Our team

Dan Pasko

Co-Founder

10+ years of Private Equity (Horizon Capital, Diligent Capital); 5+ years in NGO/Non-Profit (Prof. Gov’t Association, EasyBusiness); Harvard MBA

Antonina Golovach

Co-Founder

3+ years in Marketing & Communications (Miss Multiverse, Etalonium); social-media influencer (Instagram 50K+), Kyiv National Economic University

Valeria Abdal

Co-Founder / Marketing Manager

Valeria is experienced in wedding events (10+ years). She is a happy wife and mother, applying best practices in child development

Serge Goncharevich

Co-Founder

20+ years in Investment Banking and Asset Management (Capital Times), MIM MBA

Iaroslav Prygara

Co-Founder

5+ years in automobile business (Sherp, Daimler AG, Maserati, Ducati Motor Holding, Jeep)
; 7+ years in Charity and Non-profit; 
Steinbeis-Hochschule MBA

Mark Iwashko

Chairman in USA, Co-Managing Partner at Diligent Capital Partners

Mark Iwashko is a highly experienced private equity professional with over 22 years of practice in the industry. He co-founded Horizon Capital, founded Diligent Capital Partners, and currently co-manages the independent mid-market private equity firm. Mr. Iwashko served on over 30 boards in privately held and publicly listed companies and nongovernment organizations.

Daniyil Pasko

Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Co-Managing Partner at Diligent Capital Partners

Daniil Pasko has over 13 years of experience in the realm of private equity. He serves as a board member for esteemed entities such as Pivdenny Bank, Allseeds Group, and Yednist Group. His educational background includes an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, further enriching his expertise and insights in the field.

Kathy Nalywajko

President of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Institute of America

Kathy Nalywajko is a Managing Director at the NYC office of MAI Capital Management. She also advises nonprofits, endowments and foundations. Ms. Nalywajko serves on the Advisory Council of the New York Common Pantry and is the Board Chair of ACG Cares NY, a professional mentorship organization.

Archbishop Borys Gudziak

President of Ukrainian Catholic University, Archbishop at Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States

Since January 19, 2013, Bishop Borys Gudziak has been the first bishop of the Eparchy of St. Volodymyr the Great (Eparchie de Saint-Vladimir le Grand) after Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Apostolic Exarchate of Ukrainian Catholics in France to the status of an eparchy.

Danilo Yakub

Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Senior Partner and COO at Diligent Capital Partners

Dan Yakub is an experienced professional in investment banking, investment management, and private equity. He has held the positions of Executive Director at UBS and Vice President at Citi Bank. He received his Executive MBA degree from Smurfit School in 2007.

Ihor Petrov

Co-Founder, Head of Production and Business Development at REMO

Ihor Petrov has more than 25 years of track record in increasing responsibility for delivering sales and profitability growth to major companies like Mars Inc, and Bunge Limited. He worked as a General Partner at ITL Private Equity Fund.

Roman Dubczak

Deputy Chair at CIBC Capital Markets

Roman Dubczak is responsible for senior client relationships and strategy as well as strategic opportunities at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Capital Markets. He is a member of the CIBC Capital Markets Executive Committee and a board member of CIBC World Markets Inc.

Alan Epstein

Partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Co-Chair of the Alliance for Children’s Rights

Alan Epstein is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and chair of the Entertainment Transactions Practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He focuses on business transactions for public and private companies principally in the entertainment and media industry.

Roberta Brzezinski

CEO & Director at Capitalworks EM

Roberta Brzezinski is a seasoned team leader across private and public global investment strategies. She has more than 27 years of experience in leadership positions. Ms. Brzezinski served as a Board Member for New Women New Yorkers NGO.

Madeleine Schachter

Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, Author

Madeleine Schachter has extensive experience in medicine, law, and the social sphere. She authored books on law, and also wrote “Creativity Connections: Wellness Through Artistic Expression”, as well as the children’s book “Fire Buddy.”

Natalie M. Derzko

Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP

Natalie Derzko is an experienced attorney in the life sciences technology field. She is practicing at a multinational law firm in Washington, DC. Ms. Derzko holds law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School (J.D.), Harvard Law School (LL.M.), and Columbia Law School (J.S.D.).

Danilo Yakub

Chairman, Co-Founder of Children of Heroes Fund, Senior Partner and COO at Diligent Capital Partners

Dan Yakub is an experienced professional in investment banking, investment management, and private equity. He has held the positions of Executive Director at UBS and Vice President at Citi Bank. He received his Executive MBA degree from Smurfit School in 2007.

Jorrit Dingemans

Principal Investment Officer Private Equity at FMO

Jorrit Dingemans manages one of four teams in the private equity department of FMO, the Dutch development bank. In over ten years at FMO, he has financed/invested funds and corporations in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Katherine Darakova

Customer Value Director at Ofi

Katherine Darakova is an experienced consultant. She joined Celonis as a Value Engineer to lead clients in identifying, quantifying, and realizing high-impact use cases across business processes with software solutions. Katherine worked with Deloitte Netherlands for four years.

Francis Malige

Managing Director of Financial Institutions, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Managing Director at EBRD in Ukraine (2014-2018)

Francis Malige boasts a distinguished career spanning over 13 years in pivotal roles at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Mr. Malige accumulated valuable experience at renowned institutions such as BNP Paribas and McKinsey & Company. He is an alumnus of ESCP Europe, a prestigious business school in France.

Gennady Gazin

Chairman of the Genesis Philanthropy Group

Gennady Gazin is an international businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of Kyivstar and an affiliate partner of Lindsay Goldberg. Mr. Gazin previously served as the CEO of EastOne and also worked at McKinsey.He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a BS degree from Cornell University, and an MS from Stanford University.

Robert Manson

Director-to-be, Harvard Alumni Association Board Member

Robert Manson has served as president of the Harvard Club of Ireland for four years, and regional director of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) for Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Yves Barraquand

General manager of the group CMR

Yves Barraquand joined CMR Group as CEO in 2016. CMR Group develops, manufactures, and implements control and supervision solutions for the energy, industrial, and marine sectors in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Mr. Barraquand is a Paris’s École Polytechnique and École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris graduate and holds a post-doctorate fellowship from Tokyo University.

Oksana Strashna

Founder, has Advisory Practice in ASPIRUM

Oksana Strashna has over 9 years of experience in managing companies and organizations. She is a board member of the Prengi, Inc., Corporate Governance Professional Association. In the past, Ms. Strashna served as a board member at SOC Prime, Inc., at Pechersk School International.

Natalya Gonchar

Business Development and Commercial Assessment Lead, SOBI, Central & Eastern Europe & Japan

Natalya Gonchar is experienced in business development. She holds the position of Business Development & Commercial Assessment Lead at SOBI. She also held the position of Pricing & Market Access Manager for Export Markets at Private Joint Stock Company “Farmak” and Pharmaceutical Company “Darnitsa”

Daniil Pasko

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation. Founding Partner of Diligent Capital Partners and co-founder of the Children of Heroes CF

Daniil Pasko has over 13 years of experience in the realm of private equity. He serves as a board member for esteemed entities such as Pivdenny Bank, Allseeds Group, and Yednist Group. His educational background includes an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, further enriching his expertise and insights in the field.

Victoria Lisna

Former beneficiary of the Children of Heroes CF, representative of the families of the foundation's children in the Supervisory Board

Victoria Lisna is a former beneficiary of the Children of Heroes Fund. She represents the foundation’s families in the Supervisory Board. Ms. Lisna is a German language teacher. She has experience working in public institutions, and is the founder of a private school.

Serhiy Kulyk

Managing Partner of Deloitte Ukraine

Serhiy Kulyk has over 20 years of audit experience, collaborating with international corporations, large public entities, and private firms across diverse sectors, alongside offering consultancy expertise in internal control implementation and financial reporting systems. He is a Managing Partner of Deloitte Ukraine.

Sergiy Goncharevych

Managing Partner, CEO of Capital Times

Sergiy Goncharevych has over 20 years of experience in investment consulting. He is a Senior Manager, with a MBA degree from Kyiv Business School MIM.

Kyrylo Bihay

CEO and co-founder of Preply, founder of Edtech Founders Club

Kyrylo Bihay is a serial entrepreneur with a technological background. He is the CEO and co-founder of Preply, and is also the founder of Edtech Founders Club.

Kateryna Glazkova

Executive Director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs

Kateryna Glazkova is the Head of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP) since 2016. She has over 15 years of experience as an editor and editor-in-chief of leading business publications such as Investgazeta, Focus, and Forbes Ukraine. Ms. Glazkova is also a member of the Public Control Council at the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine and member of the Board of the Coalition of Business Communities for the Modernization of Ukraine.

Anna Derevyanko

Executive Director of the European Business Association

Anna Derevyanko is the co-founder of Global Business for Ukraine. She also serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.

Tetiana Novytska

Chief Executive Officer, Global

18+ years in Corporate Finance, Audit, Financial Management, Operations, Private Equity (Dragon Capital, EY, Arricano, Vitmark); Fellow member of ACCA; Odessa National Economic University

Hanna Khomenko

Head of Implementation, Co-Founder

6+ years in HR (Citrus, Farmak, Sellwin, Moneyveo), 2+ years in child psychology (private child development center); Degree in Law

Kateryna Pozinenko

Head of Fundraising & Partnerships, Co-Founder

4+ years in Project Management, Corporate Social Responsibility & Marketing (Henkel Ukraine), Kyiv National Economic University

Nataliia Lurie

Chief Marketing Officer

Anna Yermolaieva

HR Director

15+ years in HR Management with focus on people development, talent acquisition and L&D (Nestle, Turkcell/Global Bilgi); Dniepropetrovsk National University of Railways

Albina Kyryliuk

Senior Family Helper, Medical and Emergency programs

Yuliia Bulich

Family Partner, Humanitarian Aid

Yulia Tsebrova

Senior Family Helper, Medical and Emergency programs

3+ years in Finance; 1 year as a rehabilitation specialist; 1 year as a children coach;

Julia Shkidchenko

Senior Family Helper, Socialization and Psychological support

Tetiana Zarytska

Family Partner, Socialization and Psychological support

Yana Vorobey

Senior Family Helper, Education and Development

Yuliia Svystunova

Senior Family Helper, Humanitarian Aid

Anna Chumak

Senior Family Helper, Educatio and Development

Antonina Golovach

Head of Corporates

3+ years in Marketing & Communications (Miss Multiverse, Etalonium); social-media influencer (Instagram 50K+), Kyiv National Economic University

Nataliia Kornievskaya

Lead Corporates

9+ years  in program planing department TV Chanel “Ukraine” Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics

Olga Yarmolyuk

Lead Grants and Foundations

Iryna-Mariia Huk

Grants and Foundations Specialist

Vladyslava Lityaga

Public sector development specialist

Elyzaveta Bagriy

Fundraising & Donor Relations Specialist

Kateryna Zosina

PR Director

Yuliia Ivashchenko

PR manager

Nataliia Maryniuk

PR manager