KYIV MOHYLA FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (KMF)
JOINS U.S. UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC)
A not-for-profit educational foundation headquartered in Chicago, Member 103
U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
Washington, D.C., Mon, Feb 9, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF), Chicago, Illinois, has been approved for USUBC membership, according to the USUBC executive committee, in an announcement on behalf of the entire USUBC membership. KMF is the third new member for 2009 and USUBC member number 103.
The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization established in the USA to support and assist the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and institutions of higher learning in Ukraine to reach excellence in education, innovative research, personal and the intellectual growth of its students and faculty in a democratic academic environment that will facilitate and further Ukraine’s democratic reform, with a focus on the rule of law and sustained economic growth within the global community of nations.
The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation supports the Kyiv Mohyla Academy's objectives and fosters programs through other universities and organizations.
Marta Farion, President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation (KMF) of America, a Chicago attorney and leader in the Ukrainian American community in Chicago, served in the past as chairperson of the Kyiv Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program and is currently an executive committee member of Chicago’s dynamic international relations program which includes 28 cities throughout the world. Marta Farion has served as president of KMF for the past four years.
Ambassador William G. Miller (former US Ambassador to Ukraine now with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington) and Ambassador Borys I. Tarasiuk (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and presently a member of the Parliament), serve as Co-Chairmen of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) board of directors.
PARTICIPATION OF INDIVIDUALS, CORPORATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS
Alongside its pursuit of individual and corporate sponsors, KMF is undertaking program-funding proposals to U.S. and various international foundations and other institutions interested in post-Soviet Ukraine initiatives.
The continuing interest and financial participation of individuals, corporations and foundations will play a decisive role in determining and supporting the education and training of a new generation of young Ukrainians, who will ultimately decide the significant questions that are so important to this part of the world, and engage them in the process of forming a civil society within a social and political system that will benefit their own country within the global community.
ELECTRONIC LIBRARY PROGRAM
KMF has been leading an effort to launch a large electronic library support program in Ukraine and has received initial funding from USAID. The major new and exciting program was launched recently in Kyiv (see news release below.) For further information about the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) check their website: www.kmfoundation.com.
"USUBC is very pleased to have the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) as a new member" said Morgan Williams, with the SigmaBleyzer Emerging Markets Private Equity Investment Group, www.SigmaBleyzer.com, who serves as president of USUBC. "USUBC has grown very rapidly during the past 25 months and now has a membership base which allows USUBC to provide its members such as the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) with a full-time operation and a significantly expanded program of work," according to President Williams.
LAST TWENTY-SIX NEW USUBC MEMBERS:
The last twenty-six new USUBC members have now included: 3M Ukraine; AeroSvit Ukrainian Airlines; Aitken Berlin LLP/ASIA; AnaCom, Inc; Asters law firm; CEC Government Relations; ContourGlobal Ukraine; Doheny Global Group; Edelman; Foyil Securities; IBM Ukraine; Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF); KPMG Ukraine; Mars Ukraine; Microsoft; Pratt & Whitney - Paton; R & J Trading International; RZB Finance (Raiffeisen Group); SE Raelin/Cajo, Inc.; SoftServe, Inc.; Solid Team LLC; The Washington Group (TWG); Ukraine International Airlines (UIA); Vasil Kisil & Partners law firm; Winner Imports Ukraine (Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Porsche) and Zurich Surety, Credit, & Political Risk.
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ELECTRONIC LIBRARY OF UKRAINE PROGRAM LAUNCHED IN UKRAINE
Access to Digital Information Through University Knowledge Centers, USAID Supported Project Started in Chicago
Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr), Kyiv, Ukraine, Mon, Jan 26, 2009
U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., Mon, Jan 26, 2009
KYIV - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Kyiv, and the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF), announced Monday in Kyiv the signing of a partnership agreement for the establishment of the Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr©) project.
The participating partners and collaborators in the new project are the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Y. Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, V. Karazin National University of Kharkiv, the Association “Informatio-Consortium”, and the Center for Technology Innovation Management (CTIM) at Northwestern University, Evanston/Chicago, Illinois.
The inauguration of the Electronic Library of Ukraine Project (ELibUkr©) took place Monday, January 26, 2009, at noon at the Antonovych Library of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. A one-day conference for representatives of Ukraine’s academic and research libraries is scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 9:30 (registration at 8:30) at the same location.
The event for the project inauguration and press conference was attended by representatives of the government of Ukraine and the United States, USAID, presidents and representatives of the participating universities, and leading representatives of Ukraine’s business community and civil society.
AMBASSADORS TAYLOR, MILLER, TARASYUK
The opening ceremony and press conference included presentations by U.S. Ambassador William Taylor; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William Miller; Ambassador Boris Tarasyuk, Ukraine’s Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, who is also Co-Chairman of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America and Chairman of the Electronic Library of Ukraine’s Advisory Board; Serhij Kvit, President of National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Vil Bakirov, President of National V. Karazin University of Kharkiv; Stepan Melnychuk, President of National Yuri Fedkowvych University of Chernivtsky.
Presentations were also made by Deputy Minister of Education Maksym Strikha, Member of Ukrainian Parliament and Chairman of the Free Trade Unions of Ukraine; Mykhailo Volynec, Director of the Antonovych Kyiv Mohyla Library Tetiana Yaroshenko and Marta Farion, Chicago, President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF).
[NOTE: In addition to being President of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) Marta is a Chicago attorney who is on the Executive Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International and initiated this project in 2007. The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF), Chicago, is a new member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).]
There were additional representatives from the U.S. and Ukraine governments and other organizations, including Janina Jaruzelski, Director of USAID for Ukraine, Belorus and Moldova; Oleksandr Domaranskyj, Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education.
KRAFT FOODS, MICROSOFT, IBM, BAKER & MCKENZIE, CHADBOURNE & PARKE
Representatives of Kraft Foods Ukraine; Microsoft Ukraine; IBM Ukraine; J.T. International Corporation; Baker and McKenzie law firm; Chadbourne & Parke law firm; International Renaissance Foundation, IREX, Ukrainian poet and chairman of the organization “Ukraina and the World” Ivan Drach; President of the Ukrainian Women’s Association “Zhinocha Hromada” Maria Drach and others also attended.
Congratulatory greetings were received and read from the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn and from Ukraine’s Minister of Culture V. V. Vovkun. Many members of Ukraine’s media outlets also attended the press conference.
ACCESS TO A GLOBAL NETWORK OF KNOWLEDGE
“By providing Ukrainians with access to a global network of knowledge, the ELibUkr© project will be an invaluable resource for building a stronger civil society, engaging Ukraine to more fully participate in the world’s community and make Ukraine more competitive on a global scale,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Green Miller, who serves as co-chairman of the board of directors of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF).
“The ElibUkr© will not only allow thousands of academics, students and universities to immediately gain access to a wide-range of information, but also will create new opportunities for generations to come,” according to Miller.
The ELibUkr© is a nation-wide linked Electronic Library/Knowledge Centers network that will provide academics, students and practitioners enhanced access to the world’s digitized network of academic and research information, thus promoting the active use of local, regional, and global information. The project will upgrade the intellectual holdings of Ukrainian libraries and include them into the worldwide digitized information network.
CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE CENTERS
In addition to increased access to databases, the project initiates a new concept to Ukraine - the creation of critically important Knowledge Centers, which will play a key role in utilizing the system effectively. These centers will provide training programs for librarians and users and will promote the evolution of a linked industry-academic community, a key element for economic progress and stability, which until now has been absent in Ukraine.
These Knowledge Centers will become the central element which will link the country’s academic and research communities with the world of practice and utilization, through collaborative programs with business, healthcare, and all other institutions of civil society.
In spite of Ukraine’s highly developed expertise in computer technology, science and research, as well as some of the world’s finest universities and research centers, Ukrainian scholars and academics still do not have the same equal access to the world’s electronic information available in North America and Western Europe.
The ELibUkr project will overcome this serious shortcoming, propel Ukraine through the curtain of information isolation and provide the means to become competitive within the world community.
KYIV MOHYLA FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (KMF), USAID, KRAFT
ELibUkr© is an initiative of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (KMF) that is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID and the collaboration of a consortium of participating Ukrainian universities, as well as CTIM and Association “Informatio-Consortium”.
This project would not be possible without the substantial support of USAID and additional assistance from the Ukrainian Library Association, the International Electronic Library Consortium eIFL.net, KRAFT Foods Ukraina, Dragon Capital, media sponsor Ukrainian National Television Channel 1, and the journals Library Planet (Bibliotechna Planeta) and Library Forum of Ukraine (Bibliotechyj Forum Ukrainy).
ELibUkr© has further been supported by the continued and long-standing connections between the Sister Cities of Kyiv and Chicago, with their numerous educational, cultural, medical and government exchanges which were launched in 1991. The project is a product of the strong partnership of trust and mutual understanding which resulted when Chicago and Kyiv were linked through meaningful activities that have international impact benefiting the people of the United States and Ukraine.
The ELibUkr© project is an investment in Ukraine’s future and will be implemented immediately. The first stage will be launched at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the Y. Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, and the V. Karazin National University of Kharkiv. The ELibUkr© will be available for the participation by the universities of Ukraine.
For further information contact:
Tetiana Yaroshenko, Vice President and Director of the Library
National University of “Kyiv Mohyla Academy”
Managing Director ELibUkr, Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: +380-44-425-6055
Email: yaroshenko@ukma.kiev.ua
Marta Farion, President of Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (UMF)
Chairman of the Board of Directors ELibUkr, Chicago, Illinois
Email: marta@farion.org; www.kmfoundation.com.