Csilla Grauzer

Csilla Grauzer was born in Nagyszentmiklos, Romania. She  attended primary and secondary school in her hometown and studied art and industrial design in Temesvar, Romania prior to immigrating to the United States in 1983 as a political refugee.

Since moving to Minnesota, she made a special effort to meet and develop personal and cultural relationships with the Hungarian Diaspora.

In her business activities, Csilla served as the US director of marketing and sales of Soft Flow, Inc. a bioengineering software company based in Pecs, Hungary.

She is the founder and CEO of International Gourmet, Inc., a unique food company featuring culinary tours of Hungary and Transylvania, international cooking classes, recipe development and consulting, focusing on sustainably sourced, clean-eating ingredients.

She is the founder and CEO of Creative Cultural Exchange, Inc., an 501(c) non-profit organization committed to promoting innovative cross-cultural dialogue, collaboration and development between the United States, Hungary and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

CCE’s Highlights of Hungary Award winning weCare Medical Donation Program has collected, packed and shipped over $1,000,000.00 worth of medical supplies and equipment to needy Hungarian communities in Transylvania(Romania), Subcarpathia (Ukraine) and Hungary since 2016.

In 2011 she was invited by the Hungarian Government to participate in the foundation of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and has participated in its yearly conference.

She feels honored and privileged to have been asked to serve as the Honorary Consul of Hungary in the State of Minnesota, since 2014.

In October 2016, for her outstanding role in representing, promoting and preserving Hungarian culture in the diaspora, as well as for her dedication to various humanitarian initiatives, she was awarded Hungary’s Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit. This high-ranking state recognition was approved by Dr. Janos Ader, President of the Republic of Hungary. 

Csilla lives in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota with her husband M. Jay Shahidi. They have three children, Sasha, Sierra and Andre.