Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation

Clara Volintiru is the director of GMF’s Bucharest office and of the organization’s Black Sea Trust.

Prior to joining GMF, she was the director of the New Economy and Society Program at the Aspen Institute of Romania, and a consultant for international organizations such as the World Bank, the European Commission, Eurofound and the Committee of the Regions. Her work covered the EU, the transatlantic community, the Western Balkans, and the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries and Southern neighborhood.

In addition to her international policy work, Volintiru is an associate professor of international political economy at Bucharest University of Economic Studies. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Volintiru is a contributor to publications including Forbes, Emerging Europe, and Huffington Post.

Bogdan Cozma is a program coordinator at the Black Sea Trust. He supports the Pro-Elect project, which promotes participatory and representative democracy in the Eastern Partnership countries. He also writes policy briefs on electoral systems in the Black Sea area, the impact of geopolitics on Central and Eastern Europe, and the role of civic engagement in promoting democratic principles. He previously worked on grantmaking initiatives in Ukraine and Türkiye with funding from USAID, the European Commission, the Porticus Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Cozma has additional expertise in the Three Seas Initiative, EU institutions and foreign policy, and the politics of the Black Sea region. 

Cozma holds a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Bucharest. He is a PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of International Affairs at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.