The KennanInstitute is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kateryna Smagliy as thenew Director of its Kyiv office. Dr. Yaroslav Pylynskyi, who has headed theoffice since its founding in 1998, will continue with the Institute’s Kyivoffice as a Senior Advisor. .

KaterynaSmagliy has more than 15 years of professional experience with a variety oforganizations, including NGOs, diplomatic missions, democracy-promotionprograms, civil society and academia. As a Fulbright Kennan scholar in2012-2013, she studied the history of American philanthropy and socialentrepreneurship, which resulted in the publication of the book “Everyone is a Changemaker: SocialEntrepreneurship and Strategic Philanthropy.”

“I couldn’t bemore pleased with the appointment of Dr. Smagliy as our new director in Kyiv,”said Matt Rojansky, Director of the Kennan Institute. “As the only U.S. thinktank that has maintained continuous presence on the ground in Ukraine for thelast 16 years, we remain committed to the country and are excited about addingthe experience and enthusiasm of Dr. Smagliy.”

Dr. Smagliymost recently served as a Kyiv-based consultant of the European Endowment forDemocracy (EED). She assisted the EU-based foundation with developing aUkraine-focused strategy and engaging with new civic actors striving for democracyat the Euromaidan.

Prior tojoining the EED, Dr. Smagliy led the Anti-Crisis Humanitarian Program at theInternational Renaissance Foundation, where she designed and implemented avariety of large-scale philanthropic initiatives in support of Ukraine’seducational and cultural institutions in partnership with the Education andScience Ministry, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Ministry for Youth andSports of Ukraine.

In 2003-2008Dr. Smagliy worked with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, serving as the Embassy’sprincipal liaison officer with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In 2005 she wasawarded a Superior Honor Award by the U.S. Department of State “For sustainedsuperior performance to promote democracy in Ukraine during the 2004 ‘Orangerevolution’.” She maintains an extensive network of contacts among members ofparliament, state officials, and the NGO community.

“We lookforward to an even greater engagement with our current and future Ukrainianalumni and believe that they will be well-served with Dr. Smagliy as our newdirector,” said William Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute. “Inthis context, we are particularly pleased that Dr. Pylynskyi will continue as aSenior Advisor with us, which will enable to us to continue to avail ourselvesof his great expertise and experience.”