Ten years ago, when I was 24, I joined the Aspen Seminar, an experience that profoundly shaped who I became. Todd (a God-sent moderator) remains one of the three most influential people in my life. What he taught us continues to influence not only how I see the world, lead teams, and build public-private partnerships, but also who I am as a person. In many ways, it helped shape one of the foundations of ÎntreVecini (15k neighbours, 100 communities, +400 projects, +400 partners).

As an engineer, I had little relationship with philosophy beforehand and I would never have imagined myself referencing Allegory of the Cave (Plato), The Social Contract (JJ. Rousseau), Gooseberries (Chekhov), The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (Le Guin) and many more.

This was my first major fellowship, and it opened the door to many other extraordinary experiences around the world that I probably would not have had access to otherwise.

I share Mircea Geoană’s point of view from the Gala regarding Aspen Romania Institute’s past and future: after 20 years focused on Western integration, the next chapter should be about Romania playing a meaningful role on the global stage.
Our inability to recognise our own successes as a nation because we are often too focused on our shortcomings frustrates me still. Yet Romania is a transition success story rarely seen in history. We have remarkable people, both at home and abroad, who are moving mountains every day, but we are too busy with daily dramas.

Congratulations to the entire Aspen team for everything they have built so far and for organizing such a splendid event.

Ciprian Ciucu, an Aspen Fellow as well, reminded us on the stage that building Bucharest will constantly frustrate us, but there is no alternative to developments without working sites. As a District 6 resident, I am hopeful that a new era for Bucharest is coming. It took a while.

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