Tanya Kotelnykova
Founder
Columbia University in the City of New York, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Tanya was born and raised in Horlivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2014 she left her hometown, which was occupied by Russian forces during the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. She fled Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Tanya studied law at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Currently, she is a graduate student of Human Rights at Columbia University, and her main interests lie in the issues of social inequality, human rights in the context of war, and Russian education policies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Her current research focuses on the obligation of the occupying power to ensure the right to water in the occupied territory.
In the past years, Tanya has engaged in and organized multiple social action projects, including “Mentorpoint”, the first mentorship program in Ukraine for young people who have had to move from the temporarily occupied territory in Eastern Ukraine. She has also conducted research on teenagers from Donbas entering universities during the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
Tanya participated in the Harvard Kennedy School’s mentorship program, Women’s Network Ukraine, the Boris Nemtsov School of Journalism and Sociocultural studies, and the Second Ukrainian Women's Congress. Also, she was engaged in the project Antibiotics are not Candies, which was given the second place in the camp “YOU Camp – Youth, Opportunities, Unity” and granted financial support for its implementation. Tanya is the ambassador of the global campaign Girl2LeaderUkraine. She has also received scholarships from the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s “Zavtra.UA” program and the Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students (CUSDS).
Tanya’s life has been influenced by Russian military aggression since childhood. She is now writing a book detailing her personal experience growing up amidst the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation will provide expert and financial support to the winning projects of the 4th “YOU Camp – Youth, Opportunities, Unity” summer camp, organized by its Zavtra.UA scholarship programme, with the support of Coca-Cola Foundation. Three projects have been selected out of 16 ideas developed by the participants in the fields provided for in the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals: Ukraine.
The goal of the Zavtra.UA programme for the past 14 years has been to create a new generation of change makers: a generation with excellent education and skills, with mastery of the best international practices and ideas; a generation that will think and feel differently, and so be able to make an important contribution to building the country. The program has been fulfilling the mission of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation to empower new generations to become the change-makers of tomorrow since 2006.
The second place has been given to project Antibiotics are not Candies, aiming at making Ukrainians aware of proper use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance as a result of medicine abuse. UAH 50,000 will be granted for its implementation. The team of the project developers included: Bohdan Avdeiev, Anastasia Fedorenko, Nadia Hryniv, Anastasia Khomenko, Tetiana Kotelnikova, Vladyslava Kozhukhar, Maria Kuleba, Tetiana Liniychuk, Anastasia Morkva, Daryna Savitska and Vitalia Sheveliuk.
Tanya studied law at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Currently, she is a graduate student of Human Rights at Columbia University, and her main interests lie in the issues of social inequality, human rights in the context of war, and Russian education policies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Her current research focuses on the obligation of the occupying power to ensure the right to water in the occupied territory and the protection of civilians during attacks on medical units in Ukraine.
Most of her interests lie in the issues of social inequality, human rights in the context of war, and Russian education policies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Her current research focuses on the obligation of the occupying power to ensure the right to water in the occupied territory and the protection of civilians during attacks on medical units in Ukraine.
During my study in Kyiv, I volunteered in the Prisoner`s Voice project implemented by the
Center for Civil Liberties. I was advocating for the protection of Ukrainian political prisoners and victims of repression in Donbas and occupied Crimea and monitoring their locations and health conditions. As a result of my work.
I was able to gather information about people who had been incarcerated but had not been identified as being in prison by the Ukrainian government. In total, I compiled a list of 364 prisoners with data on their background and their detentions - including any ill-treatment or torture they received.
When I was 18 years old, I launched a program "MentorPoint" which helped youth from the occupied territory in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea enroll in Ukrainian universities. Because of the Russian education policy in the occupied territory and propaganda, fewer people had the possibility to study in Ukraine. I and my friends who moved from the occupied territory helped young people by sharing our successful experiences, supporting and explaining opportunities that the Ukrainian government provides to them, such as stipends and accommodation.
Most of her interests lie in the issues of social inequality, human rights in the context of war, and Russian education policies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Her current research focuses on the obligation of the occupying power to ensure the right to water in the occupied territory and the protection of civilians during attacks on medical units in Ukraine.
I organize the mentorship program “MentorUkraine” which supports Ukrainian young people and helps them settle, grow and achieve goals. Ukrainian young people, in addition to the trauma in their personal lives, have to continue studying. Many of them are enrolling in universities abroad and integrating into a new education system, culture, and society in these highly challenging times. I designed this program to support my peers from Ukraine with the professional and personal challenges they face, such as language barriers, networking, and social integration.The program gives Ukrainian youth the opportunity to have one-on-one sessions with a Columbia student, who will offer personal guidance and advice tailored to the specific needs of their mentee. Mentors and mentees have informal offline or online meetings to discuss the pressing questions faced by Ukrainian students upon relocation to a particular country. Mentors also invite their mentees to network events and share professional information related to education, internships, and employment opportunities. I believe this program might help Ukrainian students to feel better and continue their lives during the war.
During my study in Kyiv, I volunteered in the Prisoner`s Voice project implemented by the
Center for Civil Liberties. I was advocating for the protection of Ukrainian political prisoners and victims of repression in Donbas and occupied Crimea and monitoring their locations and health conditions. As a result of my work, I was able to gather information about people who had been incarcerated but had not been identified as being in prison by the Ukrainian government. In total, I compiled a list of 364 prisoners with data on their background and their detentions - including any ill-treatment or torture they received.
When I was 18 years old, I launched a program "MentorPoint" which helped youth from the occupied territory in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea enroll in Ukrainian universities. Because of the Russian education policy in the occupied territory and propaganda, fewer people had the possibility to study in Ukraine. I and my friends who moved from the occupied territory helped young people by sharing our successful experiences, supporting and explaining opportunities that the Ukrainian government provides to them, such as stipends and accommodation.
I designed this program to support my peers from Ukraine with the professional and personal challenges they face, such as language barriers, networking, and social integration.
Ukrainian young people, in addition to the trauma in their personal lives, have to continue studying. Many of them are enrolling in universities abroad and integrating into a new education system, culture, and society in these highly challenging times.
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, Michael Sandel
