The first hundred winners of the “Talents For Ukraine” grant program from the KSE Foundation, who received financial support for their own development, have been identified. The jubilee winners were the brothers Amil and Ramil Nasirov (Kurgan & Agregat group).
“Talents for Ukraine” is a grant program to support a new generation of leaders. The purpose of the program is to help talents grow and develop in Ukraine. The total budget is $1,000,000, the size of a personal grant is $5,000 on average.
“For almost a year of the program’s existence, we have considered about 3,000 applications from talented people. The jury chose dozens of winners. United by the goal of rebuilding Ukraine and changing the world for the better, they cover polar fields: in addition to researching the effects of cosmic radiation, they create the latest ultra-light materials for 3D printing and popularize the tradition of embroidered shirts around the world. We are proud to help such people and be a part of their great history,” – says Svitlana Denysenko, director of the KSE Foundation.
Among them: historian Nataliia Yakovenko, physicist Serhii Sharapov, designer of adaptive clothing for people with disabilities Anna Pavlus, editor of “Bird in Flight” Volodymyr Konoshevych and founder of “Ukraїner” Bohdan Lohvynenko, radio biologist Olena Pareniuk, founder of the festival of the Ukrainian spirit “Bandershtat” Serhii Martyniuk, the architect of modular housing for displaced people Viacheslav Balbek, the head of the museum “The Art Arsenal” Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, the animal rights activist Anastasiia Tykha, who evacuated animals from Irpin, and many other incredible personalities.
“Most of our grant candidates and winners are cultural figures, bloggers, STEM popularizers, historians, writers, musicians and artists. They make up 42%. Another large category of winners – scientists, educators, developers and innovators – these talents make up 37%. 14% of our winners are volunteers, doctors, human rights fighters. And another 7% are eco-activists and animal rights activists who continue their work even during the war. All of them do various, but extremely important things for Ukraine, implement initiatives or projects, rally people around them and inspire,” – says Nataliia Kravchenko, head of talent and community development at the KSE Foundation.
A grant from the KSE Foundation gave them financial support – so that the winners could focus on their own development or project implementation, without thinking about the formal achievement of KPIs. After all, the “Talents For Ukraine” grant does not require any reporting and does not regulate the direction of the use of funds.
Thus, a system of air quality analysis stations has grown in the cities of Ukraine, mine-sweeping robots and reconnaissance drones of Ukrainian production have started working at the front line, an educational podcast has been launched, leather from mushroom mycelium is grown in the laboratory, and the comics character Nox has become popular among children.
Along with developing projects or starting new initiatives, many winners spent the grant to sustain and keep the team going through the crisis. And they also invested in people: neuroscientist Nana Voitenko spent money on scholarships for interns, co-founder of the YouTube channel “about” Nata Hresko – on the needs of the project team. And the very first winner of the program, the founder of the family farm Volodymyr Zhdanov wanted to support his family and become a volunteer.
The “Talents for Ukraine” grant program continues! More about the initiative