EDI: Building Something Bigger

What emerged was a shared excitement: it’s time to build something bigger. Together, and thinking long-term, the team refined the vision for an EDI Master’s program that blends academics, diplomacy, leadership, and Christ-centered integrity in a fresh, practical, relationship-driven way.

The group mapped out the next steps—growing a dedicated team, designing curriculum tracks, building a mentorship network, developing an online platform to complement in-person gatherings, and forming partnerships across Europe and the U.S. Everyone left Romania convinced that after 20 years, EDI is stepping into a new season, one that can equip young leaders across Eastern Europe and the world to bring peace, development, purpose, and hope into their communities.

Silvia Nichita is also the director of an award-winning Romanian NGO, Carte în Sate (“Books in Villages”). After the summit, we joined her team to volunteer in a mountain village, where she wonderfully demonstrated—through storytelling and hands-on activities—the power of reading books. It was a living example of EDI’s principles in action: service, education, and compassion woven together in a way that inspires change. Experiences like this are exactly what we strive to offer participants at every EDI gathering.

After the trip, our team then traveled to Chişinău, Moldova, for an EDI Moldova gathering. As we met with past team members and participants, we were struck by how much their lives had grown and changed—new families started, children now grown, and stories of personal and spiritual transformation unfolding over the years.

What was great was seeing how former team members and participants had stayed connected, continuing to encourage one another long after their EDI experience. The room was filled with laughter, joy, and the deep sense of community that has carried forward through time.

We also heard how the lessons learned and relationships formed at past Economics, Diplomacy, and Integrity gatherings continued to shape our decisions—whether in family life, business, government roles, or community leadership. We left inspired, and reminded of the ongoing need to support one another in living out the values and principles of Jesus and continuing to make a meaningful difference in the world.