Ukrainian refugee Maryna Kuznetsova. Photo: Courtesy of Women for the Future
Like millions of Ukrainian women, Maryna Kuznetsova lost her job after Russia’s full-scale invasion. In fact, 39 percent of Ukrainians who worked before the war lost the opportunity to support themselves economically. Looking for support, Kuznetsova found herself the Women for the Future project from the public organization “Professionals of the Future” and UN Women in Ukraine. The initiative aims to combat gender inequality in the labor market and create additional opportunities to improve the economic capabilities of Ukrainian women. Originally from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kuznetsova eventually moved to Lithuania with her daughter.
Before the large-scale invasion, I had a fairly active and busy career, periodically combining incompatible occupations. I worked as an assistant manager, prepared grant proposals, volunteered as a video editor and photographer, organized educational events at a public youth organization. However, after February 24, 2022, as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I was forced to move from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk Region, to Lithuania.
In order to have something to do in a new country, in the summer of 2022 I started to implement my project “Living library in the period of war” to build a Ukrainian-Lithuanian dialogue and tell the local population the truth about the war in Ukraine . However, the initiative ended in the fall of 2022 and I didn’t know what to do next. I planned to get a job on a farm somewhere in Scandinavia, to recover mentally and not think about anything. However, I decided not to give up so easily and move in the direction of mastering remote work in the creative field to be able to work anywhere, wherever. To understand how to achieve this, I signed up for the Women for the Future project.
Having a clear goal, I took a proactive stance and joined all possible project activities. In the fall I took advantage of two consultations with an HR specialist and a coach as part of the consulting and mentoring program. I actively participated in the closed community of the project, where thanks to networking I found an English teacher with whom I worked for two months and was able to improve my language skills. I also listened to all 19 online lessons of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Link Building course.
At the beginning of the project, I was sure that I had to change my profession in order to regain the opportunity to develop professionally. However, thanks to various activities, in particular consultations, I realized that I simply lacked confidence in myself and my abilities as a specialist. In fact, I don’t need to change my activity, but the approach to evaluating myself and my abilities, to overcome the ‘impostor syndrome’.
Realizing this, with my own power and professional experience, I began to actively seek opportunities in the fields that interest me. And as a result, in the spring of 2023, I got a job in a public organization, where I was first hired as an assistant, and after a trial period I became a fundraiser. For me, this is a very important step in the direction of building a successful career. I finally feel confident in myself and my professional development. I have a lot of inspiration to implement my own ideas, and all thanks to my participation in the Women for the Future project”.
The article was prepared as part of the project Women for the Future, implemented by the public organization “Professionals the Future” with the support of the project “Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine” of UN Women, funded by the Government of Sweden and implemented in cooperation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
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