Katherine Van Loon, M.P.H.
Executive Director
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Katherine traveled to Romania on two separate occasions in the summers of 1999 and 2000 with teams sponsored by the Duke Catholic Student Center. While in Romania, she worked in a Bucharest orphanage in 1999 and lived in the rural village of Oituz in 2000 while working with the village’s young people. She graduated from Duke University in 2000 with a degree in Biology and also holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from Yale University. She is currently enrolled in medical school at the Medical College of Georgia. Along with her interest in healthcare, Katherine maintains a strong interest in international development and human rights. Katherine is one of the organization’s founding members and currently serves as its Director. She can be contacted at: kvanloon@roadsinternational.org

Sister Mary Murphy, FCJ
Scholarships Coordinator
Sister Mary Murphy

Sister Mary, originally from England, has lived in Romania for the last seven years. She is a member of the Faithful Companions of Jesus sisterhood. She resides in Bucharest and teaches Catholic catechism to university and high school students.She also spends time caring for sick children and the elderly.Sister Mary serves as a Scholarships Coordinator for ROADS, organizing and monitoring the allocation of funds to scholarship recipients. She also leads the process of selecting scholarship recipients. Sister Mary can be contacted at marym@roadsinternational.org. For a more in depth information on Sister Mary’s outreach, visit her profile. http://www.fcjsisters.org/network/continent/english/min-rom-marym.html

Mariela Graham
Scholarships Coordinator
Mariela Graham

Mariela Graham graduated from Duke University in 2002 with a double major in History and Public Policy Studies. She was a member of the first service trip from Duke University in May 1999, and she returned to Romania independently in June 2001. After graduating from Duke in 2002, she joined the New York City Teaching Fellows, an organization which trains and places teachers in underserved areas of New York City. Mariela currently teaches Social Studies at a middle school in Washington Heights. She holds a Masters Degree in Bilingual Education from City College of New York, and she is currently enrolled at Teachers College, Columbia University where she is working towards a Masters Degree in School Leadership & Organization. She collaborates with Sister Mary in organizing a formal screening and interview process for scholarship applicants. She can be contacted at mariela@roadsinternational.org.

Robert Ribciuc, M.B.A.
Public Relations Officer
Robert Ribciuc

A native of Romania, Robert attended Harvard University on a full scholarship after graduating from Mihai Viteazul High School in Bucharest.  He earned a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard, where he was inducted into the Harvard PhiBetaKappa Chapter.  A former medal-winning member of the Romanian International Math Olympiad team, Robert has taught mathematics both in Romania and at Harvard, where he achieved a Derek Bok Prize for Excellence in Teaching.  After spending a few years working in the finance industry, he went back to school and received his M.B.A. with High Honors in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago, where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Robert is currently an associate with Cargill Value Investment in Minneapolis, MN, where he is responsible for investing in credit-intensive consumer assets.

Continuing his interest in the Romanian education system, Robert has appeared several times in panels and interviews on education topics on Romanian national TV and in Romanian newspapers.  He has also been invited to speak on comparative aspects of the Romanian and American education systems at the George Stavros Center at the University of South Florida. Robert served as a Harvard Admissions Interviewer and organized the first-ever visit of Harvard Admissions to Bucharest.  In addition, he often counsels Romanian high school students about higher education avenues available to them. Robert is truly an example of the ability of the gift of education to transform a life and the future of a family. He can be contacted at rribciuc@roadsinternational.org.

Patrick Clark
Public Relations Officer
Patrick Clark
Hailing from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Patrick traveled to Romania in 1999 and 2000 while a student at Duke University.He graduated from Duke in 2001 and is now working towards his master’s degree in Theology at Boston College.He personally maintains a strong sense of solidarity with the people of Romania and particularly with the Romanian students who are at the center of this organization's efforts. He can be contacted at pclark@roadsinternational.org.

Nicholas Durham
Secretary/Public Relations Officer
Nick, from Tomball, Texas, graduated from Duke University in 2002 with a degree in Public Policy Studies. He visited Romania in the summer of 2000 and lived in the village of Oituz while working with the village’s young people. Upon his graduation from Duke, Nick was the recipient of a scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation that enabled him to conduct a year-long research project in Bogota, Colombia.He subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and currently resides in Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at ndurham@roadsinternational.org.

Laura Walker, J.D.
Public Relations Officer
Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Laura traveled to Romania in the summer of 2000.Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Laura traveled to Romania in the summer of 2000. She graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Russian. She completed her law degree at Duke School of Law and holds a strong interest in international and comparative law. She currently resides in London where she is practicing international transactions law. She can be contacted at lwalker@roadsinternational.org.

Erin Walsh, J.D.
Donations Officer
Erin, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduated from Duke University in 2002 with a double major in Public Policy Studies and Spanish. She traveled to Romania with other students from the Duke University in the summers of 1999 and 2000. Erin graduated from Stanford Law School in 2005 and is currently an associate in the litigation department at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, LLP in Washington, DC. She can be contacted at ewalsh@roadsinternational.org.

Sister Joanna Walsh, FCJ
Advisor
Sister Joanna Walsh
Sister Joanna, also a member of the Faithful Companions of Jesus sisterhood, currently resides in Durham, North Carolina.After serving for several years as a campus minister at Duke University, she now works in spiritual formation in the Durham area. Sister Joanna initiated and organized service trips to Romania for students in 1999 and 2000. For a more in depth information on Sister Joanna’s outreach, visit her profile at http://www.fcjsisters.org/FCJ-English/minprofjw.html

Maria Barbu
Translator
Maria Barbu is originally from Bucharest, where her family still resides. She graduated in 2003 from the German High School "Goethe" in Bucharest. She currently attends Columbia University on a full scholarship, where she is working towards a double major in Political Science and Economics. She has been involved in various community service activities both in Bucharest and in New York. Her experience includes volunteering in Bucharest at the Foster Center "Saint Catherine" with abandoned children and at the Foster House "Casa Emilia" with HIV-positive children, tutoring low-income, first-generation college-bound high school students in Harlem, and volunteering at the New York Foundling Hospital. She shares her perspective on ROADS: "I am impressed by the work that ROADS is doing, because it gives hard-working and determined Romanian students the chance to go to college by financing their education, taking into consideration that a lot of high-school students in Romania have the desire to get an undergraduate education but cannot afford it."