For the second year in a row, KSE Foundation has been bringing Ukrainian professionals back home — where they become part of key national projects and European integration reforms.
The program, initiated by the governments of Lithuania and Ukraine, builds on the successful experience of Create Lithuania. Together with partners, KSE Foundation adapted the Lithuanian model to Ukrainian realities.
How participants are selected, what projects they work on, and why the program is strategically important for Ukraine — read the full interview with Maryna Borysenko, Director of Programs and Implementation at KSE Foundation, for Platfor.ma.
Below are some key takeaways from the conversation:
“This project cannot be implemented as a simple copy-paste — it required adaptation to the scale of Ukraine and the realities of wartime.”
“The pilot cohort of 10 participants with international education and professional experience became full members of the teams at the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Culture.”
“Participants contributed to the preparation of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome. Following the conference, more than 200 agreements and memorandums worth over €13 billion were signed. They also coordinated the labour market panel, which became one of the steps leading to Ukraine’s associated membership in ESF+ and opened access to €760 million in funding.”
“Participants demonstrated a high level of both professional and personal maturity. Feedback from ministries and supervisors confirmed the value of the program: ‘Why are there so few people? We want more.’”
“That is why Create Ukraine has already been scaled up: the new cohort includes 25 participants who, since the beginning of this year, have been working across five ministries and three government offices, including the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office for European Integration.”
The #CreateUkraine programme is funded by Lithuania through the Lithuanian Fund for the Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid and is aimed at supporting the return and successful integration of Ukrainian youth currently living abroad into Ukraine’s public sector.
The programme is implemented by the Lithuanian Central Project Management Agency in partnership with the KSE Foundation, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and in close cooperation with the Government of Ukraine.