Ukraine Leadership & Technology Academy
We empower young Ukrainian leaders by sharing world-class knowledge from MIT
studentsULTA 2023-2024: Our Impact
🎓 What is ULTA?
ULTA is a tuition-free educational program for Ukrainian high school students in grades 9 and 10. Our participants demonstrate a strong passion for technology, active engagement in their communities, proficiency in English, and enthusiasm for learning from MIT mentors. By utilizing MIT’s open education resources, we are a bridge between the rigor of MIT education and the perspectives of Ukrainian students.
🌍 Our Vision
We envision to empower and inspire the next generation of Ukrainian leaders by sharing world-class knowledge from MIT. These young people are growing up during a time of war and hardship, but they possess a unique perspective that will be invaluable as the country moves forward. Our goal is to equip Ukrainian high-schoolers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to rebuild Ukraine into a thriving, European nation.
10 student projects for Ukraine
Khan Academy for Ukraine
The goal of this collaboration with KSE and Khan Academy is translating Khan Academy into Ukrainian to provide free, world-class education to every Ukrainian student and develop a sustainable economic engine powered by STEM. As of January 2025, Khan Academy for Ukraine raised more than $468,000, and is already serving K-12 Mathematics to Ukrainian high schoolers in need. Please visit the webpage of the initiative for more information:
khanacademyforukraine.org
Flow
Flow is a browser extension that can translate any YouTube video into Ukrainian, with AI-generated translation and speech, in real time. Flow has potential to revolutionize how Ukrainians learn by making open world-class educational resources available in Ukrainian. Flow has collaborated with ElevenLabs in the past to employ state of the art AI voice models for advancing Ukrainian education. As of January 2025, Flow has been used to translate more than 150 hours of MIT OpenCourseWare lectures into Ukrainian, in collaboration with the MIT OCW team.
AIBI
AIBI Interviewer is an automated recruitment tool that evaluates candidates using AI interviews, streamlining the hiring process. AIBI is the first of its kind in the Ukrainian job market. AIBI is entirely open-source, enabling adaptation for novel contexts and new use cases in Ukraine. Please see the GitHub page of the project.
RealityCheck
RealityCheck is a tool that uncovers hidden anti-Ukrainian narratives in any website or Telegram message, in real time. RealityCheck exposes and thus disarms Russian-promoted propaganda.
UAthon
UAthon promotes hackathon culture in Ukraine. As a novel platform for event organization, it fosters innovation and problem-solving skills among youth through innovative hands-on education. Please see the website of the initiative: uathon.org
Ukrainian Reels Generator
Ukrainian Reels Generator is an AI-powered agent that can turn any text into a video reel, with AI-generated voiceover, music, and imagery.
Nyavka
“Bringing Stories to Life, One Book at a Time.” Nyavka establishes collaborations with Ukrainian publishers & uprising authors to provide the community of Ukrainian booklovers with uniquely designed books, signed by their authors.
Stezhkamy
Stezhkamy is a mobile application that gamifies walking, providing rewards for exploring Ukrainian cities and sights. Ukrainian culture-themed quests, as well as collaboration with local Ukrainian businesses, make it fun to get your steps in every day.
Ukrainian Mind Bridge
Ukrainian Mind Bridge (UMB) is a Ukrainian organization whose activities are aimed at uniting talented and hard-working schoolchildren who want to participate in the Olympiads, but are unable to prepare for them due to the lack of appropriate resources. The goal of UMB is to enable knowledge exchange and provide support to pupils interested in growing their knowledge of specific subjects and participating in Olympiads. Please see the website of the initiative.
Writing Protocols for Mental Health
This rigorous experiment will uncover whether specific writing protocols, pioneered at UT Austin in the USA, designed for improving mental wellbeing and helping process traumatic situations, will prove useful to Ukrainians in their daily lives. As of January 2025, the data collection phase of the pilot study has concluded, and the analysis of the data is in progress. This project is lead by the ULTA alum Diana Orliuk.
Alumni
Andrii Basov
Mariia Plakhotna
Daryna Antoniuk
Yaryna Holoshchuk
Dariia Zubova
Nazar Drugov
Volodymyr Borysenko
Daryna Hrybchuk
Vladyslav Yevlan
Antonina Lavrik
Sofiia Lipkevych
Yarema Kertutskyi
Uliana Matviienko
Sviatoslav Matviiuk
Andrii Zahika
Kateryna Gret
Nataliia Bondarenko
Anton Melnyk
Diana Orliuk
Rostyslav Pieshkov
Interviews: Changing students' lives
Yaryna was involved in teams working on UAThon, a platform fostering innovation through hackathons; AIBI, an AI recruitment assistant; and Stezhkamy, an app gamifying walking while promoting Ukrainian culture. She attended ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Yaryna also studied “18.06 Linear Algebra,” an MIT course taught and proctored by MIT students.
Volodymyr contributed to the development of the Ukrainian Reels Generator, an AI-powered tool that transforms text into video reels with AI-generated voiceovers, music, and visuals. He participated in ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors and focused on technology and rebuilding Ukraine. Volodymyr also completed the MIT course 6.121 Introduction to Algorithms, taught and proctored by MIT students.
Uliana was part of the teams behind RealityCheck, a tool revealing anti-Ukrainian narratives, and Stezhkamy, an app that gamifies walking with rewards tied to exploring Ukrainian culture and businesses. She also contributed to writing protocols for mental health support, aimed at helping Ukrainians process trauma. Uliana participated in ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, under the guidance of MIT mentors. She further enhanced her knowledge by completing the MIT course “18.06 Linear Algebra,” taught and proctored by MIT students.
Daryna contributed to teams working on Flow, a browser extension translating YouTube videos into Ukrainian in real time, and Nyavka, a project collaborating with Ukrainian publishers to bring unique, author-signed books to readers. She completed ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, guided by MIT mentors. Daryna also finished the MIT course “18.06 Linear Algebra”.
Sviatoslav was part of the teams that worked on UAThon, a platform promoting hackathon culture in Ukraine, and AIBI, an AI recruitment tool streamlining hiring. He completed ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Sviatoslav also completed the MIT course “18.06 Linear Algebra,” taught and proctored by MIT students.
Maria was part of the team that worked on RealityCheck, a tool exposing and disarming anti-Ukrainian narratives in real time. She completed ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Maria also completed the MIT course “9.15 The Human Brain,” taught and proctored by MIT students.
Yarema was part of the teams contributing to AIBI, UAThon, and Stezhkamy, each focused on innovative solutions and community engagement in Ukraine. He completed ULTA Summer Program I, took “6.100 Introduction to Computer Science,” an MIT course taught and proctored by MIT students, and participated in ULTA Summer Program II, both led by MIT mentors.
Kateryna was part of the teams behind the Ukrainian Reels Generator, an AI-powered tool for creating video reels, and the Youth Leadership Popularizing Project, which inspires Ukrainian teens by sharing stories of success and perseverance. She completed ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Kateryna also completed the MIT course “14.01 Intro to Economics,” taught and proctored by MIT students.
Daryna contributed to teams working on RealityCheck, a tool exposing propaganda narratives, and Stezhkamy, a mobile app gamifying walking while promoting Ukrainian culture and businesses. She participated in ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Daryna also completed the MIT course “6.100A/B Introduction to Computer Science,” taught and proctored by MIT students.
Andrii contributed to UAthon, a hackathon platform, Flow, an AI-powered YouTube translation tool, and Stezhkamy, a walking app promoting Ukrainian culture. He participated in ULTA Summer Program I (Barcelona, 2023) and Program II (Warsaw, 2024), both led by MIT mentors, and completed MIT’s 18.06 Linear Algebra course.
Sofiia contributed to teams working on UAthon, a platform fostering hackathon culture and innovation among Ukrainian youth, and Flow, an AI-powered tool enabling real-time Ukrainian translations of YouTube videos. She also worked on Nyavka, a creative project bringing stories to life through collaborative storytelling. She participated in ULTA Summer Program I in Barcelona, Spain, and Summer Program II in Warsaw, Poland, both led by MIT mentors. Sofiia also completed the MIT course 18.06 Linear Algebra, taught and proctored by MIT students.
Statistics: Our reach
Across Ukraine, 725 ambitious applicants, from busy cities to small villages, have shown their enthusiasm for our program. Each application is a testament to our nation’s diverse potential. Thank you for your commitment!
After a tough admissions process we have selected 20 finalists, a diverse and strong cohort of future leaders that will reshape Ukraine’s future. This group embodies the very spirit of resilience and ambition that we believe will be instrumental in rebuilding Ukraine.
Hometowns of ULTA'24 Finalists
MIT courses completed by ULTA students
18.06 Linear Algebra
6.100A/B Intro to Computer Science
14.01 Intro to Economics
6.121 Intro to Algorithms
18.700 Theoretical Linear Algebra
9.13 The Human Brain
ULTA was created by
Andrii Zahorodnii
Co-Founder
Dima Yanovsky
Co-Founder
Nadiia Kuzmychova
Co-founding partnerManaging Partner
Svitlana Krasynska
MIT-Ukraine liaisonProgram Manager
Our MIT mentors
Laker Newhouse
Sashko Horokh
Almog Hillel
Graham Guite
Bioengineering
Vlada Petrusenko
Our co-founding partner
UA-Teens is our co-founding partner and financial sponsor of the program. UA-Teens is also responsible for running the logistics of the program and public relationships of Ukraine Leadership & Technology Academy (ULTA) in Ukrainian media sphere. Learn more about our partners here.