Participant in the regional competition “Young Person of the Year – 2026” in the “Knowledge Leaders” category Olena Brodnyuk
Olena Brodnyuk was born in Mariupol and grew up in the village of Respublika in the Donetsk region. After graduating from Mariupol State University with a degree in “Philology,” she taught at her alma mater for five years.
Due to the full-scale invasion, her family evacuated to the Kyiv region. There, Olena joined the “Heart of the East” hub in Kyiv, and in 2023 she became the artistic director of the Nikolsky House of Culture. She organized remote arts events, collaborated with the “Donetsk Region” Cultural Hub, made trench candles, and wove camouflage nets. Olena also collected materials for the community’s memorial book *We Were, We Are, and We Will Be* and continues this work for the publication *We Are Fighting for the Right to BE*.
At the same time, Olena returned to online teaching at Nikolsk Secondary School No. 1. Despite the relocation of students across Ukraine and around the world, her students are winning awards in national competitions (“What Does Ukraine Mean to Me?” and “Natural Treasures of Donetsk Oblast”).
Olena is constantly improving her professional qualifications and is pursuing a second degree in IT at the Priazovsk State Technical University, where she co-authored an international research article analyzing educational losses during the war. She combines her teaching, cultural, and research activities while maintaining her fellow Donetsk region natives’ connection to their homeland.