for international organisations in the field of migration, trafficking, education inclusion and LGBT rights. Additionally, I helped the communications and fundraising of Romani Design, the world’s first Roma fashion brand. In 2020, I created Ame Panzh, a collective of young Roma activists to initiate an honest dialogue about the exclusion practices harming minorities in Hungary. In 2021, we were nominated for the Freedom Prize of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. In 2022, we received the Raoul Wallenberg Prize.
As a proud Romaversitas alumna, I know how important Romaversitas’s role is in making access possible to quality education and in creating a supportive community. My Romaversitas years were life-changing and I hope our students will also have the best memories of our time spent together.
Ildikó Paskó
Education Director
Ildi is a Sociology and Social Work graduate. She used to work at the Beszélő journal and at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ). As a freelancer, she contributed to multiple initiatives and research projects in the fields of education and social justice. She joined Romaversitas Foundation in 2006 as a trainer, and today she is responsible for the educational activities of the organization.
Mária Jakab
Financial Officer and Education Programme Coordinator
Since 2002 I have been working for NGOs, mainly in the fields of human rights and environmental protection (Otherness Foundation National and Ethnic Minority Rights Office, Civil Media Nonprofit Ltd., EMMA Association, Messzelátó Association). I switched from a career in health care to finance in the late 1990s. I studied financial and accounting administration, tender writing and resource management. I have been the financial coordinator and project assistant at the Romaversitas Foundation since 2018. It is a pleasure to be part of society-shaping activities that impact the lives of all of us as a NGO background worker.
Gyöngyi Köteles
Mentor and Coach
I started my studies at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, then I graduated as a language teacher at the Lajos Kossuth University. I taught English as a specialised language at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of ELTE. I worked with Hungarian and Romanian-speaking children who had fled from Transylvania, helping them to integrate smoothly into the Hungarian school system. I was the owner and professional manager of a training and consultancy company, responsible for the development of twenty to thirty colleagues, liaising with foreign partners, developing organisations. I have also tried my hand in the world of multinational companies, I was a trainer and coach at K&H Bank for eight years.
At Romaversitas I give skills training, mentor high school and university students, accompany trainees on their first job. Coming from a minority background, I have worked in numerous programmes aiming at equity, inclusion and equal opportunities.
Zsolt Horváth
Communications Manager
I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Pázmány Péter Catholic University. Since 2017 I have been working in online journalism, and since 2022 I have been the editor-in-chief of PHENOM Magazine, a pop culture website. Since 2021, I’m the host of the podcast Kultikus. In the same year, I was a Romaversitas scholar. In recent years I have been working as a social media professional, which included copywriting, graphic design and website management, as well as developing social media strategies and managing sites.
Fanni Trendl
Programme Manager
My name is Fanni Székely-Trendl, I graduated in 2011 in Romology-History at the University of Pécs, I am currently a PhD candidate at the PTE “Education and Society” Doctoral School of Education.Since 2014 I am a lecturer at the Department of Romology and Sociology of Education at the PTE. I was a Romaversitas scholar between 2006-2011, and I am a WHSz (Wlislocki Henrik Szakkollégium) scholar since 2009. Since July 2022, I have been coordinating the leadership training and internship programme set up by the Romaversitas Foundation and the Municipality of Budapest. I believe in achieving social equality and carry out my daily tasks in this spirit.
Bettina Pocsai
Office Manager
I graduated as a social pedagogue at the Apor Vilmos Catholic College, specialising in Romology. Afterwards I continued my studies at the Central European University, first within the Roma Graduate Preparation Program, and then I was admitted to the Master’s program in Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University. Since the age of 16, I have been volunteering with the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Salesians Youth Movement, organising and running workshops, camps and festivals, and I have been involved in the media team of the Salesians Province. In 2015, I first became acquainted with the Uccu Roma Informal Education Foundation as a volunteer and since 2020 I have been involved as the organisation’s education coordinator.
Tímea Sófalvi
Mentor and Coach
Since 2008, I have been working for Romaversitas in a variety of capacities: delivering skills training on career planning, business development, financial literacy, social skills and media awareness, mentoring university students and graduates. I graduated as a social worker in 1996, later studied drama methods, non-profit management, and completed an MBA at CEU, where I studied sustainability, marketing, organizational development and finance. Since 2014 I have been working as a freelancer at BeeTree Expert Group, working with NGOs and social enterprises.
Kata Törley
Career Counselor, Education Programme Advisor
I graduated from the University of Pécs in 1992 with a degree in French. I have been working as a teacher in the public education sector since 1999. Since 2016, as one of the founders of the Tanítanék Movement, I have been actively involved in the struggle for the renewal of public education and the realisation of equal opportunities. Since 2019, I have been working with young people in the secondary school programme at the Romaversitas Foundation as a further education counsellor.
Lilla Eredics
Programme Manager
I graduated in 2022 from CEU with a Master’s degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology. At the foci of my professional interests have always been the social realities of marginalized communities along with race, gender, and class. Along this line, I wrote my MA thesis on the oral histories of Roma women with a focus on paid and unpaid reproductive work. Since 2021, I have been editor of Fordulat, the Hungarian journal of critical social theory. I am currently one of the chief editors of a Roma-focused issue to be published in Spring 2024. I am an alumna of the College of Social Theory and an active member of the Working Group for Public Sociology “Helyzet.” In the summer of 2021, I became involved in the project of Romaversitas on the inclusion of Roma refugee families as a researcher. Since January 2023, I have been coordinating the project.
Csaba Oláh
Project Coordinator
I am Csaba Oláh, I studied cultural anthropology and sociology. In recent years I have been working in the field of education. I consider important initiatives supporting equal opportunities in education and programmes promoting the development and preservation of a positive Roma identity.
Melinda Vajda
Project Coordinator
My name is Melinda Ferkovicsné Vajda, and I am an anthropologist. I am currently a PhD student in Applied Linguistics at ELTE. Since 2019 I have been working in the field of education and teaching Romanian at the University of Central Europe. I am currently the coordinator of a scholarship programme for young Roma students and graduates in the field of pedagogy.
Dániel Szőcsi
Intern
I am Dániel Szőcsi and I graduated from high school in 2020, I am a graduate student of social work at the University of Jewish Studies. I am currently working as a trainee in the Mayor’s Office of Budapest. I started my internship at the Romaversitas Foundation. I also have a Facebook community page called Pa le Roma (About Gypsies), which I created in 2018, and I thought that I could showcase ordinary young people who can motivate others with their life paths, help those who are unsure about trying new things and starting their careers.
Our Board:
- dr. Dinók Henriett (president)
- dr. Vivien Brassói
- Aladár Horváth
- Márta Józsa
- Angéla Kóczé
- Sándor Szőke
