Nadya Tkachenko is the Founder and President of Project NADIYA, a US- and Ukraine-based organization focused on helping internally displaced people in Ukraine rebuild their hope and their lives (‘Nadiya’ means ‘Hope’ in Ukrainian).
Project NADIYA stems from Nadya’s humanitarian relief trip to Ukraine in March of 2022. Driven to help, and raising around $100,000, Nadya traveled from the US to assist refugees with cash stipends and temporary housing. Soon it became clear that the growing humanitarian crisis of displacement needed longer-term solutions, including dignified housing and employment assistance in safer areas of Ukraine as this would help internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in the country, become more self-sufficient, and less dependent on humanitarian aid. This gave birth to Project NADIYA’s which is now providing medium-term housing and social integration support for IDPs.
Separately, with a group of experts in housing finance, Nadya is exploring longer-term solutions that would create affordable housing options in Ukraine’s recovery and rebuilding process.
Aside from leading these initiatives, Nadya is an entrepreneur and a proud mother of 4 amazing kids. Her prior experience includes serving as a development and program director in the non-profit and NGO sectors, including UNESCO. She holds an MA from SOAS, London, and a BA from Middlebury College, USA. Ethnically Ukrainian, raised in Kazakhstan and in Ukraine, Nadya lives in Massachusetts, USA.