In the words of Maryna Kuznetsova: “I finally feel confident in myself and my professional development.”

Like millions of Ukrainian women, Maryna Kuznetsova lost her job after Russia’s full-scale invasion. In fact, 39 per cent of Ukrainians who were employed before the war lost the opportunity to support themselves financially. Looking for support, Kuznetsova came across the Women for the Future project from the public organization "Professionals of the Future" and UN Women in Ukraine. The initiative is aimed at combating gender inequality in the labour market and creating additional opportunities to improve the economic capabilities of Ukrainian women. Originally from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kuznetsova eventually moved to Lithuania with her daughter.

Before the full-scale invasion, I had a fairly active and busy career, where I periodically combined incompatible occupations. I worked as a Manager’s Assistant, prepared grant proposals, volunteered as a video editor and photographer, organized educational events in a youth public organization. However, after 24 February 2022, as a result of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, I was forced to move from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, to Lithuania.

In order to have something to do in a new country, in the summer of 2022 I started implementing my project "Living Library in the Period of War" to build a Ukrainian-Lithuanian dialogue and tell the local population the truth about the war in Ukraine. However, the initiative ended in the fall of 2022 and I did not know what to do next. I planned to get a job on a farm somewhere in Scandinavia, to recover mentally and not think about anything. However, I decided not to give up so easily and move in the direction of mastering remote work in the creative field to be able to work anywhere, regardless of where I am. In order to understand how to achieve this, I registered for the Women for the Future project.

Having a clear goal, I took a proactive position and joined all possible project activities. In the fall, I took advantage of two consultations with an HR specialist and a coach as part of the consulting and mentoring programme. I took active part in the closed community of the project, where, thanks to networking, I found an English teacher with whom I worked for two months and was able to improve my language skills. I also listened to all 19 online classes within the search engine optimization (SEO) and link-building course.

At the beginning of the project, I was sure that I should change my profession in order to regain the opportunity for career development. However, thanks to various activities, in particular consultations, I realized that I simply lacked confidence in myself and my skills as a specialist. In fact, I don't need to change my activity, but the approach to assessing myself and my skills, to overcome the ‘impostor syndrome’.

Having realized this, with my own power and professional experience, I began to actively look for opportunities in the areas that interest me. And as a result, in the spring of 2023, I got a job in a public organization, where I was first hired as an assistant, and after a trial period I became a fundraiser. For me, this is a very important step in the direction of building a successful career. I finally feel confident in myself and my professional development. I have a lot of inspiration to implement my own ideas, and all thanks to my participation in the Women for the Future project.”

The article was prepared as part of the Women for the Future project, implemented by the public organization "Professionals the Future" with support from UN Women’s "Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine" project, financed by the Government of Sweden and implemented in cooperation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.