Dr. Lavinia Ochea is a Romanian career diplomat with work and experience in the Middle East region, Eastern European Affairs and Black Sea Region for the past 20 years. She currently serves as Deputy Head of Mission of Romania to the Republic of Cyprus.

During her diplomatic career, she served as the Head of Political Section of the Embassy of Romania in Ankara, as well as in the Political Sections of the Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and Embassy of Romania in Washington D.C. She also worked for short diplomatic terms in New York, Beijing, London and served for five years in the Middle East Department and Policy Planning and Analysis Department of the Romanian MFA in Bucharest.

She contributed to re-establishing the Romanian Caucus in the US Congress and to founding the Romanian-American Business Council (AMRO). She was also instrumental in setting-up in Bucharest, in 2007, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation office of the German Marshal Fund of the United States, where she served on the grants projects board for two years. She has been an active supporter of the Confederation of Romanian Women Entrepreneurs in the past six years and she speaks at various conferences and seminars about the role of women in promoting economic diplomacy.

Lavinia earned her Ph.D. in International Economic Relations from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (2010) with a focus on energy security and sustainable economic development in the Wider Black Sea Region. She also holds a MALS in international relations and American studies from Georgetown University in Washington D.C., a MS in Public Administration Management, and a BS in Law from the University of Bucharest.

She is a fellow of Aspen Institute USA, a Bastiat Fellow of the CATO Institute USA and an alumna of the George C. Marshal Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Lavinia is fluent in English and speaks basic Italian and Turkish.