Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation

Dinu Toderașcu is a Bucharest-based senior program officer responsible for managing ProElect and INCRES, both EU-funded projects. Prior to joining GMF, he worked for the National Democratic Institute in Moldova as a program officer, assisting the country director with program design and implementation. In 2019, he was appointed chief of staff to Moldova’s minister of foreign affairs and European integration. He was appointed three months later state secretary at the ministry and was responsible for bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Toderașcu holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Bucharest and a master’s degree in European public affairs from Maastricht University. He is a fluent in English, Russian, and Romanian. 

Sergiu Panainte is the acting regional director of the Bucharest office, overseeing the strategic and operational implementation of grantmaking and capacity building activities in the wider Black Sea area. He is responsible for conceptualizing and leading programs, engaging with major donors and stakeholders, and managing a diverse team to foster regional cooperation and development. 

Panainte’s professional background spans international relations, grant management, and democracy, with a focus on the Black Sea basin and the administration of programs that support civil society, media, human rights, and democratic development. His expertise also extends to monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

Fluent in Romanian and Russian, Panainte holds master’s degrees in international relations and European studies from Central European University in Budapest and in international relations from Moldova State University. His scholarly work includes several publications focused on Central and Eastern European politics.

Maria Florea oversees the Black Sea Trust’s (BST) Enhancing the Resilience of Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership project and BST’s grantmaking portfolio for the wider Black Sea region. 

Florea has extensive experience in leadership program design, having implemented GMF’s Leadership and Democracy Initiative for Eastern Europe, which focuses on Eastern Partnership countries. Over the course of her 10 years at GMF, she has helped hone the skills of more than 200 leaders and civil society activists, supported more than 100 organizations working to improve communities in the wider Black Sea region, and organized numerous events and large-scale forums. 

Florea holds a master’s degree in European governance from the University of Bristol and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Vienna. She is also a graduate of the Georgetown Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program. She speaks English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian, in addition to her native Romanian.