Stories of Growth

Graduated in 2025

Sofiia (21) has been internally displaced since 2022 and creates stunning handmade mosaics through her project, “Healing Glass.” She collects crushed, colored glass and gives it new life as unique works of art.

Dedicated to internally displaced communities, she leads masterclasses on restoring inner harmony by assembling tiny fragments into a complete mosaic shaped by each person’s vision.

Recently, Sofiia won a national Ukrainian grant for arts and social work, giving her initial funding to open her first shop for custom-designed mosaics.

Graduated in 2025

Another graduate of the See Forward (SFU) 2025 cohort, Olha Stepanova (22), was accepted into the Wharton Business School MBA program with full support.

In Ukraine, Olha is part of a team at a glass-producing company, where she has taken on grant writing and successfully secured major funding to help her company grow. Olha came to the SFU 2025 program with many aspirations, but also questions about the best path forward.

Now she not only has a stable job, but also the opportunity to continue her studies abroad if she chooses.

Graduated in 2025

Liubov (24), an internally displaced person since 2023, now pursues her PhD in Epidemiology.

In addition to her postgraduate research, she launched free classes where she teaches biology and chemistry to high school freshmen students from the IDP community in the Kyiv Region.

Graduated in 2024

Margarita pursued her newfound interest in AI following one of the program’s presentations and participated in the IT hackathon (Ukraine). She also began volunteering at the Nezabutni [‘Unforgettable’] Charitable Foundation memory café for older people with dementia.

Graduated in 2024

Bohdana started a job working with internally displaced parents and children at an after-school program in a local school in Lviv, Ukraine.

Graduated in 2024

Karyna completed her physical therapy training and started teaching stretching exercises classes, 18 online for maximum outreach. Because of it, she was invited into a professional rehabilitation and recovery program for Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines with musculoskeletal injuries.

Graduated in 2024

Sophia inspired by her work with the Program’s psychologist, changed her university major to Psychology and Linguistics and began a part-time job supporting internally displaced families.

Graduated in 2024

Kateryna started an internship in human psychology and AI, encouraged by a conversation with one of the mentors about AI and mental health.

Graduated in 2024

Adelina works as a Professional of Innovation Activities at "Dotyk" Municipal Enterprise of Dnipro City Council.

Graduated in 2024

Marya interns with the Program's fitness coach, Yuliya Vetkasova, teaching exercise classes.