“Holka” held a three-day training on leadership, advocacy, and crisis communications for media and civil society organizations, organized by IWPR.

The “Holka” team held a three-day training for representatives of national and regional media outlets and civil society organizations from across Ukraine. The training focused on leadership, advocacy, crisis communications, and building effective teams.

The lectures, delivered by Iryna Fedoriv, Head of “Holka”, Margaryta Sytnyk, co-founder and communications lead of the organization, and Olena Sokotiuk, Executive Director, combined theoretical knowledge with real-life experience and the development of practical case studies.

The training was organized by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in Ukraine. IWPR supports the development and strengthening of the institutional as well as programmatic and technical capacity of watchdog civil society organizations and independent investigative media throughout Ukraine.

Alla Khotsianivska, a correspondent for the “Crimea. Realities” project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, highlighted the quality of the content delivery:

“I am grateful to the organizers and trainers for such a powerful program. It seems impossible to fit such a volume of important and useful information into just three days. Clear, structured, easy to understand, and most importantly — with a sense of humor. I want more!”

Oleksandra Stepanova, Executive Director of the NGO “Human Rights Platform”, emphasized the practical value of the knowledge gained:

“Three days flew by in one breath — as if I had read an exciting book! The presentation of the material was 10 out of 10: each training topic felt like a real-life story the speakers had lived through themselves. The sessions on crises and crisis communications were especially useful. This is a topic there is never enough time for, and when something happens, chaos begins. Now there is an understanding that this process can and should be controlled.”

Iryna Markevych, a correspondent for TSN on the “1+1” TV channel, added that the training has a direct impact on her work in social journalism:

“The combination of theory with real cases was particularly valuable, as it allowed me not only to better understand the tools of influence, but also to immediately see how they can be applied in my own context. The trainers created an atmosphere of open dialogue and trust. Every participant had the opportunity to share their own challenges and receive feedback. I gained practical tools for developing a personal brand and building effective communications, which I already plan to integrate into my work. The blocks dedicated to crisis communications and reputation risk management were also extremely useful. This training provided me not only with new knowledge, but also with a sense of professional support and motivation to scale up my activities. I am grateful to the organizers for the high level of preparation and for creating a space for growth that helps Ukrainian journalists and civil society representatives become stronger and more effective in their work.”

Oleh Nahornyi, Deputy Director of the Department of Technical Standards and Services at Suspilne Broadcasting, pointed to the strategic value of the training:

“The lectures turned out to be truly useful: they offered clear approaches to crisis communications and showed how to effectively coordinate roles in advocacy processes. The tools received help to look differently at team coordination and decision-making in complex situations. This knowledge can be practically applied in everyday work projects.”

Oleksandr Lavrynovych, Chair of the Board of the Center for Information Research and Resource Services “Meridian” (Lviv), summed up his impressions:

“The training went by in one breath! All the topics were strategically relevant, so it was never boring. On the one hand, a demanding audience was addressed by a team of young, ambitious, and experienced trainers who at the same time represent a young but already well-known and influential civil initiative, effective at the local, regional, and national levels — ‘Holka’. And that was really cool! On the other hand, the training genuinely provided a kind of thematic ‘open source’ that will allow both me and my organization to revisit our professional knowledge, practices, strategies, and operations, to change and improve, and ultimately to build our activities, partnerships, transparency, and openness even more effectively, as well as to share experience and produce high-quality public-oriented outputs. The event organizer, IWPR, also ensured a high level of organization and participant selection — it was interesting to work together during the training, to discuss, exchange ideas and experiences, and also to meet people and possibly start cooperation in the near future. Thank you to everyone — speakers, organizers, participants — who witnessed a kind of ‘magic’ of the learning process and the creation of an atmosphere of innovation and development for the ‘third sector’.”

“Holka” conducts lectures and trainings at its premises at 33B Yaroslaviv Val Street, Kyiv. The list of lecture topics is available on the organization’s website in its creative workshop — the “Ministry of Magic”. If you would like to receive notifications about these events, please fill out the registration form.

The “Network of Active Citizens” project is implemented with the support of EED.