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Olena Bekreniova



Country:

Ukraine

WAAS Designation:

Associate Fellow

Primary Position & Institution:

Executive Director, Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Charitable Foundation, Kyiv

Short Bio:

Since 2010 Olena works in the public sector in Ukraine. As a director of the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Foundation (2012-2017) and then a director of the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation, her work is dedicated to speeding up the democratic transformations in Ukraine through programs of non-formal education for youth. Graduate of Kyiv National Linguistic University and MIM-Kyiv Business School (Ukraine), Olena started career as a translator and personal assistant to the Swiss-Ukrainian professor, economist and visionary Dr. Bohdan Hawrylyshyn. Since 2012, helped launch and develop several all-Ukrainian initiatives for active youth, i.e. “Young Generation Will Change Ukraine” and “Youth Delegate of Ukraine to the UN” programs recognized and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine. In 2014, Ms Bekreniova was member of the Ukrainian delegation to the 69th UN General Assembly meeting in New York as one of the first Ukrainian youth delegates to the UN. The foundation has 1300+ alumni, including MPs, representatives of local and national authorities, social businesses and civil society in Ukraine. After the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, Olena coordinated an international conference on “The State of the Word, Need for the new Paradigm and Role of Ukraine in it” organized by the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Foundation jointly with the WAAS and the Club of Rome, held in 2015 for 500+ participants in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2015, Olena Bekreniova has been an Associate Member of WAAS; Member of the Intergovernmental initiative the Ukrainian-Polish Youth Exchange Council (2016-2020); Co-founder of “My Ukraine” Civic Platform, and participant of the “EU-Ukraine Women in Politics” Initiative in Ukraine. Since 2020, member of the Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club.