2019 Alianta Gala and Summit
October 3rd and 4th, Washington, DC
View our highlight video
See the program for what our main events were.2019 Alianta Gala Honorees

UiPath, the first Romanian tech unicorn
UI Path
2019 Business Innovation Award

Anastasia Soare, founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills
Anastasia Soare
2019 Entrepreneurship Award

US House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer
Steny H. Hoyer
2019 Public Service Award
Special Musical Guest

Paula Seling
Sponsor Showcase
Platinum Level Sponsor ($25,000)
Anastasia Beverly Hills
Gold Level ($10,000)
- Oracle
- Walbridge Corporation
- Concelex
- Prof. Allan Cruse (ret.)
- Highlander-Partner
- Grampet
- UiPath
- Franklin Templeton
- DFM Solutions
Silver Level ($5,000)
- Amb. Mark Gitenstein (ret.)
- DAW Benta Romania
- Chang Oh-Turkmani
- Hon. Consul Dan Dimancescu
- Vulpoi & Toader Mgmt.
- Maramures County Council
Small Business Sponsor ($2,500)
- OLM Advisors, LLC
- Market Data Diligence
- Katie and Alex Vasilescu
- Charles Frank / Eleanor Sebastian
- Amb. Jim / Sheila Rosapepe
- Liviu Tudor
- CulinArt Srl
- Repcom Srl
- Concelex Construction
- FWEI
- Aurachain
- CyBourn
Host Committee Sponsor ($1,000)
- Tiberius / Elena Vadan
- Edward Ip
- Eugene Vasilescu
- Law Office Andrei Popovici
- Romanian United Fund
- Ro-Am Society Wash. State
- Nicholas, John and Radu Florescu
- Ratiu Family Foundation
2019 Program
October 3rd & October 4th Schedule
- October 3, 2019: Alianta Gala
- October 4th, 2019: Security Roundtable
- October 4th, 2019: Tech Bridge Event
- October 4th, 2019: Working Lunch, Visa Waiver and 2020 US Census
- October 4th: Cultural and Community Roundtables
- October 4th: Romanian-American Cultural Awards
- 5:00-6:30 Doors Open
- 5:30-6:30 Cocktails meet and Greet - second floor ballroom lobby
- 5:30 Steny Hoyer arrival VIP (Alianta board, etc) meet and greet
- 6:10 Opening remarks - Amb. Rosapepe, Award for Public Service
- 6:15- Steny Hoyer Remarks
- At the conclusion of remarks, Attendees to enter the 2nd floor Main Ballroom
- Dinner Program Part One 6:30-7:15
- Appetizers, First course and wine
- 6:30 PM Paula Seling first musical number
- 6:40 Welcome remarks Sheilah and Jim
- 6:45 Welcome remarks Romanian Ambassador to U.S. George Maior
- 7:05 Recognition of Maramures County Council, 2019
- Alianta Gala Regional Partner, represented by Vice-President Doru Ioan Dancus and Int'l Relations Counselor, Gheorghe-Paul Szaniszlo.
- Welcome video message from President of Maramure County Counci, Mr. Gabriel Valer Zetea
- Video showcasing Maramures' economic and cultural achievements; invitation to invest
- 7:10-7:15 Second musical number Paula Seling
- Dinner Program Part Two 7:15-8:15
- Emcee - Invites attendees to enjoy the main course - main dishes and wine service
- 7:15-7:45 Recognition of Allan Cruse and 20 University Students
- Recognition of Romanian Heritage Award - Iulian Calinov and awards - Iulian Calinov, ARCS
- 7:45-8:15 Table socializing - 30 minutes
- Awards Program (8:15-8:45)
- Award to UiPath
- 8:15-8:20 Radu Georgescu Introduction
- 8:20-8:25 Short film UiPAth. UiPath rep comes on stage and accepts
- 8:25-8:45 Acceptance remarks Award to Anastasia Soare
- 8:45-8:50 Lauren Rakolta Introduction
- 8:50-8:55 Short Film Anastasia; Anastasia Rep comes on stage and accepts
- 8:55- Acceptance remarks
- 9:00 Third Musical number by Paula Seling
- Closing remarks
- 9:00-10:00 dessert and networking
- 10:00 PM-1 AM Afterparty at Baby Wale, 1124 9th Street NW
Romanian Embassy, Washington D.C.
Please note that - due to space limitations - only Host Committee level sponsors ($1000) and above will have access to the security and business roundtables at the Romanian Embassy the following day, including the Tech Bridge event (9 AM - 1:30 PM).
[University Students who are sponsored by Allan Cruse will be exempted from this policy and welcome to attend all the roundtable sessions].
All Gala ticket holders are welcome to attend the Special working lunch and Cultural and Community Roundtables starting 1:30 PM through the 5 PM cocktail hour.
Program: 8:15-9:00 Registration and NetworkingSecurity Roundtable - Date and Time: October 4, 9:00-10:15 am (followed by coffee break)
Theme: "Europe, Whole and Free; Perspectives on Romania 30 years since 1989."
Confirmed speakers:
Moderator - Steve Blank, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council
Panelist – Prof. Dennis Deletant, Georgetown University
Panelist – Damon Wilson, Vice President, Atlantic Council
Registration for the Roundtable here: http://bit.ly/Alianta19_Roundtables_Registration.
Coffee Break 10:15-10:30
- 2019 Alianta Gala Roundtables (9 AM – 5:00 PM)
Please note that - due to space limitations - only Host Committee level sponsors ($1000) and above will have access to the security and business roundtables at the Romanian Embassy the following day, including the Tech Bridge event (9 AM - 1:30 PM).
[University Students who are sponsored by Allan Cruse will be exempted from this policy and welcome to attend all the roundtable sessions].
All Gala ticket holders are welcome to attend the Special working lunch and Cultural and Community Roundtables starting 1:30 PM through the 5 PM cocktail hour.
Program: 8:15-9:00 Registration and Networking
Romanian Embassy
TECH-BRIDGE EVENTLocation: Romanian Embassy (capacity 120-select audience)
Time: 10:30-1.30 pm (followed by lunch)
Theme: Tech-Bridge is a new initiative designed to bring together Romanian start-ups with proven capabilities together with US-based VC's, Angel Investors and Industry experts, in a supportive, constructive atmosphere to grow and scale these businesses with capital and Silicon Valley-style management know how.
Part one: Romanian entrepreneurs share their experience in scaling their market presence in the US.
Moderator - Radu Georgescu, Bucharest Founder Gecad Ventures
Calin Vaduva - CEO and co-founder, Fortech
Razvan Atim- Head of Sales Eastern Europe, UiPAth
Florin Banateanu, Founder and CEO, OneTapp
Jon Wiener, CRO, AuraChain
Part two: American and Romanian business experts outline the biggest needs of Romanian start-ups and how the Tech-Bridge network can support.
Moderator: Mark Meyer, Board Chair, Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce
Iulian Calinov, Technical Program Manager, Amazon; Seattle Hon. Consul
Ionut Georgescu, Founder, FWEI
Daniela Florescu, NoSQL Researcher and Entrepreneur
Ana-Maria Popa, Head of Operations, Soft Galaxy
Part three: Defining Romania's Hi-Tech Brand: AI, Security or Niche?
Moderator: George Roth,Senior Manager Partnerships and Alliances, Bay Area Honorary Consul
Cristina Scheau - Director of Engineering in AI/machine learning at Facebook
Valentin Bercovici – Founder, Pencildata Cyber Security firm
Sebastian Cochinescu, CEO of SupplyBlockchain
Ashwin Jayaram, CEO, Cybourn
Registration for the Roundtable here: http://bit.ly/Alianta19_Roundtables_Registration.
TECH-BRIDGE EVENT
Romanian Embassy
- Special Working Lunch, 1:30-2:30 Special Luncheon, 1:30-2:30 (open to all Gala ticket holders)
- Alianta will be launching two initiatives:
- an advocacy campaign to allow Romanians to visit the US without visas (Romania is one of only four EU members currently excluded from the US visa waiver program);
- a social media campaign to encourage Romanian Americans to note their heritage on their 2020 US Census forms (bigger numbers, bigger voice) [As a leader of the Romanian American community, you can help change US visa rules and maximize the count of Romanian Americans in the US Census.
- Register for lunch here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_7JPcOT_TjlEe15q1xHFGdyk4bJ-HQODOwudBdY46Qjmrmg/viewform
- Time: 2.30-5:00 pm Registration for the Roundtable here: http://bit.ly/Alianta19_Roundtables_Registration.
- Moderator: Daniela Kammrath, Community Projects Director, Alianta.
- Successful projects in the Romanian American Community in 2019- brief presentation by Daniela Kammrath, Community Projects Director of Alianta;
- The civic awakening of Romanian Community- presented Mihai Lehene, Romanian United Fund;
- American-Romanian Cultural Bridge- presented by Crina Linta, founder and the President of Arte dell’Anima Association;
- Financing Community Projects in America and Romania- screening of a short film produces by Michael Dolha, followed by a dialogue among the panelists;
- Romanian-American Collaboration for Furthering Youth Education- Leslie Hawke, Founder The Alex Fund, Co-Founder Asociatia OvidiuRo.
- Conclusions and Networking (followed by refreshments) Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
- Announcement for the Alianta Ro-Am Cultural Awards- during following cocktail hour
Announcement for the Alianta Cultural Awards- during cocktail hour:
Excellence Award for Promoting Romanian Films and Culture in the US: American Romanian Cultural Society, Seattle, WA (https://www.arcsproject.org)
Excellence Award for Promoting Romanian Films in the US: Film ETC. Association/Making Waves Festival, Bucharest, Romania (makingwaves.filmetc.org)
Excellence Award for Promoting Romanian Traditions and Live Community Work: Authentic Society for Language and Romanian Culture, Chicago, IL (https://as4lrc.org.)
Excellence Award for Documenting Romanian Immigration in the US: Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans in Minnesota (www.hora-mn.org)
Excellence Awards for Promoting Romanian Traditional Dances In the US: Carpathia Folk Dance Ensemble, Washington, DC (https://www.facebook.com/carpathiadc/)
Excellence Award for Promoting Maramures Economic and Cultural Opportunities: Maramures County Council, 2019 Alianta Gala Regional Partner, represented by Vice-President Doru Ioan Dancus and Int'l Relations Counselor, Gheorghe-Paul Szaniszlo
For More Information
Sponsorship: Lauren Rakolta, Gala Chair, (313) 910-7757), lrakolta@dfm.solutions.com
Tickets: Bill Avery, Executive Director, (612) 356-9948, ba.alianta@gmail.com
Cultural and Community Roundtable: Daniela Kammrath, (202) 505-0335; dk.alianta@gmail.com
Gala Leadership
Gala Chair

Lauren Rakolta
Lauren is President and Chief Executive Officer of DFM Solutions. She also has extensive experience as a strategic consultant to political and legislative clients and has successfully served on numerous statewide and congressional campaigns for elected officials.
Honorary Chair

Eleanor Sebastian
Eleanor Sebastian was born in Bucharest and immigrated to Chile at age 15. She has a degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of Chile and has worked at the World Bank and various UN agencies in the US. In the early 90s she assisted in the founding of the Agency for Privatization in Romania and in 2006 she got the license and published TimeOut in Bucharest.
Gala Vice-Chair

Dana Tolici
Dana has a PhD in Knowledge Management, and an MBA from the University of Wales, UK, She is also teaching Personal Branding and Professional Development at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Bucharest, Romania, as Associate Professor.
Gala Vice-Chair

Alex Vasilescu
Romanian-American entrepreneur and investor. Founder of Val Design & Development SRL and ARL1 LLC. Co-founder of ITS, LLC, Construct + Cross, Co.,and INVARSTA LLC.
Gala Vice-Chair
