How «STAN» NGO’s mentoring support strengthened «Sila Zhyttia» NGO from Kolomyia

Publication date: July 11, 2025

Author: Yulia Bilyk, Communications Manager of the Legal Development Network

At the end of 2024, the Legal Development Network (LDN), in cooperation with the humanitarian organization «People in Need» and with the financial support of the Czech Development Agency, held public decision-making hackathons within the framework of the Vidnova project. As a result, the participating teams of community leaders — representatives of business, IT, the public sector, and local government — developed 10 projects aimed at solving urgent problems in the communities of Mykolaiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. 

After the hackathons, each team received support from experienced experts to implement their projects. However, not every team took advantage of this opportunity to the fullest. An example of effective interaction between a newly created organization as a mentee and an experienced organization as a mentor is the interaction between the Kolomyia-based the «Sila Zhyttia» NGO and the «STAN» NGO. This article describes this cooperation and its positive impact on both organizations.

Iryna Bordun is a resident of Kolomyia and a public figure. Since March 2024, Iryna has created a circle for communication and mutual support for the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of defenders, as she lost her husband and brother during Russia’s war against Ukraine. Every month, the circle organizes at least four events: workshops, concerts, support groups, etc., attended by up to 30 women. In total, the initiative has reached about 90 women from Kolomyia and the Kolomyia district.

With this experience behind them, but without registering their initiative as an NGO, in December 2024, a team of three Iryna’s — Iryna Kalyn, who also lost her husband during the full-scale war, and Iryna Magnich, the wife of an active duty soldier, joined Iryna Bordun — were selected to participate in the public solutions hackathon held by the Legal Development Network as part of the Vidnova project. At this accelerator, the team worked on a formal description of their project, which was already actively working. At the same time, the team received a nomination from the «STAN» NGO, which has been strengthening grassroots initiatives and active citizens, including those from vulnerable and marginalized groups, through non-formal education for about 20 years.

«If you have a position, you understand that you can do something useful, but you don’t have people with whom you can do it, then the hackathon is really an opportunity. By the time of the hackathon, our work was already well established. What we weren’t good at was paperwork,» says Iryna Bordun.

The «STAN» NGO has been in constant contact with the Circle of Life initiative (the initiative’s working title) and continues to do so, even outside the Vidnova project, with its Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Natalia Petryshyn.

«After participating in the hackathon and joining the jury, we selected one team from among the two teams that had a veteran focus and offered it a nomination – it was the Circle of Life initiative from Kolomyia at the time, which was able to grow from an initiative into the “Sila Zhyttia” NGO in early 2025,» Natalia Petryshyn notes.

After the hackathon, «Sila Zhyttia» NGOs representatives were trained in one of the programs of «STAN» NGO, which previously worked on the implementation of several national pilot projects in partnership with the International Organization for Migration.

«”STAN” has significantly strengthened various aspects of our organization. Their curriculum is a gold mine from which a million useful things can be learned. We talked a lot about development prospects: from creating Google forms and fundraising jars to finding and writing grants, preparing financial and annual reports,» says Iryna Bordun, «While during the hackathon, writing our project caused us a lot of stress — we clearly understood what we were doing, what funds we needed for implementation, and how much we needed, but we just didn’t know how to describe it.  Now we are not stressed anymore because the STAN organization taught us how to do it properly.»

It was important and useful for other participants of the training program, particularly those from the youth environment, that «Sila Zhyttia» NGO’s representatives shared their life experiences with them.

«They talked about what exactly led them to civic activism, what values they want to instill in our society, and these are not only the values of preserving memory, honoring heroes and heroines, but also the patriotic education of our youth, social cohesion in the community, not just in words, but in concrete actions, deeds, and deeds to support the families of fallen heroes and families of active military personnel,» Natalia Petryshyn recalls.

The «Sila Zhyttia» team also completed an internship at «STAN». According to Iryna Bordun, during the internship, she and her colleagues first noticed how much they were doing and had already done.

«Natalia Petryshyn said, “Show me what you have done.” And when we started writing about what we had done in the almost 14 months of work that had passed since we started our training, we were amazed: we had held more than 200 meetings, not including trips to the movies, theater, and concerts. And when we calculated all the expenses: our own funds, pro bono events, renting premises, etc., we came up with one and a half million hryvnias,» says Iryna Bordun.

«During the internship, we were able to hone our understanding of the target audience and strategy together. Our experts’ advice on grantwriting, logistics, external communications, acquaintance and further cooperation with those NGOs that also share similar values and a common vision were useful for the “Sila Zhyttia” team,» says Natalia Petryshyn.

«Sila Zhyttia» cooperation with «STAN» continues beyond the Vidnova project. In particular, Natalia Petryshyn advises the «Sila Zhyttia» team on writing and testing the organization’s policies.

«The “Sila Zhyttia” team continues to develop consistently, from institutional strengthening to strategic expansion. Their approach seemed mature from the very beginning, and their attitude to partnerships was balanced and serious. The internship turned out to be more of a reinforcement of the existing team dynamics, and this is a sign of sustainability in reality. That is, even though they are a young organization as a non-governmental organization, the foundation they have, the values they profess, the team they have united, their approach to choosing partnerships, development areas, understanding the needs of their target audience and how to meet those needs are very powerful,» notes Natalia Petryshyn.

According to Natalia Petryshyn, she and her colleagues have been watching the «Sila Zhyttia» NGO change and grow.

«We are glad that the team is considering certain collaborations and partnerships, has a noticeable social impact and is already quite recognizable. They were able to deepen their own expertise, independence, and expand partnerships. The professional approach to the work of the members of the «Sila Zhyttia» NGO demonstrates the team’s focus on quality and the relevance of the cases implemented to the needs of the target audience. They have good prospects for growth in the social environment of both the Kolomyia community and Ukraine as a whole,» emphasizes Natalia Petryshyn.

The experience of cooperation between the «Sila Zhyttia» NGO and «STAN» NGO’s experts has become a powerful catalyst for its growth on many levels. In particular, it helped to strengthen the internal structure of the young organization, develop strategic thinking and improve the professional skills of the team members, and expand the network of partners. An internship with an organization with many years of experience allowed the «Sila Zhyttia» not only to learn new tools but also to confidently apply them in practice. Now they prepare and submit grant applications on their own, develop cooperation with other NGOs, and are ready to scale up.

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