Julien Lefort

Success Coach Director of Coaching Education

 

 

RO: Construind din interior spre exterior. Cum comunitățile durabile încep cu un sine durabil.

Julien este un Coach Certificat Profesional ICF, axat pe reziliență, puncte forte și tranziție, cu o pasiune pentru Diversitate, Echitate, Incluziune și Apartenență. Îi place să își sprijine clienții în atingerea obiectivelor personale și profesionale prin instrumente și metodologii dovedite, ajutându-i să evolueze de la bine la excelent. Colaborează cu indivizi și organizații pentru a le sprijini în accelerarea performanței, dezvoltarea unor lideri puternici și rezilienți și valorificarea punctelor forte energizante pentru a-și atinge obiectivele.
Stilul de coaching al lui Julien este cald, creativ, inovativ și orientat spre lărgirea orizonturilor, creând în același timp un mediu de responsabilitate, încredere și rezultate concrete. A ajutat cu succes și a colaborat cu talente cu potențial ridicat, până la lideri și directori seniori, în perioade de tranziție și schimbare, permițându-le să-și câștige mai multă încredere, să dezvolte abilități de influențare de impact și să creeze medii incluzive.
Julien este practician certificat în numeroase evaluări și metodologii, inclusiv DISC, MBTI, Strengths Profile, EQi 2.0 și EQi 360. Lucrează în industrii diverse, inclusiv servicii financiare, tehnologie, producție, media, retail, transport și guvern. Clienții săi variază de la firme antreprenoriale mici și în creștere până la organizații multinaționale bine stabilite.
În prezent, Julien ocupă funcția de Director de Educație pentru certificarea de Training Profesional de Coaching axat pe Performanță și Diversitate și este Director de implicare a membrilor la ICF NYC, precum și voluntar pentru organizația non-profit Coaching For Everyone.

 

EN: Building From The Inside Out. How Sustainable Communities Start By A Sustainable Self

Julien is an ICF Professional Certified Coach with a focus on resilience, strengths and transition with a passion for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He loves supporting his clients to achieve their personal and professional goals with proven tools and methodologies so they can grow from good to great. He works with individuals and organizations to support them in accelerating their performance, in becoming strong & resilient leaders, and in harnessing their energizing strengths to reach their goals.
Julien’s coaching style is warm, creative, innovative, and expanding horizons while creating an environment of accountability, trust and actionable results. He has successfully helped and partnered with high potentials through to senior leaders and executives in periods of transition and change allowing them to gain greater confidence, build impactful influencing skills, and create inclusive environments.
Julien is a certified practitioner of numerous assessments and methodologies, including DISC, MBTI, Strengths Profile and EQi 2.0 & EQi 360. He works in diverse industries, including financial services, technology, manufacturing, media, retail, transportation and government. Clients range in size from small, growing entrepreneurial firms to large, well-established multinational organizations.
Julien currently serves as the Director of Education for the Diversity for Performance Professional Coach Training Certification, and is Director of membership Engagement for ICF NYC and a volunteer for the non-profit Coaching For Everyone.

 

About the Event

TEDx USVT

We are living in two worlds at once. In one, technology is rewriting what is possible. In the other, war, displacement, and ecological strain are rewriting what is urgent. Both are real. Neither will wait for us to reconcile them before asking us to act.

This year’s TEDx USVT is for the people who refuse to choose between optimism and honesty.

Our theme is the literacy of moving forward when the map is no longer accurate — not prediction, not reassurance, but navigation. The work of building, healing, teaching, and governing in a world where the old playbooks are spent and the new ones are being written in real time, by people who do not have the luxury of finishing them before they need to be used.

We are gathering speakers and partners across the fields where this work is most visible:

Education · Youth · Art & Culture · Health · Public Administration · Life Sciences · Ecology

Each of these domains is being asked, at the same time, to redesign processes inherited from a steadier world. We are looking for the people who have already begun.

 

 

Laetitia Manach

Director of International Projects

 

 

RO: Practica creativă și politica mediului, legătura dintre arte și ecologia politică

Laetitia este director și lider de echipă pentru proiecte internaționale în sectorul public și non-profit. În prezent, locuiește în Istanbul, unde lucrează la GIZ, Agenția Germană de Dezvoltare, conducând un proiect de asistență tehnică al UE pentru Ministerul Industriei și Tehnologiei din Turcia. Cei peste 20 de ani de experiență profesională în cooperarea internațională, lucrând pentru British Council, ONG-uri și diverse proiecte europene, i-au oferit un solid savoir-faire în conceperea și gestionarea programelor inovatoare de mare amploare, adaptate contextelor provocatoare, în special în Orientul Mijlociu și Africa.
Cu o experiență profesională în sectorul cultural și economia creativă, precum și cu un masterat în Mediu și Dezvoltare Durabilă la Bartlett-University College London (UCL), Laetitia a dezvoltat o expertiză unică în practicile creative și politica de mediu.


EN: Creative practice and environmental politics, linking the Arts and political ecology

Laetitia is a director and team leader of international projects in the public and non-profit sectors. She is currently based in Istanbul, where she works at GIZ, the Federal German Development Agency, leading an EU Technical Assistance project for the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology. Her 20+ years of professional experience in international cooperation, working for the British Council, NGOs and on multiple EU projects, has nurtured a solid savoir-faire in conceiving and managing large-scale innovative programmes responding to challenging contexts, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. With a background in the cultural sector and the creative economy and an MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development at the Bartlett-University College London (UCL), she has developed a unique expertise in creative practice and environmental politics.

 

SPEAKERS

TEDx USVT

Anca Damerell

Director of Innovation at unearthodox
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Anca Damerell

 

 

 

Anca Damerell

Director of Innovation at unearthodox
Anca Damerell is a systems innovation thinker, speaker, story-weaver, and gentle disruptor drawn to the places where old answers no longer fit. As Director of Innovation at Unearthodox, a place she affectionately thinks of as a home for edge-walkers and misfits, she creates spaces where science, lived experience, culture, creativity, and ancestral wisdom can meet, challenge one another, and open up new possibilities. Her path has wandered across academia, conservation, policy, and social innovation, through the University of Cambridge, UNEP-WCMC, Fauna & Flora, the European Parliament, and the old-growth forests of Romania, where she co-founded Agent Green. She is happiest in the messy spaces between disciplines, worldviews, and ways of knowing. Her work is grounded in curiosity, deep listening, and a belief that meaningful change often begins by noticing what our dominant narratives leave out. As a mother of two young boys, her questions about the future are also deeply personal.

Antoneta Galeș

Organisational Strategist, Coach, Author
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Antoneta Galeș

Organisational Strategist, Coach, Author
Antoneta Galeș explores how we come to know ourselves and how this understanding shapes the relationships, organisations and communities we are part of. She is an organisational strategist and coach, working with leaders and teams going through transformation. Alongside her consulting work, she writes both non-fiction and fiction. She is the author of The Happiness Journal (Caietul fericirii), co-author, together with Ada Galeș, of TU. Ce nu ți-a zis nimeni, and the author of several fiction novels published under the pen name Tony Mott. Whether she is working with organisations, writing or stepping onto a stage, she is guided by the same belief: meaningful change begins when we understand ourselves and the people around us better.

Mircea Iliescu

Genetician
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Mircea Iliescu

Human Geneticist / Genetician
Dr. Mircea Iliescu is a Romanian geneticist with a PhD in human genetics and evolution from the University of Cambridge, UK. He maintains a dual footprint in both Cambridge through collaborative research projects and teaching at the Institute of Continuing Education, and in Romania, where he leads the human population genetics group at the newly established Institute of Genomics in Bucharest. His academic research explores the origins of diversity in populations with complex histories from across the world, with a focus on India and Romania: unravelling genomic diversity will ultimately lead to personalised medicine. Driven by a passion for bridging the gap between science and the wider public, Dr Iliescu is widely recognized in Romania as a prominent science communicator. He feels at ease among all kinds of audiences across different cultures and he genuinely believes that the dissemination of knowledge with empathy is essential for a tolerant and open society.

Tudor Ciubotari

Poet
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Tudor Ciubotari

Poet
Tudor Ciubotari is a cultural developer and performance poet known for creating spaces where art, ideas, and people can meet. A pioneer of spoken word in Romania, he is a founding member of Poethree and has been closely involved with spoken word festivals such as Poethree Connexions and the Transylvania Spoken Word Festival. Working across Cluj, Bucharest, and Suceava, Tudor builds cultural experiences at the intersection of creativity, community, and critical thinking. He is the founder of TEDxAreni in Suceava, an initiative created to bring diverse perspectives, relevant ideas, and meaningful conversations into the local community and beyond. Through the event, speakers from different fields have shared ideas that have reached audiences far beyond the room, with TEDxAreni talks accumulating hundreds of thousands of views nationally. Tudor is recognised not only for the distinctive form and energy of his performances, but also for the depth of the messages and themes he explores. For him, poetry is a way of making yourself heard and understood, as well as a way of putting thoughts into order, not only on the page, but within the mind. Through his work on stage and within the communities he creates, he explores uncertainty as a space for connection and vulnerability as a form of courage.

Darius Mihoc

HighSchool Student
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Darius Mihoc

Highschool Student
Darius Mihoc is an 18-year-old student at Colegiul Național Bănățean in Timișoara, passionate about pushing the boundaries of student engineering. He recently represented Romania and Europe in the United States at the International Space Settlement Design Competition World Finals, held at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. Serving in Structural Design, he helped architect future interplanetary habitats—a role that earned him the Quiet Leadership Award during the European qualifiers. As the Technical Leader of the robotics Team Atlas, he specializes in 3D modeling and complex mechanical design. Beyond competitions, Darius is the founder of RoStart, a non-profit association dedicated to guiding Romanian youth toward careers in STEM. For Darius, engineering isn’t just about building robots or space stations; it is about navigating the uncertainty of the future by creating the tools to shape it. He is currently preparing to pursue university studies in aerospace and mechatronics engineering.

Răzvan Vlasin

Chief Information Officer NewPharma
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Răzvan Vlasin

Chief Information Officer NewPharma
Răzvan Vlasin is Chief Information Officer of the Newpharma group, one of the leading online pharmacies in Western Europe. A graduate of the Faculty of Electronics at the Politehnica University of Timișoara, and currently pursuing a Master's in Sustainability and Innovation at EADA Business School in Barcelona, Răzvan has built a career that has evolved from telecommunications to strategic management and digital transformation in the pharmaceutical e-commerce sector. Since 2017, he has significantly grown the Newpharma team in Romania, while coordinating the group's IT operations across markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and launching newpharma.ro in 2024, with delivery from Timișoara.

Ștefan Buciuc

Executive Director for Social Banking within BCR
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Ștefan Buciuc

Executive Director for Social Banking within BCR / Erste Group
Stefan Buciuc is CEO of BCR Social Finance and Executive Director for Social Banking within BCR / Erste Group. With more than 21 years of experience in banking, microfinance and impact finance, he leads initiatives focused on entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and sustainable economic development. He serves as President of the European Microfinance Network and the Romanian Microfinance Association, actively contributing to the advancement of the European microfinance and impact investing ecosystem. For more than 15 years, he has also led Let’s Do It, Romania!, the country's largest volunteer movement with more than 3 million volunteers participating since 2010. Stefan holds an Executive MBA from WU Executive Academy Vienna and executive certifications from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Nora Mahammed

Director of the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound, Brussels
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Nora Mahammed

Director of the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound, Brussels
Nora Mahammed (Brussels, 1994) is Director of RITCS, the School of Arts of Erasmushogeschool Brussel. She previously served as Head of the Drama programmes at RITCS and as a lecturer in Cultural Policy within the Social and Cultural Work programme. From 2021 to early 2026, she was Director of TheaterFestival Vlaanderen. Nora is an alumna of Erasmushogeschool Brussel, where she studied Social and Cultural Work, and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Agogics from Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her professional career lies at the intersection of the arts, culture, education and social participation. She worked at the Flemish-Dutch cultural house deBuren as Programme Coordinator and Coordinator of the Knowledge Hub, and developed participatory programming practices at Globe Aroma as part of the Art For All group. From a socially engaged arts practice, she also contributed to projects including Beauty Verhalen Salon (FEMALE ECONOMY & Kaaitheater) and MUSLIM/HIPSTER (doyougetme.world). Alongside her professional work, Nora serves on several boards and advisory bodies within the cultural sector. She is a board member of Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Gouvernement and MINT, and serves on the Literary Projects and Organisations Committee of Literatuur Vlaanderen. As part of Horizon 2035, she was a member of the Future Commission convened by Flemish Minister of Culture Caroline Gennez, focusing on cultural democracy and inclusion. Nora also serves as an independent member of various artistic and professional selection juries and regularly works as a speaker and moderator. She previously served on the boards of Kunstenpunt, Pilar, Globe Aroma and RITCS, and was Chair of the Cultural Council of the Flemish Community Commission in Brussels.

Ștefania Budulan

AI Technology Lead Adobe
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Ștefania Budulan

AI Technology Lead Adobe
Ștefania Budulan has spent more than a decade building, researching, and delivering AI and machine learning systems across academia and industry. Her work sits at the intersection of technology and the messy reality of how people, organisations, and businesses actually use it. Over the years, she has worked across industries (including finance, telecom, media and marketing) and seen firsthand that the hardest problems in AI are often not about what technology can do, but about what happens when we ask it to operate in a world that keeps changing. And when our understanding of that world is incomplete, shaped by what we know, what we measure, and what we overlook. Having taught in academia and now training engineers, technology professionals, and business leaders, Ștefania helps people navigate AI adoption while keeping sight of what makes these systems trustworthy: quality, evaluation, and ethics.

Ștefan Vaida

Founder of Monumentum Association, the Ambulance for Monuments Project, and the Interethnic Museum of Hârtibaciu Valley

Stefan Vaida was born on December 26, 1983, in Altana village, Sibiu county, right on the main street. 35 years later, we find him still here, but on "parau' napilor" as he likes to say, which is the former Romanian street in Altana, with a beautiful personal history. He became a restorer. He saved houses from destruction or mistreatment, participated in the restoration of many heritage buildings in Transylvania, alongside his brother Eugen Vaida - architect. Together they established the Monumentum Association, the Ambulance for Monuments, and the Interethnic Museum of the Hartibaci Valley.

Olivier Kleynjans

Founder of Yoboo

Olivier spent over a decade playing field hockey at the highest level, discovering how the smallest habits can influence performance and well-being. This passion for human potential led him to a seven-year career as a sports physiotherapist, helping both elite athletes and ordinary people to recover, progress, and achieve balance.
Today, Oli translates these lessons into Yoboo — a health-tech startup with the mission to help people everywhere optimize their lifestyle and feel their best, combining science, technology, and personal balance.

Ella Overkleeft

Founder & Director Rural Radicals

Ella has 20 years of experience in the cultural and creative industries, specializing in urban and rural development. With a holistic vision, she ensures that innovation is both systemic and grounded in real-world impact. With over a decade of international experience, she has built an extensive network while living and working abroad. At Trans Europe Halles – a European network that brings together over 100 independent cultural centers in converted buildings – she played an essential role in promoting cross-border collaboration.

She believes that creative spaces are portals for human development – essential in an era of rapid technological change and increasing individualization. Through her agency, Rural Radicals, Ella is paving the way for culture-based rural development across Europe, transforming non-urban areas into vibrant and sustainable cultural hubs that strengthen communities and contribute to the regeneration of local economies.

She perceives the spirit of the times as few can, anticipating societal changes and placing her work at the forefront of innovation and creative transformation. Her creed: Inspiration brings the responsibility to create – and she never lets a good idea go to waste.

Alexandra Elena Miron

President of the Youth Platform for Sustainability
Elena-Alexandra Miron has over ten years of experience in sustainability and climate change, serving as the youth representative of Romania at the UN Climate Change Conferences (COP27, COP28, and COP29). In this role, she has promoted the integration of youth perspectives into international negotiations on adaptation, loss and damage, climate finance, and climate change education, while also facilitating national consultations to connect the younger generation with global decision-making processes. She studied strategic tourism and sustainable environmental development, as well as international law and diplomacy, focusing her career on green transition, climate governance, and intersectional approaches in environmental policies. In public administration, she served as Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Investments and European Projects, where she supported initiatives on sustainability, aligning national strategies with European objectives, and cooperation and dialogue processes between authorities, the private sector, and civil society, including in platforms such as M100. Currently, she is a researcher at the Energy Policy Group, where she focuses on building decarbonization, energy efficiency, and climate policies. In civil society, she is the co-founder and president of the Youth Platform for Sustainability, which is coordinating the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) for the first time in Romania, as part of the UNFCCC process. Also through the Platform, she developed the first National Youth Declaration on Climate Change and the project "Future for YOUth", the first national newsletter dedicated to young people interested in sustainability and the green transition. Her projects have a strong climate education dimension, facilitating young people's access to information and involvement in formulating solutions. As a Regional Organizer for Central and Eastern Europe within the Climate Reality Project Europe, she supports the development of climate hubs and regional collaboration. Through all her activity, Elena-Alexandra Miron connects institutions, research, and civil society to accelerate the green transition, emphasizing quality implementation, social relevance, and the active participation of young people in climate change decision-making processes at the national and global levels.

Silvia Ioana Fierăscu

Internationally recognized network science researcher, educator and innovator, working at the intersection of data, governance and social change

Silvia Ioana Fierăscu is an internationally recognized network science researcher, educator and innovator, working at the intersection of data, governance and social change. With over 15 years of experience as a global analyst, consultant and trainer, she specializes in applying data science and network analysis in fields such as anti-corruption, change management, organizational development and innovation ecosystems.

She is the founder and director of FabLab – Social Fabrics Research Lab, a dynamic hub dedicated to connected research and social impact, and Head of OrgMapper Academy at Maven7, where she coordinates international training programs in organizational network analysis. As a lecturer at the West University of Timișoara, Silvia promotes project-based and career-connected learning in the field of data science.

Her work connects academia, civil society and public policy. She has developed data-driven approaches for anti-corruption and transparency, supporting public institutions, companies and watchdog organizations to strengthen accountability, competition and public trust. She created ConnecTM, an educational program that connects students with real data projects, and founded DataSenses, an innovative educational ecosystem that uses games and artificial intelligence to develop critical thinking and digital skills across generations.

Silvia also contributes to the development of Living Labs, designing participatory frameworks for urban resilience, governance and civic innovation. She played an essential role in the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) legacy program, mapping and analyzing collaborations between over 1,300 organizations to model resilient cultural ecosystems in Timișoara and beyond.

A frequent speaker at international conferences and author of the volume Redefining State Capture, Silvia inspires audiences to see data not just as numbers, but as tools for transparency, connection and transformation. Her vision is based on empowerment through knowledge, cross-sector collaboration and designing inclusive, innovative and sustainable futures.

EVENT SCHEDULE

TEDx USVT

14:00 – 15:00 · Welcome drink & check-in

15:00 – 15:20 · Opening & Setting the Stage

𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 · When the Map Is Gone
The moment we realize that our old tools (poetry, self-knowledge, science) give us better questions, not final answers.

15:20 · Tudor Ciubotari — “Miracles Don’t Appear from Under the Covers”
15:40 · Antoneta Galeș — “Life Without an Instruction Manual”
16:00 · Mircea Iliescu — “Science for Everyone in the Genomic Era: Truth and Challenge”
16:20 – 16:45 · Connection Break

𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗜 · How We Decide Without Knowing
When, without a map, decisions still get made, and waiting for certainty is, more often than not, costlier than taking action.

16:45 · Răzvan Vlasin — “How to Decide When Science Is Still Deciding”
17:05 · Ștefania Budulan — “The Future Has No Training Data”
17:25 · Ștefan Buciuc — “Certainty Is Overrated”
17:45 – 18:10 · Connection Break

𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗜𝗜 · What New Horizons Open Up
We won’t return to the old shore. We’ll reach shores we haven’t seen yet, as we redefine the very question of what it means “not to know.”

18:10 · Darius Mihoc — “From Timișoara to NASA and Back”
18:30 · Anca Damerell — “One Hundred Futures. Different futures make different possibilities visible in the present”
18:50 · Nora Mahammed — “What Uncertainty Teaches Us”
19:10 – 19:25 · MC Closing & Invitation
19:25 – Cocktail & Networking

Adrian Muntean

Adrian Muntean

Plant Manager at B. Braun Pharmaceuticals and Head of Global Shared Services Romania

RO: Creating a fulfilling career - my experience on a 20-year journey with impact on people and sustainability

Adrian Muntean is the Plant Manager at B. Braun Pharmaceuticals and Head of Global Shared Services Romania, with extensive experience in international production management, having worked in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Germany, covering various industries such as pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and automotive. Adrian specializes in continuous improvement, GMP, TPM, production management, P&L in production, investment planning, team development, and quality standards such as OHSAS 18000, FSSC 22000, and ISO/TS 16949. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Polytechnic University of Timișoara (2008-2010) and an engineering degree (B.Eng.) obtained at USAMVB Timișoara (1998-2003). He attended computer science courses at Traian Doda High School (1994-1998). Adrian is married and has two children.

EN: Crafting a rewarding career - my experience on a 20 year long journey with impact on people and sustainability

Adrian Muntean is the Plant Manager at B. Braun Pharmaceuticals and Head of Global Shared Services Romania, with extensive international manufacturing management experience across Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Germany, covering industries such as pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods, and automotive. Adrian is skilled in Continuous Improvement, GMP, TPM, Production Management, Manufacturing P&L, Investment Planning, People Development, and quality standards like OHSAS 18000, FSSC 22000, and ISO/TS 16949. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Polytechnic University of Timisoara (2008-2010) and a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) from USAMVB Timisoara (1998-2003). He studied Informatics at Traian Doda High School (1994-1998). Adrian is married and has two children.

PROIECT SPONSORIZAT DE

 

 

Andy Trincia

Storyteller

 

 

RO: Regândirea României ca destinație turistică

Andy Trincia este scriitor, editor și consultant în comunicare. Fost reporter de ziar și executiv în domeniul comunicării, a fost, de asemenea, voluntar al Corpului Păcii în România. Pe lângă jurnalism, cariera sa a cuprins comunicare corporativă pentru companii Fortune 500, relații publice la nivel executiv (C-suite), gestionarea relațiilor guvernamentale și managementul agențiilor de PR, cu un accent puternic pe plan internațional.
Pasiunea sa pentru călătorii și aventură – în aproape 60 de țări și 49 din cele 50 de state americane – l-a condus să devină expatriat de lungă durată. American de origine, locuiește acum pentru a treia oară în România.
Andy are o diplomă în jurnalism de la Universitatea din Carolina de Nord, Chapel Hill, și un MBA de la Universitatea Northeastern din Boston. Rămânând aproape de rădăcinile sale în jurnalism, scrie freelance pentru diverse publicații, în special despre călătorii și viața de expatriat, și editează cărți. În 2023, a semnat un articol amplu despre Timișoara, România, în secțiunea de călătorii a ziarului The New York Times.

EN: Rethinking Romania as a tourism destination

Andy Trincia is a writer, editor and communications consultant. A former newspaper reporter and communications executive, he also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Romania.
Besides journalism, his career has spanned Fortune 500, C-suite corporate communications and government relations and PR agency management, with a strong international emphasis.
His passion for travel and adventure – to nearly 60 countries and 49 of the 50 U.S. states – led him to become a longtime expatriate. An American, he’s now living in Romania for the third time.
Andy has a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MBA from Northeastern University in Boston.
Remaining close to his journalism roots, Andy writes freelance for various publications, mostly about travel and expat life, and edits books. In 2023, he bylined a major feature about Timisoara, Romania, in the Travel section of The New York Times.

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