About us
History of the organisation
Alba Eglesia Foundation is a non-governmental organisation from Romania which aims at the sustainable development of rural communities in Transylvania through education. The core of our work is focused on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Viscri, where Alba Eglesia was founded in 1996 by a group of locals aiming to safeguard the local heritage following the mass migration of the Saxon population.
The name of the foundation was inspired by the first mention of the village, in 1400, in a document in Latin as Alba Ecclesia (Weißkirch, white church). The Latin ecclēsia comes from ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía) in Ancient Greek (ekkaléō means “to call forth, to summon”), its historical and etymological meaning thus being assembly.
It was later used to name the assembly of the citizens in city-states of ancient Greece. This name was therefore chosen to illustrate our mission, bringing the community together around shared humanistic values.
One of the first projects of the Alba Eglesia foundation was the restoration of the local school from Viscri, with support from the municipality of Büllingen, Belgium, twinned with Viscri since 1989. Also with support from the municipality of Büllingen, Caroline Fernolend, at the time president of Alba Eglesia, installed in Viscri the first telephone landline in a rural community with a digital switchboard.
After a long break, the foundation resumed its work in 2022, when a new board of young locals was elected. Alba Eglesia started once again to provide assistance to the local community for the conservation and interpretation of the local cultural and natural heritage.
Organisational governance
The governing structure of the organisation is as follows:
- General Assembly of Members
- Board of Directors
- President of the Foundation.
Board of Directors of the Alba Eglesia Foundation
The current Board of Directors is comprised of the following:
- Angheluș Constantin Octavian – president of the foundation
- Mihai Ristea – vice-president
- Vlăsceanu Ionuț George – secretary
- Ghilea Elisabeta – member
- Gherghiceanu Nicolae Cristian – member.
Team of the foundation [2025]
Octavian Angheluș – president of the organisation
Octavian has an experience of 19 years in advertising and communication. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at the National University of Arts Bucharest. Throughout his career, Octavian has held roles such as art director, creative director and operational director and has also been involved in entrepreneurship and project management.
He is the founder of the branding agency IDEALIST and co-founder of Questo, an app that helps people explore cities, that promotes innovative travel and that offers local experiences by taking users through hidden places. In 2020, he co-founded IN TRANSIT – art space, an initiative that promotes artistic projects and community involvement; in 2024, he started a collaboration with local artists in Viscri, a UNESCO site. In 2025, he became the president of the Alba Eglesia Foundation.
Laura Baciu – project manager
Laura discovered the Alba Eglesia Foundation in 2022 at a UNESCO volunteering project for young people in the field of cultural and natural heritage and then she became part of the organisation. Laura writes applications and projects for the foundation, handles documentation and reporting for the projects, takes care of communication and promotion, and assists in some field activities with the beneficiaries of the foundation.
She has coordinated 2 projects implemented in Viscri and she is currently participating as the coordinator of the foundation in 3 Erasmus+ partnerships. At the moment, she is working in an hybrid format and is participating at the most important activities and meetings within the projects of the foundation.