In case you missed this event,
see the replay here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW7ebeU4TNQ
While participation is free, DONATIONS are appreciated to support continued cultural programming at St. Vladimir Institute.
St. Vladimir Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the SUS Foundation.
Sunday, March 14, 2021
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM (ET)
A virtual panel discussion bringing International Women’s Day to every day with powerful women leaders in the Ukrainian Canadian community. Join this enlightening discussion about the challenges and gains of women in their professions, and how their Ukrainian Canadian heritage has had a role in their success.
Moderator:
MARTA CZURYLOWICZ, host of Canada’s Ukrainian channel, KONTAKT, and content creator and reporter at The Weather Network
Panelists:
DR. LESIA M. BABIAK, Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) Head of Government Affairs and Policy, responsible for Canada
TAMARA BALAN, Chief Operating Officer, CivicAction
DR. NATALIA KHANENKO-FRIESEN, Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography and Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta
ROMA LUCIW, Personal Finance Editor, The Globe and Mail
BIOGRAPHIES
MARTA CZURYLOWICZ
Marta Czurylowicz is a content creator and reporter at The Weather Network and has been the host of Canada’s Ukrainian channel, KONTAKT, for more than a decade. Along with hosting the weekly program, she remains closely connected with her Ukrainian roots. She taught and performed traditional dance at Barvinok Ukrainian Dance School. She served as a Canadian election observer for both the presidential elections in May 2014 and the parliamentary elections in October 2014. She has hosted numerous events including Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival; Rock, Reforms and Relief: A Weekend for Ukraine; Soyuzivka’s Cultural Festival; and the Ukraine-Kyiv Pavilion at Folklorama in Winnipeg. Marta has worked at Canadian news outlets, including Sun News Network, CTV News in Winnipeg and CTV News in Kitchener. Marta attended Cawthra Park School of the Arts where she majored in drama and graduated with an Arts Diploma. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University. Currently Marta teaches part time at Conestoga College in the Broadcasting Performance and Digital Media program.
DR. LESIA M. BABIAK
Dr. Lesia Babiak is Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) Head of Government Affairs and Policy, responsible for Canada. She works with the six Canadian J&J businesses in Canada and chairs the cross sector J&J Canada Government Affairs Council. During her over 20 years at J&J, Lesia has served on several external Boards including as Chair, BIOTECanada Health Advisory Board; Board member, LifeScan Canada Inc.; Board member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; and Board member of the Canadian American Business Council. She has been an active member of numerous Life Sciences committees. Lesia has volunteered as Chair, Ukrainian Care Centre Board and member of the Alliance Hospice Board and she is currently a member of the Ivan Franko Home Board. Her other work experience includes five years as Associate Director Drug Programs Branch, Ontario Ministry of Health and prior to that, as Health Advisor, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). With CIDA, Lesia assisted Eastern European universities in revising their pharmacy curricula to be more clinically oriented. During that time, she served as the Medical Committee Lead for the Help Us Help the Children Project and was active in a number of the outreach ‘road trips’ to the orphanages of Ukraine. Lesia began her professional career working clinically at the Ottawa General Hospital as Team Leader for clinical services for Neurology and Family Medicine. Lesia holds a B.Sc.Pharm. from the University of Toronto, a Pharm.D. from Wayne State University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario. She is a 2018 graduate of the Rotman School of Business Directors Education Program and has secured the ICD.D designation. Lesia chaired the Ukrainian Art Song Project, sang in Vesnivka Choir, and has been an active member of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir for many years.
TAMARA BALAN
Tamara Balan is the Chief Operating Officer of CivicAction and the CivicAction Leadership Foundation. She has been with CivicAction for over a decade and is passionate about its purpose, which is to boost civic engagement and build better cities. Tamara has engaged senior and rising leaders in tackling tough social, economic and environmental challenges facing cities. She has cultivated the Emerging Leaders Network and DiverseCity Fellows programs to build more inclusive and resilient leadership. An active community member, Tamara has served on several Boards and currently sits on the Board of Why Not Theatre. Tamara holds a Bachelors degree in Urban Studies and Political Science from the University of Toronto and in 2012, was named a Vital Person by the Toronto Community Foundation. Tamara credits her professional success to many of her experiences growing up in the Ukrainian community, including being a member of PLAST and volunteering with organizations like Help Us Help the Children. Tamara fondly remembers making varenyky in the basement of St. Vladimir Institute with her baba and pra-baba, and welcoming visitors as the Caravan Kid of SVI's Odessa pavilion.
DR. NATALIA KHANENKO–FRIESEN
Professor Natalia Khanenko-Friesen is the Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography and Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta. A native of Kyiv, she completed a B.A. in geography at Kyiv State University before pursuing her graduate studies at the University of Alberta, where she first earned her master’s degree in Ukrainian folklore and then obtained a joint doctoral degree in anthropology and Ukrainian folklore. She was a professor in the Department of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of History. Over the course of her studies and academic career she has worked as an ethnographer at the Museum of Folk Life and Architecture in Kyiv, a lecturer at the University of Alberta and the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, a visiting professor at the University of Toronto, and most recently, a research fellow at Harvard University. Her wide-ranging intellectual interests and areas of expertise include oral history, vernacular culture, narrative and ritual; diasporas, ethnicity, and migration; post-socialist Ukraine and Eastern Europe; Canada and Ukrainian Canadians.
ROMA LUCIW
Roma Luciw has been a business journalist at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper since October, 2001. For the last 14 years, she has been its personal finance editor, overseeing all money-related coverage. In 2015, Roma created the Gen Y money hub, which won an international EPPY award for excellence in digital journalism. In 2020, she helped launched and co-hosts the popular podcast Stress Test, which debuted at No.1 on the Apple Podcasts business charts. The podcast is geared towards helping young Canadians struggling with their finances amid the global pandemic. Roma is passionate about financial literacy, especially among young people, and she is interested in helping women educate themselves on how to get their finances on track. Roma holds a BA from University of Western Ontario and a Masters in Journalism from the University of British Columbia. She is active in PLAST and had an experience of a life-time reporting for The Globe and Mail on the Orange Revolution in 2004 from Ukraine.
The views expressed by the speakers are their own and do not represent SVI or their respective employers.