REDI - Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative

23/08/2026

23/08/2026

"Political participation can take different forms at different levels," says Neda Korunovska.

In an interview with Roma News, she gives two examples of what that means in practice: parents engaging with the councils at their children's schools, and Roma businesses working through chambers of commerce to push for what they need.

Political participation happens long before anyone reaches a parliament.

But local structures are not yet inclusive—which is why organisation and collective action to make Roma voices heard at every level matter so much.

That work is what the Roma Foundation for Europe network exists to do.

21/08/2026

20/08/2026

12/08/2026

George Soros has spent four decades backing Roma-led change in Europe. On the occasion of his 96th birthday, we're resharing the story behind that commitment — starting with a question most European governments were not asking: why Roma remained shut out of housing, jobs, health care and education, even after the fall of communism promised political freedom for all.

That support built the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)'s litigation against school segregation, the Step by Step early years programme, the Roma Education Fund Foundation, the REDI - Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture - ERIAC, the Roma for Democracy Foundation — and, more recently, the Roma for Europe.

"We carry his legacy by financing what he spent his life arguing for.
Roma entrepreneurs who'd been refused by every bank they walked into now run businesses that pay wages and repay their loans on time. That record is the argument. And it all started with George Soros. Happy birthday from the REDI Team!" - Petrica Dulgheru, Executive Director, REDI

Roma for Europe Roma Education Fund Roma for Democracy Foundation European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture - ERIAC
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/inside-the-archives-george-soros-and-the-fight-for-roma-dignity/episode/origins-of-a-commitment?fbclid=IwVERTSANm-adleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHp0Idg0L4El2aroM44O4SqnCG1ubESZoBoZ5wQZ7x1vfn1c-nmgJJQHRSGtf_aem_MkYo-97je1nuZPt0qiwSiw

For over 40 years, George Soros has been the leading private supporter of Europe’s Roma. Civil society leaders reflect on his commitment to the continent’s largest and most excluded ethnic minority, and on their fight for equality.

12/08/2026

Have you heard these myths about entrepreneurship? 🫣

👉 In this video, we explain how things really work and what you should know before taking out a loan or taking your first steps into the world of entrepreneurship.

12/08/2026

A Roma-owned business can repay a loan at the same rate as any bank's best customers. It still gets turned down first.

REDI, part of the Roma Foundation for Europe network, has the numbers to prove that Roma entrepreneurs are reliable: a 95 to 98 per cent repayment rate across 758 loans, and 1,584 jobs created or sustained in communities where banks rarely lend at all.

Nearly half of Roma adults in the EU are unbanked, against five per cent of the general population. Even though they have the same ambition, they are turned down because the system was never built to consider them.

Ever been turned down before anyone really looked at you? Have your say in the comments.