The Long Game: Why Children of Heroes Is Investing in Ukraine’s Future Through Education
In wartime, survival often becomes the most urgent priority. At Children of Heroes Charity Fund, the mission extends beyond immediate support. It is rooted in a longer-term belief:
Education is one of the few investments capable of reshaping the future trajectory of an entire generation.
For children who have lost one or both parents because of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, access to opportunity can determine far more than academic outcomes. It can influence confidence, ambition, resilience and the ability to imagine a future larger than grief.
That belief recently took tangible form when six teenagers under the Fund’s care travelled from Ukraine to the United States for a two-week educational journey. The trip was designed to immerse them in the systems, conversations and environments that shape global leadership.
A journey through leading academic institutions
Accompanied by the Fund’s Founder Dan Pasko, Co-Founder Valeria Abdal, Education and Development Manager Anna Soloviichuk, and Fund ambassador Taras Topolia, frontman of the Ukrainian band ANTYTILA, the group visited some of the world’s leading academic institutions across Boston, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York City.
Their route included Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Princeton University and Columbia University.
However, the value of the experience was never intended to lie in institutional prestige alone. The teenagers attended lectures, participated in discussions, spoke directly with professors and researchers, and explored how these universities function as intellectual ecosystems. More importantly, they entered those spaces not as observers, but as participants.
According to the Fund’s team, professors repeatedly remarked on the students’ curiosity, depth of thought and willingness to engage critically with complex topics. For many involved, this became one of the defining moments of the journey: seeing Ukrainian teenagers navigate elite academic environments with confidence and intellectual ambition.
Learning from real-world cases
One particularly memorable experience took place at Harvard Business School, where the students analysed a real-life case study centred on Kyivstar. Together with faculty members and business practitioners, they discussed strategic decision-making, crisis management and the broader global implications of Ukrainian business operating during wartime.
The trip also created opportunities for the students to connect with prominent Ukrainian scholars abroad. At the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, they met historians Serhii Plokhii and Oleh Kotsyuba. At Columbia University, they attended lectures by scholars including Yuri Levin and Yuri Shevchuk.
The trip also created opportunities for the students to connect with prominent Ukrainian scholars abroad. At the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, they met historians Serhii Plokhii and Oleh Kotsyuba. At Columbia University, they attended lectures by scholars including Yuri Levin and Yuri Shevchuk.
Education as a long-term investment
Children of Heroes has consistently positioned education as one of the core pillars of its work precisely because the organisation views support not as charity alone, but as long-term investment. Exposure matters. Mentorship matters. Being able to envision oneself in rooms previously perceived as unreachable matters.
At its core, this initiative reflects a simple but consequential idea: investing in children’s education is a strategic decision about the kind of society Ukraine intends to become.
By supporting the Education and Development programme at Children of Heroes, you help more children gain access to learning, mentorship and opportunities that can shape their confidence for years to come.