Vidnova Fellows
We are proud to have supported over 230 fellows across all program lines. These dedicated professionals from Ukraine continue to shape civil society through their work in activism, human rights, education, culture, mental health and more.
Our fellows form a growing network — a space for connection, collaboration, and peer learning. We support them through community meetings, networking events, and access to the Bosch Alumni Network.
Our Fellows
Oleksandra Kyryushyna
Fellowship
Oleksandra was born in Chernihiv and now lives in Kyiv. During the Vidnova Ukraine Fellowship, cultural manager Oleksandra supported artists in finding funding for their initiatives. Oleksandra helped more than 15 projects apply for funding. More than 6 projects are currently in the works. The exhibition “Burn” was held in Kyiv. Another project, “Ukrainians’ Gratitude to Europe and the World”, is under development.
Anna Burban
Fellowship
Anna Burban moved from Lviv to Portugal. She is a writer, law historian, and the head of a charity foundation that has been helping women involved in the war, women veterans, and women veteran artists for over 15 years. Anna helps women reintegrate through cultural practices and overcome the creative crisis after their military experience. With their art and raise money to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. More than 120 charity events have already been held.
social activism
support for vulnerable groups
women support
returnees
Liubov is the head of Democratic Initiatives Incubator NGO. She is an expert in the communication of the reintegration of residents in occupied territories, countering propaganda, and verification of sources from the temporarily occupied territories.
Within Vidnova Lab, Liubov together with Iryna Solovey and Lera Lauda research how experiencing the trauma of war and accepting its consequences, affect the future healing of the community and the country, as well as its further restoration and strengthening. The project envisions developing a tool for self-assessment for teams that engage in the community-led revival. They focus on the context of competent leadership for the democratic revival of Ukraine with a focus on resilience as the common ground between strategies of the grassroots civic forces, state, donors and local government institutions.
communication
communities
competent leadership
Anatoliy Levchenko
Fellowship
Anatoliy Levchenko left Mariupol for Poland. He is a director, acting teacher, set designer, public figure, and human rights activist. As part of the fellowship, he is working on restoring the First Non-Governmental Theater of Donetsk Region “Terra Incognita” (Mariupol-Kyiv). In September, they are planning a performance of POSTPISNIA based on Lesia Ukrainka’s Forest Song.
social activism
theater
preservation of cultural traditions
returnees
Margarita Tristan
Fellowship
Margarita Tristan is from Kramatorsk, from where she moved to Medyka, Poland. She is an artist, jewelry designer, and art therapist. She works with people who were forced to leave because of the war, the queer community, and soldiers after being wounded, and conducts trainings on combating gender-based violence. As part of the fellowship, she will work on creating works for a personal exhibition.
visual art
social activism
support for vulnerable groups
returnees
Shaza Musa
Fellowship
Shaza Musa lived in Kyiv and then moved to Berlin, Germany. She is a Syrian-Ukrainian cultural figure, designer, illustrator, and coordinator of art projects. Her purpose is to study patterns that are part of the visual language and design of the Poltava region and design the research into a digital publication.
Olena Brychenko
Fellowship
Olena Brychenko moved from Kyiv to London, Great Britain. During the past years, she initiated the organization and holding of the scientific conference “Food in History”. Currently, she is working on creating and publishing materials about the changes in food culture caused by the war. She developed a questionnaire based on the testimonies of residents of the de-occupied territories: Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Now, she is analyzing the food practices of Ukrainians under occupation.
Yanina Aleeva
Fellowship
Yanina was born and raised in Kharkiv, lived in Kryvyi Rih for several years, and has lived in Kyiv since 2001. She is the head of the NGO “My Province” and manager of cultural projects. She uses the example of small towns to reveal general historical trends in her project “History of Small Towns of Poltava Region”. Yanina published a series of video projects dedicated to the history of the cities of Horishni Plavni and Lokhvytsia.
Yanush Panchenko
Roma Zentrum für interkulturellen Dialog e.V.
Fellowship
Yanush comes from Kakhovka and moved to Beverungen. In frames of Vidnova Europe, he collected interviews from Roma in Ukraine, monitoring media and social networks, researching how Roma’s participation in the resistance to Russian aggression in Ukraine is covered in the media, and how Roma from the post-Soviet countries reacted to the current situation. Yanush’s host organization was Roma Zentrum für interkulturellen Dialog e.V.
Roma
media
Iryna Yakovchuk is the co-founder of Urban Curators, an interdisciplinary team focused on spatial research, participatory urban development, and urban management. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the team shifted its focus to supporting people affected by the war. Alongside Metalab, they co-founded the “CO-HATY” project, which provides housing for those who lost their homes. What began as a volunteer initiative has grown into a professional organization that builds homes and communities with care and dignity. Iryna is now helping develop the CF “CO-HATY” and is part of the team creating long-term housing for around 150 IDPs in Kalush.
#Housing #IDPs #SocialCohesion #CoHaty #VidnovaProgram #VidnovaLab #Vidnova
work with vulnerable groups
housing
IDPs
social cohesion
Khrystyna Semeryn
Fellowship
Khrystyna Semeryn from Ostroh moved to Germany, where she worked at a university. She plans to create essays with intellectual reflection on war and society (“Memory Landscapes, War & Resistance Ecologies of Ukraine”, “Language of Love and Freedom”) and a series of reports on war and memory.
Julia Nechai
Fellowship
Julia moved from Chernihiv to Great Britain, Harpenden. For 10 years, Yulia had her theatre studio “Bila Valiza”, which was destroyed in March 2022. She wants to return to Chernihiv, launch charity courses for female soldiers, and open a children’s group for theatre arts.
Tetyana Ganzha
Fellowship
Tetyana was born in Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region, and now lives in Kyiv. Tetyana is a philologist interested in urbanism and a documentary filmmaker. In frames of the Vidnova Ukraine, she continues to develop the script for the movie “Occupied” about rape as a tool of war and works on an information campaign for women who are victims of violence.
Ivanna comes from Ivano-Frankivsk and lives in Torino. The initiative “Rozmova: The War, the World and I” took place in Piemonte, Italy, at the end of July, and gathered 17 young Ukrainian activists. It’s aim was to create a space for the participants to meet, share experiences, and make common future actions. The participants engaged in various activities, discussions, personal and group reflections, brainstorming, and mediation. It sparked an active community that keeps meeting and working together.
Ukrainian activists
networking
Daryna comes from Kyiv and lives in Hamburg. She is a primary care doctor, medical blogger, and human rights activist. She works in the field of LGBTQI+ rights protection and increasing access to quality medical care for transgender people. Daryna is a co-founder of NGO Medical Leaders, where she led the project on improving the availability of medical care for the LGBT+ community. Daryna’s previous projects included soft skills and service design in medicine, HIV protection and sex education, non-discrimination, communication, and digital health.
inclusiveness
workshops
Olga Sukha is an architect, spatial researcher, and co-founder of the Creative Residence MC6 in Slavske. A graduate of Lviv Polytechnic with a Master’s in Urban Planning, she has over a decade of experience at the intersection of architecture, culture, and community building. She believes that space shapes consciousness, and that socio-cultural initiatives spark lasting change. At MC6, she co-leads projects like Carpathian Spring, Restoration through Community, and Avant-garde Dialogues in the Boiko Region. She is also part of AO, a platform connecting architecture and people. Her vision of recovery begins with space and grows through community.
participatory urban development
spatial architecture
sociocultural change
recovery through culture
