Olena Pshenychna has several professional identities: journalism, civic engagement, and writing. In 2007, she graduated the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in Journalism, and in 2025 she completed the master’s program “Nonprofit Management” at the Ukrainian Catholic University.

For almost 20 years, Olena worked in the media –  from news correspondent to producer. She is currently a columnist for several Ukrainian media. However, civic engagement has always remained a parallel track in her life.

Since 2019, she has been creating socially important content for NGOs and charitable foundations. In 2023, she joined one of the largest children’s foundation in Ukraine, Voices of Children, as a consultant on autism-related projects, combining media experience with her parenting journey – her son has autism. She also led the foundation’s communications department.

In May 2025, Olena co-founded the NGO “Visible”, which advocates for social, legislative, and behavioural changes for children with autism and their families. She is also one of the leaders of the Network of Parent Organizations founded by parents of children with disabilities.

In 2024, Olena’s debut novel Where the Sun Sets was published and included in the PEN list of the year’s best books. In September 2025, it was published in Latvia.

“I believe that new knowledge, the desire to grow, and to improve processes are the foundation of resilience and sustainability of civil society organizations. And the exchange of experience in a “person-to-person” format through conversation is indeed an effective tool.  My mentorship podcast aims primarily to strengthen the capacity of civil society professionals by sharing this personal professional experience of experts from the civil sector — their professional journey, lessons learned, and more.

I believe that such practical knowledge-sharing will contribute to the development of organizations and positive changes in communities, as well as increase awareness about the sector among new participants of social change.” – Olena Pshenychna