Catalina Gardescu is the Manager of Admissions and External Relations at the American International School of Bucharest where she has been working since August 2001. A graduate of the University of Bucharest, Department of Letters, Ms. Gardescu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Public Relations (her end of college dissertation on Crisis Communication – case study American Elections). From the moment she was hired at the American International School of Bucharest she has fulfilled many roles (Secondary School Secretary, Advancement Assistant, Admissions Officer and ultimately Manager of Admissions and External Relations) thus acquiring a very holistic knowledge of what international schools are about.

In her current capacity, Ms. Gardescu handles admissions and parent relations at the AISB (progressing from 350 to 940 students in her years at the school). She leads a team of four dealing with school publications, social media, alumni, fundraising, internal and external communication, press and events. Ms. Gardescu is also the author of the school’s 50th anniversary book, telling the story of the first 50 years of AISB as well as several pieces of policy currently in place at the school. 

In 2003, Ms. Gardescu was instrumental in the initiation of the admissions job-alike conferences and later the “International Ideas” professional group. For several years she has functioned as a liaison both during events and virtually helped create a group of approximately 200 admissions professionals who shared ideas, met regularly and soon proved quite involved in advancing the profession. For several years she also led the first ever ECIS Admissions Committee, prepared and delivered sessions during ECIS conferences in Istanbul, Berlin, Seville. Ms. Gardescu helped create a budget group and laid the groundwork for the current certification program.

Upon leaving the ECIS committee, Ms. Gardescu joined forces with the Common Ground Collaborative to put together one of the most successful conferences ever led in admissions in Europe: Learning and the Storytellers. 

The current International Admissions Bulletin is also one of Ms. Gardescu’s “babies”. Started as a brief PDF document entitled the “International Ideas Bulletin”, the current publication attracted the interest of Faria Education Group and is currently designed by the latter, transmitted online and printed in over 3,000 copies. 

In 2016, Ms. Gardescu designed and led the first “The Fundamentals of International Schools Admission” certificate course in Shanghai, China. Over 50 people were in attendance during the two days packed with thought provoking discussions, workshops, roleplaying and exchange of ideas.

Ms. Gardescu lives in Bucharest with her partner of six years, Laura, her son, Matei (10) and the family pet Jazz. In her limited spare time, Ms. Gardescu likes to read historical fiction, listen to music, watch sitcoms and garden. He favorite authors include Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle Melton, Ken Follet, Anne Lamott.