The Bucharest office, led by Alina Inayeh, serves as the headquarters for the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST). In order to harness the tremendous civic energy that exists within the wider Black Sea region as a force for regional integration and good governance, GMF created the Black Sea Trust, a multi-million dollar, 10+-year grantmaking initiative. A public-private partnership modeled on the successful Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), the Black Sea Trust works collaboratively with a range of donors to provide grants to indigenous organizations working to strengthen regional cooperation, civil society, and democratic foundations. The broad goals of the Black Sea Trust include building trust among citizens in their public institutions and strengthening this critical set of institutions; affirming the value of citizen participation in the democratic process; promoting involvement of civil society in conflict resolution and fostering regional cross-border ties in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The countries included in the Black Sea Trust’s work are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine.

The Bucharest office also conducts policy programs promoting regional views on issues of importance to both the region and international community (security, democracy, European policies toward the neighborhood, conflict resolution, etc.) and deepening the knowledge of the region in transatlantic policy circles. The Bucharest office organizes regular study tours to countries in the region, coordinates research, and organizes other events. The Bucharest office also works on traditional GMF programming such as the Marshall Memorial Fellowship Program.