The mission of  Ovidiu Rom is to empower the poorest members of Romanian society through education, job training, community development and public awareness. 

In 2001, while working for the Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar in Bacau, Romania, Peace Corps Volunteer Leslie Hawke together with Maria Gheorghiu obtained a USAID grant to start (1) a program for 15 impoverished mothers based on the Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing & Able welfare-to-work program in New York City and (2) an education program for children who begged on the street. These complimentary programs were called Gata, Dispus si Capabil

In 2004, Hawke and Gheorghiu founded Asociatia Ovidiu Rom and began a Mothers Program in Bucharest. In March of 2005 Ovidiu Rom introduced the education program to School 141 and was accredited by the Ministry of Education to implement its “Second Chance” school reintegration curriculum there.

In 2006 Ovidiu Rom launched Fiecare Copil in Scoala ("Every Child in School"), a multi-partner initiative to get every child in Romania registered and attending school and on a path to high school graduation by 2020.  Ovidiu Rom now trains municipal teams comprised of representatives from City Hall, the local School Inspectorate and a locally based NGO to implement the methodology they have honed over the past five years.

Today Ovidiu Rom operates programs in five public schools in Bacau, Buhusi and Bucharest, serving:

• 400 children from impoverished families with year-round educational programs including after-school activities, hot lunches, special classes for over-age children, and summer school.
• 200 families through monitoring of students' school progress, counseling, PTA meetings, emergency aid, transportation to jobs, housing improvements, etc. 
• 100 teachers, social workers and psychologists through ongoing workshops.