Nataliia Chekalo My name is Nataliia and I come from Ukraine. I graduated from the Kyiv National Linguistic University in 2013 and in half a year I became a volunteer of the European Voluntary Service in Czech Republic. I fell in love with Prague and was extremely happy to spend there a year. The people I met there became my dearest friends and the experience I got there convinced me that the job I like should make a difference to someone.
In a year, I came back to Kyiv and started working in an NGO National Association of Media. At first, I held the position of Event Manager, but later I started managing grant projects of the Association as well as building relations with Ukrainian and international partners in order to provide the projects of the Association with donor funding. Today, I hold the position of Fundraising Director of the Association and I am doing my best to contribute to independent media development in Ukraine.
Though my work used to be very dynamic and encouraging, due to the war, our organization, as well as many Ukrainian companies, has been facing numerous challenges: lack of long-term financing, inability to provide safe working conditions, lack of personnel, emotional burnout of employees, etc. Under such conditions, I try to get more engaged into our internal activities that are aimed at improving our operations and creating better work environment.
Sure, my life is not only about work, though it is sometimes very challenging to keep a work-life balance when working in an NGO. So, during my free time I read, do some yoga, travel around Ukraine oftentimes visiting mountains, knit, and volunteer to help with making camouflage nets for the military.