WASHINGTON – The Ukrainian American Youth Association (UAYA) held its 11th Leadership Seminar on March 28-29 here at the Embassy of Ukraine.
The seminar’s participants, high school juniors and seniors, hailed from various UAYA branches in the United States: Peter Jerzewski, Roksolana Jerzewski, Nataliya Turchmanovych and Anastasia Lotoska (Chicago); Michael Popovech (New York); Ivanna Klics (Passaic, N.J.); Mark Drozd and Anastasia Pelz (Cleveland); and Teresa Duda, Matthew Gaschler, Taras Halva, Michael Kuzemczak and Matthew Tomaszewsky (Yonkers). These participants were nominated by their branches based on their leadership potential, and then were selected and invited to participate in the seminar by the UAYA National Executive committee.
The organizers of this years’ seminar were Marijka Drozd, Nelya Lavrynenko, Yuriy Mykytyn, Andriy Bihun, Lesia Harhaj and Julie Doboszczak. The ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Olexander Motsyk, was among the distinguished lecturers.
Participants of the 11th Leadership Seminar with Bishop John Bura at St. Josephat Seminary.
The seminar was led by Ms. Lavrenenko, chair of the Educational Council of the World Executive of the Ukrainian Youth Association. A professional leadership trainer, she designed a curriculum to help participants develop strong leadership skills they would be able to use as UAYA leaders, as well as in their personal lives.
She opened the seminar with ice-breakers that allowed the participants to get to know each other better. Each participant was asked to design a personal crest and then explain it to the group. This activity was one of the most humorous, as one part of the crest asked participants to reveal something that they wanted to accomplish.
The participants were then asked to share their goals for participating in the seminar and to create guidelines that all the participants would abide by during the seminar. This is one the most important parts of the seminar, as participants contributed to creating the list and understood that, in order to make the seminar successful, they would have to uphold these guidelines.
The participants then began discussions on what UAYA represents, and how it is viewed by both members and non-members. The goals of these discussions were to provide the participants with a better understanding of how organizational goals are created. Discussions then centered on “what is a leader.”
Saturday afternoon also gave the participants the opportunity to sit down with Ambassador Motsyk, who spoke candidly regarding the situation in Ukraine and took questions from the group. Mr. Mykytyn, president of the UAYA National Executive Board, presented Mr. Motsyk with a letter signed by all the participants. The ambassador gladly accepted the letter and agreed to pass it on to the Ukrainian government.
On Sunday, the participants attended liturgy celebrated by Bishop John Bura at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary. Upon returning to the Embassy, the participants quickly transitioned back into their leadership activities. Mr. Mykytyn opened the morning session by speaking with the participants about how the UAYA National Executive functions. He took questions from the participants and stressed that in order for the organization to be successful, strong leaders and strong leadership are needed. He encouraged the participants to take what they had learned from the weekend and apply it to the work they are doing in their branches.
Ms. Harhaj and Ms. Dobosczak facilitated the final session of the seminar, which had the participants splitting into groups to plan an event or program they would like to see included in the UAYA program. Participants were responsible for creating a program from scratch, including explaining the mission of the event, setting goals and planning a budget. Each group then presented its program to the seminar.