NGO "League of Professional Women"

The Elevate Prize will be using for funding three from four main directions of the NGO “League of Professional Women” (LPW) activities. 

(1)  LPW`s Advocacy & Study Practice on SDGs National and Regional Review. LPW is taking part in the Women`s Major Group (WMG) and the UNECE regional civil society engagement mechanism (RCEM) activities since 2019. These actions main outcomes will be presented during the Civil Society Forum and the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development. 

(2) Learning Lab for University Educators in Ukraine. Learning & Training Educators` Program aim to advance: knowledge and skills acquisition of Universities and academic faculties in Ukraine; learning about US education practical actions and best practices in online learning; capacity building of Ukrainian educators; sharing experiences and peer to peer collaboration. 

(3) Study Lab: How to organize and implement Creative Social Actions (CSA) by cultural managers and civil society leaders (global version). The actions will focus on four main issues:  a) Design thinking of CSA objective; b) How to hire & select Cultural\Creative Goods & Services for the Target Audience and method of implementation (offline\online versions); c) Overview of the interactive sessions’ Learning tools & Networking techniques (two versions: offline \ online).  

Olena possesses more than 20 years of proven academic, leadership experience in policy analysis, academic research, civil society leadership and advocacy on Adults Learning, Women Empowerment, Creativity& Culture, Democracy Issues.  She lives in Kyiv, capital of Ukraine. She is co-founder & leader of the country’s “Female Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Community by LPW” (Community) and “Partnership on Adult Learning”. The Community vision is the development of entrepreneurial skills of women in the spheres of economics, academy, civil society, and propose intellectual patronage for business in Ukraine.  Currently, Community is operated as an internal LPW project and funded by LPW membership fees, small grants and occasional donations. The other, LPW`s leading multi-stakeholder initiative "Partnership on Adult Learning" 2018-year activities called "National Advocacy in Promotion Adult Learning Policy in Ukraine" was recognized by the UN DESA in 2019\20 as “SDGs Good Practices” and was published on online.  In additional, Olena developed Creative Social Action (CSA) method as an innovative social & adult learning tool. CSA method designed for culture managers & civil society leaders dealing with promotion culture & creative goods, services and produced spillover affect for CSA`s participants. In 2016 this research application received a "Seal of Excellence" certificate under Horizon 2020. 

NGO “League of Professional Women” (LPW)) unite since 1997 different people for the common goal of expanding the social & economic opportunities of women in Ukraine. Our mission is promoting the active role of women in the economic and society's life of Ukraine, through learning and professional development; advocacy and networking; informational & cultural support. LPW is based in Ukraine and has members across the country from science, education, business and public spheres. Underinvestment into women's rights and gender equality agenda is documented in the Beijing+25 on Parallel Report Ukraine 2014-2019 (where Olena Lazorenko was a co-author of the “Poverty eradication, social protection and social services”, paragraph 11). See more: http://fes.kiev.ua/n/cms/fileadmin/upload2/Parallel_Report_Eng_2_final_web.pdf

National analytical study (LPW, 2019) on the sub-task of SDG#4 “Quality Education” for 2019 UN High Level Political Forum in New York , mentions additional challenges, particularly in less learning, that necessity analysis of learning and education needs of adults in Ukraine, especially women (women – employers, women-professionals and women from marginalized and vulnerable groups). See more:

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=30022&nr=2250&menu=3170 

When educated woman’s income increases, she will often reinvest up to 90% of her income directly towards family needs, compared with an average reinvestment level for men about 30-40%. 

This project will be will be unique to Ukraine as it will provide possibility (1) for women`s right defenders in Ukraine and UNECE region to be visibility and present their voices on SDGs progress. (2) LPW featuring trainers, mentors and tutors from the social - humanitarian field on crucial topics related to the trends in higher education aria in the country. Pre-selected 3 implemented partners, 8 tutors (coordinators) from the 8 Universities and 5 trainers from academia and higher education institutions. (3) Drawing on the results of the CSAs field study (conducted in 2009-2015 in Kyiv and two small Ukrainian towns), we expect that culture managers and civil society leaders will learn new method. So, new CSAs will be organized by independent actors and these CSAs has inclusive, skills-developing, gender-sensitive format for their audience and result in a beneficial spillover effect for local communities (pitch of concept new CSAs will be provided).

(1)  LPW`s Advocacy & Study Practice on SDGs National and Regional Review. Outcome: two LPW position paper prepare and present via WMG`s official channels, provide oral & writing input for the national VNR review.

(2) Learning Lab for University Educators in Ukraine. Outcomes: Create necessary learning materials for Ukrainian educators (e.g., Tutorial Kit for Trainers and Tutors; Tutorial Kit for participants; Three Training Course Modules in electronic format \online); Engage representatives of target groups in the virtual activities (up to 120 educators from east, south, central and west Ukraine); Target group (selected universities & academic educators) raising awareness about US best practices in online learning, (b)read online learning materials  and (c) watch useful links\posts in social media. Professional development of educators will impact on the future quality of higher education program for about 5000 students of 12 Universities.

(3) Study Lab: How to organize and implement Creative Social Actions (CSA) by cultural managers and civil society leaders (global version). Handbook on “How to prepare and implement Creative Social Actions” in the digital and printed format (in Ukrainian and English) and online Learning Materials (pitch of concept new CSAs will be provided for Ukraine).