Raluca Jianu is the new Narada CEO

As of July this year, Raluca Jianu is the new CEO of Narada, an organization that fights for the democratization of access to education for every child, so that they can develop completely and harmoniously both professionally, personally and emotionally.

With over 13 years of experience in the business and corporate field, plus eight years of volunteering and involvement in various projects, including educational ones, Raluca Jianu started working with the Narada organization initially as a volunteer.

“I joined Narada in 2018, once the PowerUp project (as it was called then) was introduced to the company I was working for. I was eager to get involved in education and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I remained a Narada volunteer because, for me, the organization is the perfect mix of vision, exceptional people, technology, entrepreneurship and social impact. I then changed the business world with full time involvement at Narada, and my key objective here is to put my experience, energy and enthusiasm into building wonderful projects together with extraordinary people that will lead us to the fulfillment of our common dream: the chance for every child the education they need to grow to their full potential and to be a thriving member of society and a role model for those around them. It seems to me a unique opportunity and an extraordinary challenge that, together with the Narada team, I have the chance to contribute to the transformation of the educational system in Romania, from the bottom up and to have an impact on a number of at least 500 thousand children in the next few years”, says Raluca.

As CEO, she aims to further Narada’s mission by scaling the impact the organization is already generating through its lines of intervention. On the one hand, by engaging a support system around schools from the private and business environment, partners and donors who get involved in the alerts listed on HartaEdu.ro.

They aim to remove the technical and infrastructural barriers that prevent schools from providing children with the best quality education. On the other hand, by offering all children the education they need (formal or non-formal), in an interactive way and suited to them, through courses and access to remedial education, in the Naradix.ro platform.

Currently, Narada, together with the communities of teachers from all over the country and with the partners involved, deals with the most urgent needs of schools in Romania and of those in the educational system, about which Raluca Jianu says that “unfortunately, the discrepancies are so large from one school to another, so that we see critical situations at any level of the <pyramid of needs>”.

Currently, 1.2 million students study in schools with inadequate infrastructure, over 42% of the buildings in which schools operate are located in areas with high seismic risk, ¼ of the schools in Romania, mainly in rural areas, use stoves as the main source of heating, the children learning in some cold winters with their jackets on, in spaces with old windows through which the wind whistles.

In addition, in the last 10 years at least 11 educational institutions in Romania have collapsed over students during classes, 230,000 students do not have access to sanitary facilities in the school premises, and one in 6 schools in Romania does not have access to a source authorized water supply. In addition to these basic needs are those related to the fact that, among those enrolled in school, there are many children who drop out because they do not have financial support and/or do not understand how school could ever help them become self-supporting.