Elena Calistru (RO)

Elena Calistru is one of Romania’s most respected civic voices. In 2012 she co-founded Funky Citizens, an NGO that has reached over 5 million Romanian citizens through platforms monitoring public budgets, fact-checking tools, election monitoring, and civic education caravans across many cities in Romania. They created a Constitution for youth – because democratic values have to be learned young. An Ashoka Fellow since 2019, she was elected President of the EESC’s ECO Section in October 2025, giving her a direct voice in European economic and social policy.

She bridges the gap between values, policy, and civic engagement on one hand, and the world of culture, art, and live music on the other. Her moderation style should be warm but uncompromising: she asks the questions that make people uncomfortable, she does not let abstractions stand where specifics are needed, and she keeps the room focused on what people are actually prepared to do – not just what they believe.