Mapping Romani futures: Connected local histories and global realities
Date and Time: Friday, April 10, 2026 at 12:30pm – 6:45pm EDT. Reception to follow at 7:00pm EDT.
Location: 110 Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA 02138 (Harvard University) and online on Zoom
In partnership with the Harvard University Central European University, Harvard Kennedy School Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights, Harvard University of Arts and Sciences Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights (EMR, Human Rights Program – Harvard Law School, Feminist collective of Romani Gender Experts, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, International Human Rights Clinic (HLS), Women Gender and Health (HSPH) and and the Roma Program for Health and Human Rights at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights will host a free, hybrid-format conference at Harvard University’s Barker Center (110 Thompson Room) on Friday, April 10, 2026. The Barker Center is located at 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138. It is accessible by public transportation and near several garages but there is no parking on site. A reception will follow.
Background information about International Roma Day (April 8):
International Roma Day has been celebrated by Romani communities around the world for decades. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the First World Roma Congress, a historic gathering at which Roma Day, the Romani flag, and the anthem “Gelem, Gelem” were adopted as key symbols of the global Roma diaspora.
Across regions, neighborhoods, organizations, and institutions use this anniversary to highlight Romani heritage through concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, conferences, and media events. Many leaders and scholars also observe Roma Day with commemorations that honor victims of anti-Roma racism and reflect on progress in social, political, cultural, and economic life.
Conference overview:
Since 2013, the annual Harvard Roma Conference has provided a forum to examine and address anti-Roma racism—its origins, history, drivers, protectors, and global manifestations, with particular attention to children and youth. The conference has worked to strengthen data collection on Roma (especially youth and children), improve research methods, promote participatory action research with Romani youth, and critically revisit histories, policies, and practices affecting Romani communities. A central goal has been to amplify and center Romani voices and experiences in global scholarship.
On April 10, 2026, the 14th Harvard Roma Conference, Mapping Romani Futures: Connected Local Histories and Global Realities, will once again mark Roma Day. This year’s event examines Romani histories and present-day realities to help shape more equitable futures for Romani children, youth, and generations to come, situating these discussions within a global context of rising human rights abuses, wars, extremism, and climate and digital threats.
This year’s program includes:
Keynote panel on global and regional trends and threats affecting Romani children and youth, especially in the context of escalating human rights abuses, wars, extremism, and climate and digital risks.
Panel 1 – Connected Futures, Histories, and Realities: Exploring connections and continuities in Romani histories and lived realities, and how these shape the lives, inequities, and identities of Romani children, youth, and future generations.
Panel 2 – Intersectionality and Intersecting Stories: Examining often overlooked and marginal axes of inequity in narratives of Romani histories, realities, and futures.
Book talk: Continuing a recent tradition, the conference will close with a book talk highlighting recent monographs on Romani people, with emphasis on works that advance global scholarship.
Agenda
12:00pm – 12:30pm: Gathering
12:30pm: Greeting from the Master of Ceremonies
Rayna Emilova, MEd
Rayna Emilova is a Roma educator, researcher, and Fulbright Scholar from Bulgaria whose work sits at the intersection of educational equity, anti-racism, and social transformation.
Rayna has several years of experience in education and continues to engage with teaching and research as interconnected forms of advocacy. Her work is rooted in the lived realities of Roma communities in Europe and shaped by a deep commitment to challenging anti-Roma racism, structural exclusion, and the normalization of inequality across institutions.
Rayna has several years of experience in education and continues to engage with teaching and research as interconnected forms of advocacy. Her work is rooted in the lived realities of Roma communities in Europe and shaped by a deep commitment to challenging anti-Roma racism, structural exclusion, and the normalization of inequality across institutions.
12:30pm: Welcoming remarks
Dean for Academic Affairs, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, DSc
Jorge E. Chavarro is the dean for academic affairs at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the School, and professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chavarro’s research focuses on understanding how nutritional, lifestyle and metabolic factors impact human reproduction and reproductive milestones throughout the life course, and how these events impact other aspects of health.
12:40pm: Framing the conference topics
Director of the FXB Center Roma Program for Health and Human Rights
Margareta Matache, PhD
Dr. Margareta (Magda) Matache is a Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the co-founder and Director of the Roma Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University. She is also a member of the O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination and Global Health. Dr. Matache’s research focuses on the manifestations and impacts of racism and other systems of oppression in different geographical and political contexts.
12:45pm: Keynote speech – Growing up in an age of crises: Global trends shaping the future of children, youth, and next generations
FXB Director of Research | Chair
Jacqueline Bhabha, JD, MSc
Jacqueline Bhabha is a Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health, the Jeremiah Smith Jr. Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School, and an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also the Director of Research at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.
Professor of Law | Keynote Speaker
Maleiha Malik
Maleiha Malik is a law academic whose research focuses on discrimination law and minority protection. Her relevant publications include, inter alia, Discrimination Law: Theory and Context (co-authored with Geoffrey Bindman and Nicholas Bamforth) and Anti-Muslim Prejudice in the West: Past and Present. She also provides leadership on the protection of education for the most marginalized and conflict affected communities through her work at the Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict Programme at Education Above All Foundation.
Discussant
Justyna Matkowska, PhD, MA
Dr. Justyna Matkowska is a lecturer at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She earned her Ph.D., as well as her MA and BA, from the University of Wrocław in Poland, and later completed the Postgraduate Romani Studies Program at the Pedagogical University of Kraków. She has been awarded research fellowships from the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the University of Southern CaliforniaShoah Foundation Visual History Archive, and the Romani Studies Program at Central European University.
Discussant
Nidhi Trehan, PhD
Dr. Nidhi Trehan holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and completed an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at University College London in 2010. She is an Affiliated Senior Research Fellow with the Central European University’s Romani Studies program (Vienna), and Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences (New Delhi). She is presently Director at American Montessori Public School, a senior secondary school in Gurgaon, India, and is credited with the publication of over 20 research papers and several co-edited books, including Romani Communities and Transformative Change: A New Social Europe, Policy Press: Bristol, UK, 2021.
2:00pm: Panel 1 – Connected futures, histories, and realities
FXB Center Executive Director | Panel Chair and Discussant
Jehane Sedky
Jehane Sedky is a seasoned senior executive with an excellent record in leadership roles, providing strategic guidance and support to influential leaders such as former US President Bill Clinton, former UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and the late Harvard University Professor Dr. Paul Farmer. Her expertise spans a wide spectrum of responsibilities, including leading major initiatives, strategic program development for social impact, fundraising, media, and communications.
Panelist
Justyna Matkowska, PhD MA
Dr. Justyna Matkowska is a lecturer at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She earned her Ph.D., as well as her MA and BA, from the University of Wrocław in Poland, and later completed the Postgraduate Romani Studies Program at the Pedagogical University of Kraków. She has been awarded research fellowships from the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the University of Southern CaliforniaShoah Foundation Visual History Archive, and the Romani Studies Program at Central European University.
Panelist
Edita Rigova, PhD
Dr. Edita Rigová currently serves as a Director and an Analyst at the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities in Slovakia, where she leads the department of a national project dedicated to monitoring and evaluating inclusive policies targeting Roma. She earned her PhD at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Panelist
Judit Ignacz
Judit Ignacz is a human rights advocate and educator whose work brings together policy analysis, qualitative research, human rights education, and advocacy at national and international levels. She regularly presents, writes, and delivers interactive trainings on psychological safety, strategic equality, and intersectional justice. As a co-founder of a Roma collective of knowledge producers and co-author of their book on Roma representation and inclusion, Judit is dedicated to challenging harmful narratives and encouraging individuals and organizations to move beyond passive support toward conscious, informed, and proactive actions.
Panelist
Fernando Ruiz Molina
Fernando Ruiz Molina a Ph.D. Candidate within the Department of Criminology at the School of Society and Culture, University of Plymouth (UK), funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship. His research primarily focuses on the critical examination of hate perpetration against Roma communities, striving to develop a theoretical framework that addresses the violence and harms arising from anti-Roma racism. With a legal background, Ruiz Molina is a human rights lawyer, possessing 14 years of experience in social activism and Roma associationism at various levels, including local, national and international contexts.
3:45pm – 4:00pm: Break
4:00pm: Panel 2 – Fire-side chat: Intersectionality and intersecting stories
Panel Chair and Discussant
Maria Bucur, PhD
Maria Bucur is the John V. Hill professor of history at Indiana University Bloomington. Her recent work focuses on disability history through an intersectional perspective in publications like “Deafness in the Interwar Romanian Press: From “Abnormal” Children to Celebrated Soccer Star,” Slavic Review(2026) and The Biopolitical State: Disability in Interwar Romania (forthcoming). Other recent publications include “Domestic Violence under State Socialism in Europe: Emancipating Women, Abetting Perpetrators,” in Julia Moses, ed., Human Rights, The Family and Internationalism: Historical Perspectives (2025).
Panelist
Alba Hernández Sánchez
Alba Hernández is a feminist and antiracist Romani gender studies expert. Her work centers on Roma women’s rights, Romani feminist knowledge production, and anti-racist activism. She co-founded the Romnja Feminist Library and the Feminist Collective of Romani Gender Experts. These two initiatives join forces by connecting knowledge production with advocacy, ensuring that Romani feminist voices shape both political narratives and institutional change. Her activism bridges research, community-driven action, and racial and gender justice.
Panelist
Vivien Brassói
Vivi Brassói is a Romani feminist activist and human rights lawyer who has extensive experience in strategic litigation, Roma rights advocacy, and community-driven research. She is a graduate of the Central European University Roma Graduate Preparation Program (2016) and holds a JD and an LLM in European Human Rights from ELTE University, Budapest (2019). Vivi recently joined as a four-year PhD candidate in the PERIODS project on Human Rights in the Menstrual Movement, taking place at both Wageningen University, Netherlands, and Central European University, Hungary.
Panelist
Maria Atanasova
Maria Atanasova is a public policy professional, researcher, and Romani activist from Bulgaria specializing in human rights, non-discrimination, and EU governance, with a focus on racialized and marginalized communities in Europe. She is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park, as well as a Master’s degree in Political Science from Central European University in Vienna, where she earned an Advanced Certificate in Romani Studies.
Panelist
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan is a Roma decolonial feminist from Romania. She is the director and co-founder of the Romnja Feminist Library, a transnational initiative led by Roma queer women that promotes Roma women’s knowledge and builds solidarity across borders. She has over 12 years of experience in community organizing, advocacy, research, and policymaking with and for Roma women, queer people, and youth in Romania and at the European level. She holds a master’s degree in politics, Gender, and Minorities, and her work focuses on systemic change through feminist, intersectional, and decolonial practice.
6:00pm: Book talk
Panel Chair
Maria Dumitru, MA
Maria Dumitru is a Roma academic and feminist. Currently, she is a PhD candidate at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society in Oslo, Norway researching Roma slavery from a gender perspective. She holds an MA in Gender Studies from the Central European University. Dumitru has worked for the World Bank in Romania, the Roma feminist theatre Giuvlipen and organisations in Oslo working with undocumented migrants who performed informal work. Area of interest: enslavement, homelessness, intersectional feminism, gender studies, and Romani studies.
Panelist
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan is a Roma decolonial feminist from Romania. She is the director and co-founder of the Romnja Feminist Library, a transnational initiative led by Roma queer women that promotes Roma women’s knowledge and builds solidarity across borders. She has over 12 years of experience in community organizing, advocacy, research, and policymaking with and for Roma women, queer people, and youth in Romania and at the European level. She holds a master’s degree in politics, Gender, and Minorities, and her work focuses on systemic change through feminist, intersectional, and decolonial practice.
Panelist
Chelsi West Ohueri
Dr. Chelsi West Ohueri is a sociocultural anthropologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin with appointments in the Department of Anthropology, the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, and the Humanity, Health, and Medicine Program. Her scholarship and teaching are primarily concerned with the study of race and racialization, belonging, marginalization, and medical anthropology. She has conducted extensive ethnographic research throughout Albania and the Balkan region, as well as across Europe and in the US South. She is the author of the recently published book Encountering Race in Albania: An Ethnography of the Communist Afterlife (Cornell University Press).
Panelist
Margareta Matache, PhD
Dr. Margareta (Magda) Matache is a Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the co-founder and Director of the Roma Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University. She is also a member of the O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination and Global Health. Dr. Matache’s research focuses on the manifestations and impacts of racism and other systems of oppression in different geographical and political contexts.
Discussant
Maria Bucur, PhD
Maria Bucur is the John V. Hill professor of history at Indiana University Bloomington. Her recent work focuses on disability history through an intersectional perspective in publications like “Deafness in the Interwar Romanian Press: From “Abnormal” Children to Celebrated Soccer Star,” Slavic Review(2026) and The Biopolitical State: Disability in Interwar Romania (forthcoming). Other recent publications include “Domestic Violence under State Socialism in Europe: Emancipating Women, Abetting Perpetrators,” in Julia Moses, ed., Human Rights, The Family and Internationalism: Historical Perspectives (2025).
7:00pm: Reception
Please direct any questions about this event to Claire Street at cstreet@hsph.harvard.edu.
Speakers’ remarks are based on their own scholarship and experience. As such, they speak for themselves, not for Harvard University.