Oksana Matiiash
Chief Executive Officer, Teach For Ukraine
Ukraine
Driving transformative education initiatives to support children's learning and well-being during the war to strengthen Ukraine’s human capital for post-war rebuilding.
Oksana Matiiash is the chief executive officer of Teach For Ukraine, a nonprofit organization that aims to ensure every child in Ukraine has access to quality education. As CEO, Oksana has developed partnerships with 30 schools serving 10,000 children in five regions in Ukraine. Since 2020, Oksana has worked with technology companies and foundations to raise over $2,500,000 and expand Teach For Ukraine’s teacher base tenfold. Instead of suspending operations at the start of the war, Oksana led the organization to launch urgent emergency responses. Partnering with UNICEF, Save the Children, and the World Bank, Teach For Ukraine provided emergency psycho-social and learning support to 25,000 children and 90,000 teachers. Still based in Kyiv, Oksana and her team provide tutoring, summer camps, and leadership programs to ensure that children continue to receive educational support during the war. Oksana hopes to use the Scholars program to develop her leadership abilities and scale her work to shape and rebuild Ukraine’s educational system after the war.
More Columbia University Scholars
More About the Scholars Program
More About the Scholars Program
The Obama Foundation Scholars program gives rising leaders from around the world who are already making a difference in their communities the opportunity to take their work to the next level.
Learn More