The project “Women’s Stories of Leadership and Solidarity” progressed from idea to successful presentation over the course of 2021 as a joint initiative of the NGO “Ukrainian Women’s Congress” (UWC) and the Ukrainian Association for Research in Women’s History (UARWH).
1. Concept and Goals (March 2021)
The idea emerged during the preparations for the jubilee 5th Ukrainian Women’s Congress. UWC representatives approached Oksana Kis with a question: how to highlight the experiences of past women leaders so as to inspire today’s women at the local level. The proposal was to focus on local-level figures — representatives of local elites who used the resources available to them in various ways to improve the lives of women in their communities.
- Goal: to tell the stories of influential women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who used their resources (financial, educational, social) to help other women, demonstrating women’s solidarity in a time of severe legal restrictions.
- Key people: Oksana Kis provided scholarly leadership; project coordinators on behalf of the UWC were Iryna Drobovych and Anna-Mariia Basauri-Ziuzina.
2. Recruitment and Selection of Authors-Researchers (March–April 2021)
- Applications were accepted over the course of one month. Professional historians, local history researchers, and scholars ready to produce in-depth biographical materials about remarkable women from their regions were invited to participate.
- Application requirements: authors were asked to submit a biography of their chosen historical figure, a rationale for her contribution to improving the lives of women, information about their own research experience, and a description of available visual materials.
- Selection outcome: over twenty proposals were submitted. For the first phase of implementation, 10 stories of outstanding women were selected, taking into account the availability of historical sources and the authors’ readiness to conduct research within a tight timeframe.
3. Research Stage (May–August 2021)
Over the course of three months, 10 researchers (9 women and 1 man) worked in archives, studying correspondence, diaries, memoirs, and the press of the period.
- Task: to write an original text (15,000–20,000 characters) about the life and activities of the historical figure, and to select 7–10 illustrative documents (portraits, press scans, personal belongings).
- Historical figures: the final list included Zinaida Mirna, Vira Kankrina, Praskeva Bahrynivska, Valeriia Bilokonska, Olena Kysilevska, Ivanna Blazhkevych, Anife Bodanyska, Mariia Khymynets, and Tsetsiliia Klaften, among others.
4. Development of Communication Products (August–September 2021)
Based on the collected materials, visual and informational products were developed for a broad audience:
- A unified design for videos, posters, and postcards was developed specifically for the project.
- 10 professional videos, one about each historical figure.
- A dedicated website featuring biographies, photographs, and documents.
- A social media campaign (including the creation of the project’s Facebook page).
5. Presentation of Results (September 2021)
The final presentation of the project took place during the 5th Ukrainian Women’s Congress in Kyiv in the second week of September 2021. A video recording of the presentation is available here. The results were presented as an example of personal women’s leadership at the local level, regardless of the ethnic origin or social status of the historical figures.
Project materials (videos, biographies, posters) remain available on UWC resources for use by educators, policymakers, and civic activists.
6. Continuation of the Project
In 2024, the project gained new momentum: on the initiative of the UWC Chair, the studies conducted in 2021 were supplemented with new research on five additional historical figures. Under the academic editorship of Oksana Kis, the edited volume “Women’s Stories of Leadership in Ukraine” was prepared and published — learn more here.