FOURTH CONFERENCE OF ROMANIAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONALS

This year, the specter of continued political polarization and pandemic tailing economic woes seem to have spun a dangerous narrative of fracturing trust in institutions of social cohesion, of channeling insecurity into divisiveness and distrust of imagined “others.” It is precisely in such critical times, when anti-democratic revisionist actors demolish the basic tenants underpinning international stability, turning civilians into refugees and marshaling basic sustenance resources as bargaining chips, that we must stand firm and live up to the humanist values that allowed us to thrive. Academic and professional diasporas such as ours are vested in promoting cohesion and many amongst us have in these past months summoned the needed empathy to assist those displaced by war in Ukraine, assisting them either here in the US or in the safe-haven borderlands of Romania and Moldova.

We gather to highlight the contributions of those committed to weaving back the social capital of trust both here and abroad, trust that allows newcomers to turn into productive members of host communities. As in previous years, on December 2nd and 3rd we will hold our annual virtual online event taking stock of developments within our academic and professional councils:

Arts and Culture;

Medicine and Public Health;

Legal counseling, Development and Public Policy;

STEM and IT;

Community civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.

The annual gathering highlights and honors Romanian Americans’ contribution to American society and will feature remarkable diaspora public figures from each field. We invite you to hear presentations of institutional and personal efforts to sensitize those in each field about the needs of newcomers and refugees, professionals or researchers, initiatives that create awareness about the central role newcomers in driving innovation and wealth, or of service in promoting inclusivity in professional or local communities. We will take this opportunity to feature selected projects of excellence that address the evolving needs of our diaspora.

By bringing together leaders of the scientific and professional diaspora with varied expertise in the areas outlined, IRF intends to encourage the cross sharing of approaches, best practices and pertinent career development or mentorship information. The goal of this professionals’ network is to leverage the scientific diaspora’s expertise in facilitating the successful integration, upward social mobility, and positive influence of Romanian Americans within our host society at large.

When: December 2nd, 2:00PM-5:30PM EST and December 3rd 10:00AM-3:00PM EST

The opening plenary will be followed by consecutive panel sessions to allow participation in multiple areas of interest. A detailed agenda of confirmed presenters will be made available soon. Registration is free to all participants.

We look forward to having you join our evolving conversation.