Razom held its second annual meeting on Saturday, July 25th in New York City. More than 140 guests attended #Razom2years who learned about the organization’s progress and six initiatives, including: Razom IT, Razom Culture, Razom Think with UkrOko.org, Reformers without Borders, Razom Aid with Toy Drive, and Razom Partners. “I was so impressed to see so many new faces in the room,” said Razom Board Member, Dora Chomiak. “Clearly this shows that, even though the headlines may be off the front pages, the drive that brought Razom volunteers together in 2014 is still relevant today.”
The schedule of the day was jam packed but the energy in the room never subsided. Given that Razom’s initiatives span different fields, there were many projects people could learn about, provide their feedback and expertise on, and volunteer for. Midway through the event, everyone split up into discussions at the six initiative breakout tables. The event also featured a team building exercise led by Dianna Derhak, a breakthrough coach, workshop and retreat facilitator.
After having dinner in smaller groups around the East Village, the guests regrouped for a Razom Culture program that started with a video installation by Sashko Danylenko and included music performances by Roman Bardun Trio, Letters to Nepal, and pianist Alex Pryrodny, and a fashion show by Ira Lysa.
The Razom Annual Meeting was made possible by the many hours of work donated by its volunteers and by the generous support of Self Reliance (NY) Federal Credit Union, Veselka Restaurant, and East Village Meat Market.
Until the next time!
Taras Galkovskyi and Tetyana Dzhula gave an update about the work of Project OKO which monitors media coverage of Ukraine in multiple languages. Volunteers assemble daily reports that are used by analysts and policy makers.
Razom volunteers came from around the world to the #Razom2years meeting. Dianna Derhak led a team-building exercise where small groups had a few minutes to create something together, perform it, and summarize it on a poster. Left to right: Anastasiia Rybytska (from Washington, DC), Lyuba Shipovich (now based in Odesa, Ukraine), Yulia Marushevska (now based in Odesa, Ukraine), Dora Chomiak (from New York City). Dora and Anastasiia are holding the posters from their teams. Note: If you’d like to have a Razom t-shirt of your own, make a donation and support the work of the organization. Photo credit: Maryan Khomych.
Yulia Paslavska, Treasurer of Razom, reviewed the 2015 income and expenses. This year Razom migrated from spreadsheets to a stronger accounting platform which makes transparent reporting easier.
Mariya Soroka, Razom Board Member, gave an update on the Razom Culture initiative that showcases contemporary talent from Ukraine (with high quality and high ‘hipness’ factors).
Dora Chomiak, Razom Board member, thanked donors for their support and spoke about how hundreds of small monetary contributions add up to show larger donors that Razom projects are supported by a broad community.
Natalia Shyrba, Razom Board member, explained the Razom Partners iniative.
Dmytro Kavun spoke with volunteers about the Razom Toy Drive and other Razom Aid initiatives.
Olya Yarychkivska, Secretary of the Razom board, made sure all the slides for each speaker were visible (and in the proper order).
Mariya Soroka , lead of Razom Culture, worked with many artist-volunteers to transform the Ukrainian National Home main hall for the meeting.
Maryan Khomych, Razom volunteer, is frequently on the other side of the camera. Many pictures on this page are by him. He helps to show the work of volunteers.
Natalia Shyrba, Operations Lead on the Razom board, shared an update about the Razom Partners program. For the first six months of 2016, Natalia volunteered and designed, built and launched systems that make the organization work more smoothly.
Over 140 people attended the Annual Meeting at the Ukrainian National Home. More people watched the live stream on the Razom You Tube channel. (Due to a glitch with YouTube, however, only a portion of the video stream is archived for viewing.)
Dora Chomiak, Olya Yarychkivska, Natalia Shyrba, Anastasiia Rybytsky
The Board Members of Razom have been meeting at least twice a month throughout the year. Since members live in different cities, these meetings are held on line. During the Annual Meeting, the Board welcomed the chance to update volunteers on projects and to meet in person. Shown left to right: Olya Yarychkivska, Secretary; Dora Chomiak, Natalia Shyrba, Director of Operations; Lyuba Shipovich, President; Anastasiia Rybytska, Vice-President; Iryna Mazur, Mariya Soroka, CMO. Not pictured: Bohdan Polovko. The artwork in the background was created by Waldemar Klyuzhko who is standing in the second row. Photo credit: Maryan Khomych.
Razom volunteer Anya Sobolves’ka was the time keeper who kept all speakers on schedule.
Razom Vice President, Anastasiia Rybytsky, gave everyone an update on the Reformers Without Borders program that was launched just a few months ago.
Tetyna Dzhula greeted Lyuba Shipovich at the meeting. Lyuba surprised everyone by hopping on a flight and coming to the meeting all the way from Odesa.
Taras Galkovskyi spoke with volunteers about Project Oko during the breakout workshop sessions.
Yulia Marushevska participated in the Annual Meeting and gave
Over 140 people participated in the Razom Annual Meeting at the main hall of the Ukrainian National Home in New York City.
