Ion and Elisabeth Ratiu established the Ratiu Foundation UK in London, in 1979. The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and support projects which further education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people. Projects, undertaken in Romania, are encouraged on different subjects, such as patrimony, civil society, democracy, civilisation and environment protection. Grants are of variable size. The current Trustees are Elisabeth Ratiu, Indrei Ratiu, Ioana Ratiu, Nicolae Ratiu, Ileana Troiano-Tilea and Kitty Willis.
Ratiu Center for Democracy (CRD) is a non-profit organization which seeks to further the ideals of the late Ion Ratiu, a life-long advocate for democracy. The Center's mission is to encourage non-partisan promotion of the values and behaviors associated with democracy. This mission is accomplished through a wide range of activities at local, national and international levels.
Launched in July 2004, the Ratiu Center for Democracy operates some 20 not-for-profit programs annually in Romania and abroad. With initial support provided by leading faculty members at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (founded 1581) and the trustees of the Ratiu Family Foundation, London, United Kingdom (founded 1979), The Ratiu Center for Democracy are: Anna Lindh Foundation, American Chamber of Commerce in Romania, and partners with Asociatia Nationala a Birourilor de Consiliere pentru Cetateni.
The Ion Ratiu Democracy Award aims to bring international recognition to the ideas and accomplishments of individuals around the world who are working on behalf of democracy. Whether they are in exile from repressive regimes or operating within emerging democracies, recipients of the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award are democracy advocates with the type of life-changing experience in Washington that Ion Ratiu encountered as a young Romanian democracy activist in the 1970s and 1980s. The Award provides a month-long scholarship at the Wilson Center during which awardees have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the scholarly, policymaking, and NGO communities in Washington, D.C. The award workshop is supported by the Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation, established in 1979. The Foundation aims to further education and research in Romanian culture and history, and to stimulate and support civil society in its understanding and application of democracy and democratic principles worldwide.
The Ion Ratiu Democracy Award was established in 2005 as a way to recognize the importance of the work carried out by democracy activists around the world. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been hosted at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Previous awardees include Angela Kocze (Hungary, 2013), Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar, 2012), Nabeel Rajab (Bahrain, 2011), Oleg Kozlovsky (Russia, 2010), Adam Michnik (Poland, 2009), Eleonora Cercavschi (Moldova, 2008), Anatoli Mikhailov (Belarus, 2007), Saad Ibrahim (Egypt, 2006), and Sergio Aguayo (Mexico, 2005).
