Internship at the Klitschko Foundation and experience gained:

Daria Shepetko: "An internship at the Klitschko Foundation is not only a great opportunity to gain practical skills in marketing and project management but also a chance to combine work with the values ​​I share. Despite studying abroad, I strive to develop education in Ukraine and help teenagers make their dreams come true. At the beginning of my internship, Daria and I did research on the Ukrainian market and education. As a result, we realized that there is a gap in the market — the knowledge that teenagers obtain in schools is not enough to form entrepreneurial thinking and acquire business skills. Since I completed an entrepreneurship course shortly before the internship, I was excited  to use my experience and develop a project for Ukrainian teenagers".

Daria Malevka: “A summer internship at the Klitschko Foundation gave me so much more than I expected: work experience, from planning and conducting interviews to designing, meeting and collaborating with the Klitschko Foundation team and gaining insights about the successful teamwork. For me, this internship was an opportunity to apply my knowledge and skills in practice in the Ukrainian charity organization. I am extremely grateful for this valuable experience and happy to continue working with the foundation, implementing a project with Daria".

Teenovation project as a dream to develop business skills in teenagers:

Daria Malevka: “The task Alina Nosenko gave us during the internship eventually led to the launch of the Teenovation project. We believe that the development of business skills stimulates creativity and self-confidence and is an impetus for developing innovative startups.  Creating a successful and useful product or service is difficult without basic knowledge. In addition,, having received basic business knowledge, students will be able to understand the world of professions better and choose the right direction or industry to study further on in their lives. Furthermore, this opportunity provides teenagers with a chance to realize themselves and their ideas.

Our project is a platform for the implementation of their business ideas and creativity. It’s not a secret that very few organizations provide business knowledge to high school students in an accessible and simple manner. The "highlight" of our project is that the participants can  immerse themselves in the business world even being in the 8th grade.  Moreover, Teenovation project is bilingual, which is a unique opportunity for participants to improve their English skills and communicate with foreign lecturers".

Daria Shepetko: “Our project is about developing a growth mindset, the desire to think more broadly and to implement your ideas, despite the difficulties on the way to the goal. Adolescence is a period when a person is full of enthusiasm! his energy that can be directed to the implementation of cool innovative ideas. To make their dreams come true, teenagers need to know how to realize them. "Where to start? How to structure the process? How to find funding? How to present (sell) an idea?" these are the main questions start-upers have do not know the answers to them, you will significantly reduce your chances of success. "Teenovation" is created to answer these questions. In general, the project has two main elements - the "hard" and "soft" parts. The first concerns the gain of theoretical knowledge and skills through lectures from leading experts in the field of entrepreneurship. And the second is the motivation and development of entrepreneurial thinking.”

Challenges in the Teenovation project

Daria Shepetko: “The main challenge is the lack of experience because this is my first project of such format. In preparation for Teenovation, there are various situations that we have not yet faced. However, thanks to  the support of the foundation's team we quickly find answers to our questions. The difference in time zones is another significant challenge. We invite international speakers and have to find the optimal time for everyone. Against all the odds, project management is valuable experience!”

Daria Malevka: "We try to calculate the steps forward as much as possible and prevent problems. The experience of participation in other projects helped me here, as well as experience of internship in the communication department of the fund. The insights of the Klitschko Foundation team were so helpful and we really appreciate it too".

Project & Learning: how to keep up?

Daria Shepetko: "Combining everything at once was our next challenge that we faced. The difficulty is that my university has a modular system. We have daily lectures, weekly deadlines, and exams almost every month, so I have to be constantly involved in the learning process. Working on a project also requires involvement and attention to detail, so in my Google calendar I plan time in detail for study, work, and leisure. That's why my week is filled with colorful time slots."

Daria Malevka: “Combining studies and a project is not as easy as it may seem at first. The main difficulty is allocating time for all tasks efficiently and performing them well. Though it seems that the online mode should free up a lot of time, my schedule does not agree with this: a huge number of tasks at the university, team tasks, meetings, participation in the student association of entrepreneurship, organization of a business festival, the first 3-month mentoring program for teenagers and migrants from different countries with the organization "YBIT", where I am a co-founder and manager, and the implementation of "Teenovation" with Dasha and Klitschko Foundation. For effective time planning, I use an electronic calendar and paint the days literally from 7 am to 11 pm, and then jump from meeting to meeting and from task to task. Of course, you want to have time for everything and everywhere, except for major projects. There are a lot of opportunities now, but priorities need to be set too. The feeling of perfectionism sometimes interferes when you sit until the night working on the details. But I am sure that as a result, quality work will turn into a cool finished product - an entrepreneurship project for teenagers.

Team symbiosis, or how two Daria found online contact with each other

Daria Shepetko: "Although Dasha and I have never seen each other in person, we are cooperating successfully. I don't even know how to explain it, but we understand each other well, I would call it a team symbiosis! Trust and constant feedback are the basis of our cooperation, and this is what helps us to develop and improve".

Daria Malevka: "I think that Daria and I have a duet: we skillfully cooperate, distribute tasks, and are on the same page. It is very nice to work with Dasha: she has cool ideas and a nice character. I think that thanks to the foundation we have become not only partners but also friends! I look forward to meeting her in real life!”

Skills that help in the project implementation:

Daria Shepetko: "I am happy to have taken a Harvard negotiation course this spring. This skill of effective communication is very helpful in implementing the project. I can also say that the time management, planning, and teamwork skills that my university has helped me develop to contribute to a more productive training process”.

Daria Malevka: "It's a whole range of skills - from project management to the strategic vision of the project, which I learned at the Student Association for Entrepreneurship in France. It is important to first determine the goals and direction of development, and then start implementing ideas and dreams. I am very glad to be able to try myself in the project because you need to think globally and in detail about all aspects, monitor the work of assistants, communicate with the foundation team, distribute responsibilities, promote the project, train mentors, select participants and do it in harmony with Dasha and team Klitschko Foundation".