Ukrainian Team
Artem Mazur
Artem Mazur, co-founder and director of the non-profit organization Kids of Ukraine, was born and raised in Lviv. In 2006, he completed a law degree, after which he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey. Artem constantly pursues new knowledge and skills, as evidenced by his creation of new projects and graduation from the Aspen Institute Kyiv.
When the war started, Artem, together with his business friends, concentrated their efforts on helping women and children who had been forced to leave their homes and needed help. That is how the NGO "Kids of Ukraine" was born.
When communicating with the refugees, it was impossible to ignore the emotional state of the children, who had witnessed many wartime horrors. These children require immediate help from professionals in order to prevent serious future consequences. Therefore, with the support of BF Dobriy Brat, Tetyana Davydovska, partners and a team of caring people, a charitable youth club "SviTY" was created. The main goal is to encourage psychological recovery, adaptation to new conditions, as well as integration into a new environment abroad.
Artem and his team are scaling up the charity club "SviTY" into a national program to help as many teenagers as possible. He is certain that the happy future of Ukraine depends primarily on children, therefore their care and protection must be prioritized.
Iryna Mazur
Iryna Mazur is a partner of the SviTy club, as well as a photographer and video operator. She is responsible for our visual content and helps to capture happy moments. She was born in Kharkiv, where she completed her higher education, and after her studies she lived in Kyiv, then Lviv.
Iryna began her career as the PR manager of a folklore and ethnographic ensemble, with which she traveled throughout Ukraine and across Europe. Subsequently, she worked as a chief operator for various projects, where she acquired interesting experiences. Among others, she worked in an agricultural company and in the field of education, where she honed her skills in photography, editing and videography.
Following the outbreak of war, Iryna was invited to be the photographer at the first SviTY camp, launched on Children's Day. After that, she continued engaging with the project, which soon became very important to her, and something that became impossible to imagine her life without.
From the first days of the “SviTY” youth camp, Iryna became a fully-fledged member of the team, assisting with the generation of creative ideas and devotedly helping teenagers. She knows how to capture the perfect frame and loves to share it with the whole world. Iryna is seen as the soul of the team - the children trust and adore, thanks to her ability to easily connect with everyone.
Alyona Bilous
Philanthropist, Master`s degree in marketing and advertising, a graduate of a female gymnasium, expert in the financial and investment sectors, Founder and CEO of the etiquette school for teenagers.
She has worked with such well-known companies as: UkrAvto, Liga Group of Companies, Kovalska. Has completed successful projects in various fields. She has a strong drive and an unwavering focus on her goals, often overcoming obstacles with sustainability and perseverance. Her success is determined not only by the realization of her own ambitions, but also by the positive impact she has on other people and the world around her.
Alyona is deeply motivated by a sense of purpose and is constantly looking for new challenges to grow. She has the ability to lead, inspire and motivate the team. Understanding the feelings and needs of other people helps her build strong and productive relationships.
Alyona joined the Kids of Ukraine team in 2023. She sees the meaning of her life in bringing benefits to society and improving the world around her. Being a valuable member of the team, she makes a significant contribution to improving the work of the foundation. She believes in Ukraine and the people who live in it with all her heart.
Dina Proskura
Head of the SviTY charity club in Cherkasy.
Until February 2022, she lived with her family in Kharkiv, where she was born, received her education at Karazin National University, and combined her career with caring for her large family.
Dina has always been a socially active person, carrying national values and respect for other people's choices. In Cherkasy Dina not only found refuge from active hostilities, but also began active work with internally displaced persons. Together with a group of like-minded people, Dina organized and conducted events for the integration and socialization of new community residents. Since the opening of the first SviTY day camp in March 2023 in Cherkasy, she has been involved in the adaptation and recovery of teenagers and children of military personnel who have experienced traumatic events due to the war.
Dina is well acquainted with every child who attends the SviTY club. A personal approach, understanding of the needs of teenagers and treating children with great respect is what guides Dina in her work. She is constantly engaged in self-development, undergoes various trainings and boldly implements the latest approach in her work. That's why Dina includes activities that develop various soft skills in teenagers in the club's program. In particular, she involved young people from the club in the Uniting for Action program, in which youth teams went from an idea to a finished project, and the best ideas received funding.
Maryna Hrynchuk
Head of the SviTY charity club in Zhytomyr.
In 2014, she graduated from the Ivan Franko Zhytomyr State University with a degree in psychology and pedagogy.
After the outbreak of war, Victoria directed her skills and energies to supporting the military, as well as adults and children who required moral and physical help.
Working in the SviTY club, every day she and her team try to create a safe and supportive environment for teenagers where they can receive psycho-emotional support, discover their potential, make new friends, share experiences with their peers, learn interpersonal relationships, resolve conflicts, and support each other.
Maryna is inspired by the way teenagers show their potential and find their place in the SviTY club and how their lives change outside the club. She believes in and sees the power of support and psychological counseling and continues to help everyone who needs it.
She sincerely considers the SviTY club to be a real family and is happy to be part of the team that restores childhood for teenagers in our country.
Anastasia Belitska
A creative person who strives for new knowledge and improvement. She holds a Master's degree in Management in Warsaw but found herself in creative fields such as writing and graphic design. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Anastasia worked with Ukrainian refugees at the UNHCR in Warsaw, where she gained invaluable experience and felt the need to return to Ukraine to be useful in her country and work specifically with children who need support.
In the fall of 2022, Anastasia joined the team of the Kids of Ukraine charitable foundation, where she is engaged in administrative tasks, writes articles and texts, and creates various visual materials. She strives to be useful and contribute to the development of the younger generation of Ukraine.
Anastasia is inspired by the team and the teenagers, believes in their strength and potential, and is confident that together we can create a better future for our children and the country as a whole.
Halyna Katolyk
Doctor of Psychology (2019), Professor (2023).
Graduated from Lviv Polytechnic National University (1984), Austrian Institute for the Psychotherapy of Infants, Children, Adolescents and Youth (Vienna, 2003). She studied for postgraduate and doctoral studies at the Institute of Psychology of the Kostiuk National Pedagogical University of Ukraine.
She is a practicing specialist, psychologist-psychotherapist of psychoanalytic orientation, training psychotherapist, supervisor. She has more than 20 000 hours of training in international advanced training programs in psychotherapy, psychology, psychoanalysis, child and adolescent psychotherapy, and about 20 000 hours of supervisory practice.
Halyna is the author of training courses and thematic seminars, a member of editorial boards of scientific publications in Ukraine and abroad, and the author of more than 150 scientific publications.
She joined the Kids of Ukraine team in 2024. She shares the foundation's values and its commitment to helping children with acute psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress disorders that arose as a result of the war. She holds supervision meetings and advises other psychologists of the foundation. Having many years of experience in psychological post-crisis counseling, Halyna makes a significant contribution to the professional growth of the foundation's team of specialists.
Svitlana Krot
Project manager, dialogue facilitator and trainer, psychologist, methodologist, head of the Country of Free People Public Organization.
Svitlana has been working in the field of psychological support and social cohesion since 2014. Her areas of expertise include conflict management, social cohesion, restorative practices, design thinking, media literacy, psychological support, and nonviolent communication (NVC). Since 2016, Svitlana has been working extensively with young people and engaging them in active development. She is the author of several lessons on the history of Ukraine for students in grades 9-11, which are stamped by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
She also works extensively as an involved expert and methodologist in the Peaceful School Project, which has gained the status of a successful all-Ukrainian experiment and continues to work in new schools in Ukraine
Svitlana has experience in coordinating and creating projects where young people learned about peacebuilding processes using art practices, working with transgenerational trauma, and historical memory. She is also a certified trainer in the Do Not Harm methodology and trauma-sensitive approach to working with children (Martin Straube, Germany, 2022).
She has been working as a psychologist at the SviTY club in Cherkasy since 2023. Her main motivation for working with young people and teenagers is to see the value of such activities for them, to provide them with support, knowledge, self-confidence, and planning for their future.
Ilona Bilyk
Head of the SviTY club in Khmelnytskyi.
PhD in History, graduate of the Management of Charitable Organizations Course at the Ukrainian Catholic University, founder of the NGO Cultural and Educational Platform «Code of the Nation». She is engaged in the study and popularization of Ukrainian traditions.
Regional coordinator of the National Mental Health Program «How are you?» in Khmelnytskyi region. Regional consultant of the Coordination Center for the Development of Family Education and Child Care of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Since the age of 14, she has been actively involved in volunteering and charity projects.
In March 2023 Ilona headed the SviTy charity youth club for internally displaced teenagers in Khmelnytskyi. During the club's activities, she and her team have managed to create a supportive atmosphere for children aimed to help them adapt, find inner strength and resources to cope with the challenges of the war against Ukraine.
Mykhailo Prystash
Mykhailo Prystash was born in Lviv. He got two degrees in Arts in his home city.
In 2013 he founded the Inkration studio and in 2016 Ukrainian clothing brand Segment.
Mykhailo is the founder of the "Great good in small steps" project. Currently, he is working as a creative director at Stepico, a company that creates mobile games, works with Blockchain, and creates NFT projects. That's how the idea of collaboration with the "Kids of Ukraine" foundation came up. The main goal is fundraising for fund scaling and its development. The idea of creating unique NFTs, where children's drawings are converted into full-fledged illustrations and then converted into NFTs. The idea is that children help themselves, and artists donate not just money but their skills.
Ron Fridman
Ron Fridman is the CEO and Co-founder of Mawi - is a digital health company that creates wearable medical devices and technology to diagnose and monitor cardiac diseases. Mawi is a MedTech company that revolutionizes the way we diagnose, monitor, and prevent the three largest causes of death in the world: heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes. It creates advanced wearables and smart analytics software.
Recognized as the “Forbes 30 Under 30”, Ron has demonstrated strong leadership experience with building teams, developing talents, and successfully growing, and managing strategic partnerships with Healthcare providers, Health systems, and Payers.
Ron has a number of investments and advisory and supervisory board member positions in healthcare organizations such as Nova Poliklinika (a chain of 7 private Family Medicine Clinics in Ukraine), Israel Startup VC fund, UdevHub (IT consulting firm with Fortune 500 clients from Insurance, Banks and FinTech, Edtech domains).
He believes in giving back and is part of Singularity University, supporting the mission of providing people access to education and healthcare for stable economic growth. Ron has been featured in major publications and has been a keynote speaker at numerous prestigious conferences worldwide.