Ukrainian activist wins coveted Barack Obama Foundation scholarship

The chair of the board at NGO Teach for Ukraine, Oksana Matiiash, became the first Ukrainian woman selected for the prestigious scholarship program of the Barack Obama Foundation. 

Oksana will be part of the sixth cohort of Obama Fellows, consisting of 12 young leaders from around the world who'll participate in a special program at Columbia University in New York in 2023-2024, Rubryka reports.

What is the problem?

Oksana became a CEO at Teach for Ukraine in October 2020, after returning from studies at Oxford University, where she obtained a master's degree in public policy. Even while studying in Britain, Oksana was fascinated by Teach for Ukraine's mission to ensure that every child in Ukraine can realize their potential, regardless of their place of birth or residence.

What is the solution?

During her three years of work, Oksana Matiiash managed not only to develop the organization with a team of 33 people but also attract more than $2,500,000 million to create important educational projects of academic and socio-emotional support, which reached more than 25,000 children and 90,000 teachers throughout Ukraine. But this is only the beginning. It is important for Oksana that not only Ukrainians but also foreign partners understand the importance of overcoming educational inequality in Ukraine.

How does it work?

The Obama Foundation Fellowship Program has been in place since 2018 to develop the next generation of leaders by giving fellows the opportunity to gain real-world skills, tools, and experiences that will expand the scope and impact of their work. Fellows will participate in academic and experiential learning developed by the University of Columbia and the University of Chicago in partnership with the Obama Foundation. Since its inception, the Obama Foundation Scholars program has supported 132 young leaders from 59 countries of the world, actively working to solve the pressing problems of our time.

"We are excited to welcome a new cohort of fellows to the Foundation family, where they will join a network of leaders who are committed to building a stronger, more sustainable, and more inclusive world," said Obama Foundation Executive Director Valerie Jarrett.

"I'm very proud and honored to be the first scholarship recipient of the Obama Foundation from Ukraine. For me, this is, first of all, a recognition of the work of Teach for Ukraine, in particular, the efforts of our team," said Oksana Matiiash, Teach for Ukraine CEO. "During the program, I plan to work on developing transformational educational initiatives to support the education and well-being of children during the war, as well as strengthen the human capital of Ukraine for post-war reconstruction." 

Background

Teach for Ukraine is an educational organization that, since 2017, has been attracting the best graduates and talented young specialists from various fields to teach in schools in small settlements in Ukraine. Program participants move to small communities for at least one year, where they become role models for children, contribute to the development of the local community, and improve their own professional and leadership skills. 

In March 2022, Teach for Ukraine launched "emergency educational aid" projects aimed at academic and psycho-emotional support for children and educators. Among them is the first project in Ukraine to compensate for educational losses called "Educational Soup." Teach for Ukraine created this project with the support of the international humanitarian organization Save the Children. Students of grades 5-10 are invited to free lessons in mathematics and the Ukrainian language.

Rubryka also reported that Diana Zazubyk, a Ukrainian graduate of the Ivano-Frankivsk Lyceum, took first place at the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad.