OUR MENTORS
DOREL GRIGORE
Dorel Grigore is a Business Coach, Serial Entrepreneur, and Senior Consultant at Ascendis. With over 25 years of experience in private and multinational companies and more than 15 years in international project management, he brings authenticity to the content of the seminars and workshops he delivers. Beyond the classic topics of finance, marketing, and management, Grig explores a new dimension of modern learning techniques, having developed e-Learning and e-commerce platforms in recent years.
After graduating from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, he pursued postgraduate studies in marketing and management across several countries, including Hungary, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and the United States. As a graduate of the International Association for Six Sigma Certification and a certified Celemi facilitator, he has conducted courses and business simulations for more than 60 companies across various industries such as finance, manufacturing, retail, logistics, energy, IT&C, pharmaceuticals, distribution, and construction.
Currently an entrepreneur and consultant, Grig highly values people's common sense and the essential ingredients that should never be missing from any business: passion and humor.
BOGDAN MERFEA
Bogdan is a strong advocate of social banking, with over 20 years of experience in the banking industry, including more than a decade in top management positions. His banking expertise is complemented by significant experience in microfinance and non-governmental organizations.
He currently serves as a board member in several financial and banking institutions and is also the Executive Director of the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Fund in Luxembourg. Passionate about his work, he dedicates a significant part of his time to developing financial instruments that facilitate easier access to funding for social economy operators.
MANUELA IFTIMOAEI
Manuela is one of the founding members of the Alături de Voi Romania Foundation, bringing 22 years of professional experience within the organization, where she currently serves as the Director of European Programs. She has developed numerous social, educational, and entrepreneurial programs, with expertise in areas such as project management, social economy, training, public procurement, and social financing.
She has mentored 37 social enterprises as part of the Social Enterprise Accelerator program and played a key role in creating Romania's first social economy cluster, aimed at ensuring the sector's sustainability. Manuela has also contributed to the development of the first private-capital non-banking financial institution in Romania dedicated exclusively to financing the social economy sector—AFIN IFN SA—where she is part of the organization's management team.
VICTOR CIUBOTARU
Victor firmly believes that for a business to achieve its goals in the online environment, it must keep up with the latest trends. This requires continuous learning and education.
Understanding how limited an entrepreneur's time can be, he founded DigitalGoal to provide personalized consulting and strategies tailored to the latest trends in online marketing. Victor's mission is to help entrepreneurs gain clarity and implement strategies that deliver long-term results.
ANA MARIA ISTRATE
Ana Maria is a senior financial business analyst and social entrepreneur.
A successful entrepreneur should cultivate continuous learning, adaptability, the ability to seek help, and the skill to build teams, considering these essential for growth.
She has 18 years of experience in financial and business analysis, including approximately 10 years in the banking sector and another 8 years in multinational companies, holding various roles in financial analysis departments, including management positions.
Working with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams has strengthened her communication skills, allowing her to present financial concepts in an accessible way, even to those outside the field.
Her experience as an entrepreneur and social entrepreneur has brought numerous challenges, especially at the beginning of the journey. Through this partnership, she aims to contribute her expertise to supporting the dreams of social entrepreneurs in a sustainable way.
BOGDAN ISTRATE
Bogdan has 20 years of experience in the NGO sector, working for some of the most important organizations in Romania.
He has written and implemented projects funded through the Civic Innovation Fund, the NGO Fund, the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Program, the Active Citizens Fund, the Global Fund, bilateral funds, as well as grants from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of European Funds, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, embassies, companies, and cultural institutes. Throughout his career, Bogdan has secured over 2 million euros in funding for the NGOs he has been involved with.
The projects he has written and implemented over the past 10 years have been repeatedly awarded at the Civil Society Gala and the Youth Gala.
Between 2020 and 2022, Bogdan was a member of the National Youth Council under the Ministry of Youth and Sports and served as an international project evaluator for ViiV GSK.
In 2022, he was included in the network of 700 Ashoka social entrepreneurs who are driving positive change in Romania.
Bogdan is also the co-owner of Cafeneaua 9, a social enterprise developed through the Social Enterprise Accelerator Program organized by the Alături de Voi România Foundation. Cafeneaua 9 has been on the market for almost four years and has operated as a work integration social enterprise.
April 25, 2025
