Daria Vorobieva, President And Member of the Committee

Daria Vorobieva was born in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. She is a graduate of the Institute of Economics and Computer Technology. She works as a professional photographer. Daria is the author of several artistic projects that show the social and environmental problems in the Zaporizhzhia region, such as: “I Want to Breathe” (against air pollution in the industrial zone of the City), “My new life after the Divorce,” “Life after 50”, “My body is my business”, “Old mothers – young mothers”, “Cancer: we must not be silent”, “No to violence against women.” Daria is married. She has two children, aged 17 and 14. The war forced Daria to leave her hometown of Zaporizhzhia with her children. Since her arrival in Switzerland, Daria has worked as a volunteer to help her compatriots. In her spare time, Daria continues to devote herself to her artistic projects.

Olga Ho, Vice-President of Together Association and Member of the Committee

Olga Ho was born in Mariupol, Ukraine, in 1977. She has lived in Switzerland since the early 2000s. She graduated from Mariupol Polytechnic School in 1996. She also trained as a health assistant at the Red Cross, Lausanne, and currently works as a nurse’s aide at Nova Vita Residence. She enjoys interacting with people and listening to their needs. Communication and sharing have an essential place in her daily life. She has been volunteering for several years in different fields. In her spare time, Olga is interested in art and nature. Olga is married and has an 18-year-old daughter. She works as a voluntary translator for Ukrainian refugees.

Madina Kukenova, Secretary and Member of the Committee

Madina was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 1974. Madina came to Switzerland in 2002, where she studied Economics and Finance at the University of Lausanne. With a doctorate in Economics from the HEC faculty, Madina teaches Economics and Finance in several business schools. In addition, Madina works as an independent consultant for research projects in Economics. Madina is married, and she has two children who love classical music. Since the spring of 2022, Madina has been involved in volunteering for Ukrainian refugees.

Dr. Nataliya Urtikova, Administrator of Educational Projects and Member of the Committee

Nataliya was born in the Moscow region, Russia, in 1981. Double Doctor, she holds a medical degree from the Russian National Medical University of Purogov and a Doctor of Neuroscience from the Pierre and Marie Curie University. She holds an MBA from the Leonardo da Vinci Institute. In Switzerland since 2016, she has worked in the biomedical industry. She is passionate about mountains, hiking, and alpinism. She has been involved in social action for many years. Since spring 2022, Nataliya has been involved in volunteering for Ukrainian refugees.

Tatyana Buryakina, Member of the Committee

Tatyana was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1984. She graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Yerevan University. She came to Switzerland in 2013 after receiving the Candidate of Physical Sciences degree in Taiwan. She works in the regulatory field of in vitro medical devices and chairs the international working group for the development of regulatory documents for the EU, Asia, and America. Tatyana participates in Russian theater performances in Lausanne and loves music and mountain hikes. Since mid-2022, she has been teaching beginner-level French to Ukrainian refugees as part of the voluntary work of our association. She is married and has a nine-year-old son.

SUPERVISORY BOARD

Florent Blaser
Florent has a Bachelor’s degree in social work and a wealth of professional experience in the field of social aid, guardianship and the integration of refugees. Florent is the founder of the AidUkraine.ch association, which supports Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland and collects humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Florent is also a committee member of the Renges communal oven association and a member of Amnesty International. In his spare time, his favourite activities include playing sport and listening to music.

Daniel Richard
Daniel Richard was born in France in 1946. From an early age, he was fascinated by Slavic cultures and languages. He obtained a degree in Russian from the University of Aix-en-Provence and studied Serbo-Croatian in Yugoslavia. He has lived in Switzerland since 1971 and taught French as a foreign language at the “Eurocentre” language school for 30 years. He also worked as a French teacher at the Etablissement Vaudois d’Accueil des Migrants – EVAM. Since February 2022, Daniel Richard has been working as a volunteer translator to help Ukrainian refugees with their administrative formalities.

Adrien Fontanellaz
Born in Lausanne in 1978, Adrien has worked in the energy sector for 16 years. He also works as an independent researcher specialising in the study of contemporary conflicts. He is the author of several books and articles on these subjects, with an emphasis on Africa (Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda) and Asia (Japan, Sri Lanka) and, more recently, Ukraine.

Heads of projects

Tetiana Mamaieva, Media Manager

Tetiana manages the association’s website and social media pages. She is a member of the Ukrainian Suisse chorus Choer du Cœur choir. She came to Switzerland in 2022 and entered the University of Lausanne in the same year. In February 2023 she joined the association, where she conducts math exam preparation courses and participates in various projects. Tatyana is a math teacher with 20 years of experience. She graduated from Odessa National University named after I.I. Mechnikov and regularly improves her qualification level. In her work she uses modern teaching methods, motivates students and understands their individual needs.

Olga Zhurova, Volunteer Animator, Expert in Suisse Culture

Olga Zhurova was born in the city of Chelyabinsk, Ural. She graduated from the Faculty of History of the Chelyabinsk Pedagogical Institute. Olga has lived and worked in different countries. She is passionate about medieval history, particularly that of medieval Switzerland. In her spare time, Olga organizes fun and entertaining excursions for children and adults in Lausanne and the surrounding area. She enjoys revealing the secrets of Swiss cathedrals, castles, mountains, and lakes and freely exploring historical events. For the little ones, Olga also offers a series of excursions on pirates and witches, medieval monsters, and city dwellers. Poetry and silk painting occupy much of her free time.

Daria Shevchenko, a Ukrainian Language and Culture Expert

Daria Shevchenko came to Switzerland in 2022. A graduate of Ukrainian culture and language, Daria participates in several educational projects carried out by our association as a linguistic and cultural expert. Daria gave holiday lessons for Ukrainian children in the summer of 2022, as well as support lessons (Ukrainian language and literature) at EPFL. Daria is the main director of the project “Cultural Trip to Ukraine”, in the Municipal Library of Lausanne.

Daria Zalesskaya, Translation Support and Slavic Cultures Expert 

Daria was born in Moscow. A graduate of the Moscow State Linguistic University, Faculty of French, she has a doctorate from the University of Lausanne. She is currently a lecturer and researcher at the University of Lausanne in the section of Slavic languages and cultures. She teaches French to Ukrainian refugees. Daria participates in the projects Cultural Travel in Ukraine and Cultural Travel in Switzerland.

Olena Liebed, Volunteer Animator

Since her arrival in Switzerland, Olena has engaged as a volunteer in the socio-cultural activities organized in the municipality of Morges. Equipped with rich experience in the organization of cultural events, Olena plays a major role in the realization of the cultural and musical events of our association, such as the Christmas party for Ukrainian children, the Christmas concert, and the Ukrainian Fair.

Yuriy Semerich, Volunteer, Math Teacher

Yuriy was born in Germany and received his education in Ukraine. He graduated from Kharkov University of Radioelectronics with a degree in Applied Mathematics. He has a second degree in Information Systems in Management. After postgraduate studies at the Institute of Machine Building Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, he defended his PhD thesis in Physical and Mathematical Sciences. For a long time he worked as an assistant professor in various universities and taught higher mathematics. The last years he worked in IT-companies on development and support of information systems. He is passionately interested in information technologies, programming languages, history, culture and foreign languages. He has been conducting his activities in Together since November 2022. In the summer of 2023, he organized a series of mathematics classes for children “A-mathematiques” at the Children’s Library of Lausanne. Currently he teaches mathematics to school-age children refugees.

Zhanna Gutova, Expert of Artistic Projects

Zhanna is a graphic artist. A graduate of the Simferopol Polygraphic Institute, she worked as an illustrator in the Crimean publishing house TAVRIA. She has taught academic drawing in art schools in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Zhanna is an author of graphic urban landscape training programs.

Aleksandra Zlochevska, volunteer

Aleksandra was born in Chernomorsk, in the Odessa region of Ukraine. She graduated from the I.I. Mechnikov University in Odessa, specialising in French philology.
She arrived in Switzerland in 2022. That same year, she entered the University of Lausanne.
She enjoys drawing and singing in a non-professional capacity. She works as a volunteer, taking part in numerous projects and mainly translating for children.

Anna Haidash, volunteer

Anna was born in Chernomorsk, in the Odessa region of Ukraine. She was born in 2000.
She graduated from university in her home town, where she studied to become a cook, waitress and barmaid. She obtained a 4th category cook diploma in the city of Odessa. She has worked in one speciality and others that have nothing to do with cooking.
She loves animals, especially reptiles and amphibians. She writes non-professional texts and dreams of one day writing a book in collaboration with a loved one. She is also interested in photography in her spare time.
Arrived in Switzerland in May 2023. Studies French on language courses. Volunteers to help organise leisure activities for children. Will accept any help she can give.