MEET OUR TEAM
Maria Rachidi
Director
Maria Rachidi is the founder and director of the East Bay Hungarian Educational Group. She moved to the United States over 15 years ago and served as the Public Relations Director for the Hungarian Tourism Board in NYC prior to moving to California in 2015.
Maria's drive to found the Hungarian school was born out of necessity. Shortly after moving to Walnut Creek with her family, she sought out Hungarian institutions that would help her expose her children to their Hungarian heritage but soon realized there were no suitable programs available in the vicinity. Drawing on her prior experience in organizing the Hungarian community in NYC, she founded the school with the help and dedication of many members of the Bay Area’s Hungarian community.
In addition to her involvement with the school, Maria is also engaged with the sister city program and continues to serve as a liaison between Walnut Creek and the Hungarian city of Siofok.
Maria holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree in media and Journalism from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest.
Eva Szabo
Assistant Director
Eva has been teaching since 1993 and has also been working as a television personality since 2008. These two defined her professional life in her hometown Târgu Mureş (Romania) and Szeged (Hungary). She and her husband Lehel Molnár moved to Berkeley, California in 2018 as research scholars. She also joined our team at the East Bay Hungarian Educational Group, teaching several classes a week. Teaching is Eva's passion. She has three children and enjoys hiking and reading.
Timea D. Yost
Teacher
Timea has been living in the United States since 2014. Born and raised in Hungary she worked as a teacher and has many years of experience teaching private students, and small groups of adults. Before moving to California she spent three years on the East Coast, working with children.
Kata Szabo
Teacher
Kata Szabo studied at the Bod Péter Pedagogic High School and at the pedagogical faculty of the Babes-Bolyai University in Székelyudvarhely. She worked as a preschool teacher in Transylvania before moving to Berkeley with her family. She has two wonderful boys Magor and Regő.
Monika Anderson
Website Manager
Monika is a website designer and content marketing specialist who is passionate about elevating the digital presence of small businesses. She started Kameleon Digital Marketing in 2016 after noticing that many small-business owners don’t have the time, knowledge, or desire to keep their online presence up to date. Monika builds visually pleasing, responsive websites, optimized for multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops. She helps them consistently create valuable content for their social media pages, websites, and newsletters. She's based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, but enjoys traveling to explore new places.
BOARD MEMBERS
1.
Maria Rachidi - President
2.
Erica Dénes - Treasurer
3.
Elise Jordan - Secretary
4.
Cornelia Baranyi
5.
Tamas Jackovics
6.
Erzsebet Legrady