Svitlana Krasynska

Svitlana was born and raised in Ukraine. Being based chiefly in the United States since the late 1990s, she frequently travels to Ukraine to engage in the country’s political and societal developments. Over these years, she developed and sustained numerous professional connections across Ukraine and in the Ukrainian diaspora across the world. After the 2013-2014 Maidan, she co-founded a research organization that collaborated in organizing presentations and official briefings at the US Congress, the United Nations Headquarters, and other public and academic institutions on topics of human rights and humanitarian issues in Ukraine.

Svitlana’s personal knowledge of Ukraine’s contemporary affairs is complemented by over a decade of executive management, grant-writing, and consulting experience in the nonprofit sector. In addition to being a practitioner and activist, Svitlana is also a scholar whose research is focused on contemporary Ukraine, particularly on civil society, informal organizing, and online mobilization in the diaspora. She holds an MA in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and a PhD in Leadership Studies (nonprofit and philanthropic specialization) from the University of San Diego.