RADA has elected a new Secretary General
Background information
Having graduated from medical university in 2011, during the last year of my studies I got involved in the work of a non-governmental organization «Fialta», where I discovered the fascinating and incredibly important world of civil society sector. I realized immediately that I had chosen the wrong university and that my life will no longer be the same. With that being said, for the last six years I was discovering new horizons and opportunities of the youth sector, having started from a position of a volunteer in Fialta to a youth worker, trainer and finally executive director of the organization.
During my time there, Fialta saw some significant changes: it became an open youth center, that served as a platform for young people to start their own initiatives, where I myself successfully implemented and coordinated the «StarToYou» project, which has brought up a series of outstanding educational youth initiatives and collected on a weekly basis dozens of stakeholders and participants. Fialta was able to move to a new office, that it now gladly shares with other non-governmental organizations, such as the Centre for the Development of Students’ Initiatives (member organization of RADA) and Urban Platform. The office functions as a place that makes joint work more effective as well as establishes and performs socially significant projects.
Why RADA?
Once a person gets involved into the world of the civil society sector, faces difficulties, challenges, prompted by the local context, but at the same time acknowledges the joy and countless number of incredible events that it delivers, it is very hard to change the field and abandon the work that you have been doing for the entire life, the work that still desperately needs positive changes!
I worked with RADA for the last six months helping RADA people to implement their great events: RADA Forum, RADA Talks, RADA Market, RADA Awards. Thanks to these activities and the wonderful people I worked with, I fell in love with RADA and decided to apply for the position of a Secretary General and try my hand in it.
My vision for RADA
It bothers me that the voice of young people in our country is not heard and not taken into account in many aspects.
I am very frustrated that too often young people do not have the right to free choice, freedom of association, employment and a desire to change something in their lives.
At the same time, Belarus is filled with talented, creative, interesting and active young people. Therefore, the way I see my contribution to RADA’s work is all-round support for young people in expressing themselves, engaging actively, representing their interests and protecting their rights not only on national level, but also in cooperation with the international community.
I do admire the image that RADA has created in recent years, claiming to be a strong and expert voice in the civil society sector. I’m going to keep up with high standards set by the previous Secretary General and a wonderful person, Dmitry Dobrovolsky, and try to do everything in my capacity to strengthen partnerships between youth organizations and initiatives and meet interest and needs of young people in Belarus.