Svitlana Omelchenko is a participant of the regional contest "Woman of Donetsk Region" in 2025, nomination "Leadership in Action"
Svitlana Omelchenko is a representative of the Mykolaiv community in Donetsk Oblast. Born in the picturesque village of Rayhorodok, Donetsk Oblast, Svitlana has been devoting her entire life to education. Having worked her way up from a history teacher at Rayhorodok Secondary School in Sloviansk District, Donetsk Oblast, to Honored Education Worker of Ukraine, head of the only pedagogical university in Donetsk Oblast, she is one of the most respected women in the community.
Svitlana Omelchenko's story is an example of the resilience of a Ukrainian woman leader. Her rectorate since 2012 has been marked by considerable challenges:
- reorganization of Slavic Pedagogical University through merger with Horlivka Institute of Foreign Languages and increased responsibility for new subordinates and students,
- the beginning of the ATO in the city of Sloviansk, where the university was officially located, in 2014 and the need to maintain the contingent of employees and students,
- COVID-19 and the need to organize online learning,
- the full-scale invasion of 2022 and the relocation of the university to the city of Dnipro,
- the need to organize the activities of the HEI on the basis of Oles Honchar Dnipro National University.
During her professional career, including as the head of the university, Svitlana Omelchenko has been one of the leaders not only of the community but also of the region. For the past 10 years, she has been uniting current, future and former educators around her, because despite all the challenges, the only educational institution in Donetsk region continues to work, develop and enroll new students.
Svitlana Omelchenko pays special attention to civic education of young people, development of the volunteer movement at the university, and support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She does her best to show by her own example that a teacher should be a leader of the most important processes in the country. All of her activities are carried out under the slogan: "The roots are in Donetsk region, the wings are in the educational and scientific sky, the university is in Ukraine!"
Svitlana Omelchenko's story is an example of iron will, dedication to the profession, tenderness and love for her family, and love for her native Donetsk region!
Read the detailed story of the contestant here: https://surl.li/qztduk