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Meet Moldova’s Board Chairman

Ruslan Stanga (photo 2nd right) – YFC Moldova
Board chair (since 2015).

Currently, Ruslan Stanga is the Country Director of Angello Development Foundation in Moldova, focused on involving local businesses in societal issues. Before joining Angello, he worked in Moldovan Government as senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Moldova on minority issues and social development policies.

When and how did you get involved in the Board of YFC Moldova?
The spring of 2013 was very special for me because a couple of months earlier I and my family (wife and 2 children) had to quickly move from Cahul (South  Moldova) to the city capital of Chisinau, as I had accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation to advise the Moldovan Government first on Roma inclusion and minority issues and later on social development policies.

So, in the spring of 2013, Youth for Christ’s director Harald Aalbers invited me to be part of the YFC Moldova board.

I accepted the invitation for two reasons: first, because I understood that there was a real need in improving some things with Governance at YFC Moldova. Secondly because I felt there was enough will and openness for making a change.

What were/are the challenges for the Board in Moldova?
As a board member it didn’t take me long to understand that there are some misunderstandings regarding the most fundamental things in the governance of the organisation: role of the board in the organisation, especially the role of each board member in particular, the relation and interaction between the Board and the Executive, who decides what, who is to come up with initiative, unclear expectations from each other (especially the organisation’s staff seemed to be confused about the practical utility of the board) etc.

What I found challenging to change was the poor communication and the commitment of the board. Most of the board members were simply very busy with other commitments. It took us some time to discuss these things, pray about them and immediately things became clearer. What is important to remember in all this is that everybody in the organisation (board and executive) must view their work as a precious ministry for God and actually FIND TIME for it. The new challenge that I see is honouring specific tasks each board member has volunteered for.

It is such an honour to serve Him – and such a blessing.