Our team

Niia Nikel

Head of Brand and Communications

12 years of experience in strategic communications, creative management, and advocacy campaigns; public expert at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, communication advisor at Ukrainian Medical Charity UK; alumna of MIM and the 360 Philanthropy in UA program

Yuliia Zadorozhnia

Program Director, Family Helpers, Medical and Emergency support

7+ years in law, financial monitoring, insurance, and social protection (PZU Ukraine, Children of Heroes Foundation); NGO Platform member; European Focal Point — Psychological First Aid (PFA) Network for Supporting Ukrainian Children; Tavriya National University named after V. I. Vernadsky

Anna Soloviichuk

Program Director, Education and Development

21+ years in education and development, including 13 years in leadership positions at state educational institutions; higher education in psychology and pedagogy; Master’s in Educational Management; member of the Ukrainian Psychological Association (UPA); cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist specializing in child and adolescent therapy, certified by the Swiss Commission of Bern University

Tetiana Zarytska

Program Director, Socialization and Psychological support

17+ years of experience in event management and project coordination; since 2022 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — from Family Assistant to Program Director of the Psychology and Socialization, focusing on child support and development of psychological and socialization programs; Information Analyst by education

Tetiana Stasyshyna

Program Specialist, Socialization and Psychological support

25+ years in marketing and corporate events; since the start of the full-scale invasion led the NGO supporting Ukrainian Armed Forces units; since January 2023 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — assisting affected families and coordinating socialization programs within the Implementation team; Educator by training, teacher of German and foreign literature; marketer by vocation

Oksana Zhuravel

Project Manager of Government Relations

1.5 years of experience in communications, GR, and cross-sector partnerships; 2 years in recruiting; 3+ years implementing programs supporting vulnerable groups; State University of Trade and Economics

Marta Bilyk

Psychological Team Lead/ Senior Psychologist

3+ years in educational project coordination; 4 years in the non-profit sector; since 2023 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — from Family Assistant to Program Director of Humanitarian Aid and Logistics; background in biology teaching and psychology

Yana Vorobey

Program Specialist, Education and Development

Experience in the State Tax Service, customer service, administration, and social media management; Lawyer by education, currently pursuing a second degree in Psychology at KNU; since 2022 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — from Family Assistant to Program Specialist

Yuliia Svystunova

Program Director, Humanitarian Aid and Logistics

3+ years in educational project coordination; 4 years in the non-profit sector; since 2023 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — from Family Assistant to Program Director of Humanitarian Aid and Logistics; background in biology teaching and psychology

Albina Kyryliuk

Program Specialist, Family Helpers, Medical and Emergency Support

2.5 years in social protection, family program support, and assistance for vulnerable groups; experience working with children and educational projects; since 2022 at the Children of Heroes Foundation — from Family Assistant to Program Specialist in Medical Support Programs, Case Management, and Assistant Development; higher education in Psychology, Management, and Political Science

Mark Iwashko

Chairman in USA, Co-Managing Partner at Diligent Capital Partners

Mark Iwashko is a highly experienced private equity professional with over 22 years of practice in the industry. He co-founded Horizon Capital, founded Diligent Capital Partners, and currently co-manages the independent mid-market private equity firm. Mr. Iwashko served on over 30 boards in privately held and publicly listed companies and nongovernment organizations.

Daniyil Pasko

Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Co-Managing Partner at Diligent Capital Partners

Daniil Pasko has over 13 years of experience in the realm of private equity. He serves as a board member for esteemed entities such as Pivdenny Bank, Allseeds Group, and Yednist Group. His educational background includes an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, further enriching his expertise and insights in the field.

Kathy Nalywajko

President of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Institute of America

Kathy Nalywajko is a Managing Director at the NYC office of MAI Capital Management. She also advises nonprofits, endowments and foundations. Ms. Nalywajko serves on the Advisory Council of the New York Common Pantry and is the Board Chair of ACG Cares NY, a professional mentorship organization.

Archbishop Borys Gudziak

President of Ukrainian Catholic University, Archbishop at Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States

Since January 19, 2013, Bishop Borys Gudziak has been the first bishop of the Eparchy of St. Volodymyr the Great (Eparchie de Saint-Vladimir le Grand) after Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Apostolic Exarchate of Ukrainian Catholics in France to the status of an eparchy.

Danilo Yakub

Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Senior Partner and COO at Diligent Capital Partners

Dan Yakub is an experienced professional in investment banking, investment management, and private equity. He has held the positions of Executive Director at UBS and Vice President at Citi Bank. He received his Executive MBA degree from Smurfit School in 2007.

Roberta Brzezinski

CEO & Director at Capitalworks EM

Roberta Brzezinski is a seasoned team leader across private and public global investment strategies. She has more than 27 years of experience in leadership positions. Ms. Brzezinski served as a Board Member for New Women New Yorkers NGO.

Ihor Petrov

Co-Founder, Head of Production and Business Development at REMO

Ihor Petrov has more than 25 years of track record in increasing responsibility for delivering sales and profitability growth to major companies like Mars Inc, and Bunge Limited. He worked as a General Partner at ITL Private Equity Fund.

Natalie M. Derzko

Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP

Natalie Derzko is an experienced attorney in the life sciences technology field. She is practicing at a multinational law firm in Washington, DC. Ms. Derzko holds law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School (J.D.), Harvard Law School (LL.M.), and Columbia Law School (J.S.D.).

Roman Dubczak

Deputy Chair at CIBC Capital Markets

Roman Dubczak is responsible for senior client relationships and strategy as well as strategic opportunities at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Capital Markets. He is a member of the CIBC Capital Markets Executive Committee and a board member of CIBC World Markets Inc.

Danilo Yakub

Chairman, Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Senior Partner and COO at Diligent Capital Partners

Dan Yakub is an experienced professional in investment banking, investment management, and private equity. He has held the positions of Executive Director at UBS and Vice President at Citi Bank. He received his Executive MBA degree from Smurfit School in 2007.

Katherine Darakova

Customer Value Director at Ofi

Katherine Darakova is an experienced consultant. She joined Celonis as a Value Engineer to lead clients in identifying, quantifying, and realizing high-impact use cases across business processes with software solutions. Katherine worked with Deloitte Netherlands for four years.

Jorrit Dingemans

Principal Investment Officer Private Equity at FMO

Jorrit Dingemans manages one of four teams in the private equity department of FMO, the Dutch development bank. In over ten years at FMO, he has financed/invested funds and corporations in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Oksana Strashna

Director, SME Direct Investments Program at UMAEF

Oksana Strashna has decades of successful experience in the field of investment, advisory and non-executive directorship with both for-profit and non-for-profit sector companies. Oksana started her professional career at WNISEF, later grew to become a partner at Horizon Capital and most recently launched and has been leading the SME Direct Investments Program at UMAEF. Oksana’s non-for-profit governance experience includes serving on the Board of Pechersk School International, Ukraine’s Corporate Governance Professional Association (CGPA) and representation of CGPA at ecoDa (a European umbrella organization of corporate governance institutes). A Northwestern University alum, Oksana received her MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management.

Francis Malige

Managing Director of Financial Institutions, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Managing Director at EBRD in Ukraine (2014-2018)

Francis Malige boasts a distinguished career spanning over 13 years in pivotal roles at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Mr. Malige accumulated valuable experience at renowned institutions such as BNP Paribas and McKinsey & Company. He is an alumnus of ESCP Europe, a prestigious business school in France.

Gennady Gazin

Chairman of the Genesis Philanthropy Group

Gennady Gazin is an international businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of Kyivstar and an affiliate partner of Lindsay Goldberg. Mr. Gazin previously served as the CEO of EastOne and also worked at McKinsey.He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a BS degree from Cornell University, and an MS from Stanford University.

Natalya Gonchar

Business Development and Commercial Assessment Lead, SOBI, Central & Eastern Europe & Japan

Natalya Gonchar is experienced in business development. She holds the position of Business Development & Commercial Assessment Lead at SOBI. She also held the position of Pricing & Market Access Manager for Export Markets at Private Joint Stock Company “Farmak” and Pharmaceutical Company “Darnitsa”

Yves Barraquand

General manager of the group CMR

Yves Barraquand joined CMR Group as CEO in 2016. CMR Group develops, manufactures, and implements control and supervision solutions for the energy, industrial, and marine sectors in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Mr. Barraquand is a Paris’s École Polytechnique and École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris graduate and holds a post-doctorate fellowship from Tokyo University.

Daniil Pasko

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation. Founding Partner of Diligent Capital Partners and co-founder of the Children of Heroes CF

Daniil Pasko has over 13 years of experience in the realm of private equity. He serves as a board member for esteemed entities such as Pivdenny Bank, Allseeds Group, and Yednist Group. His educational background includes an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, further enriching his expertise and insights in the field.

Victoria Lisna

Former beneficiary of the Children of Heroes CF, representative of the families of the foundation's children in the Supervisory Board

Victoria Lisna is a former beneficiary of the Children of Heroes Fund. She represents the foundation’s families in the Supervisory Board. Ms. Lisna is a German language teacher. She has experience working in public institutions, and is the founder of a private school.

Serhiy Kulyk

Managing Partner of Deloitte Ukraine

Serhiy Kulyk has over 20 years of audit experience, collaborating with international corporations, large public entities, and private firms across diverse sectors, alongside offering consultancy expertise in internal control implementation and financial reporting systems. He is a Managing Partner of Deloitte Ukraine.

Kateryna Glazkova

Executive Director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs

Kateryna Glazkova is the Head of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP) since 2016. She has over 15 years of experience as an editor and editor-in-chief of leading business publications such as Investgazeta, Focus, and Forbes Ukraine. Ms. Glazkova is also a member of the Public Control Council at the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine and member of the Board of the Coalition of Business Communities for the Modernization of Ukraine.

Sergiy Goncharevych

Managing Partner, CEO of Capital Times

Sergiy Goncharevych has over 20 years of experience in investment consulting. He is a Senior Manager, with a MBA degree from Kyiv Business School MIM.

Anna Derevyanko

Executive Director of the European Business Association

Anna Derevyanko is the co-founder of Global Business for Ukraine. She also serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.

Kyrylo Bihay

CEO and co-founder of Preply, founder of Edtech Founders Club

Kyrylo Bihay is a serial entrepreneur with a technological background. He is the CEO and co-founder of Preply, and is also the founder of Edtech Founders Club.

Roman Leshchenko

Agrarian specialist, lawyer, lecturer, former Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (2020-2022)

Oleksii Dolhikh

Managing Partner, Boyden Global Executive Search, Ukraine

 An expert with over 22 years of experience in senior executive recruitment in Ukraine and the CIS; trusted advisor to business owners and CEOs on HR strategy, organizational development, and corporate governance. Board member of the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Professional Association (UCGPA).