People.ua was founded not so long ago - three months ago. My main job is working in local government, and I already have a lot of experience in this area. Instead, working in the public sector is new to me, but it is here that I see how I can initiate changes in society and establish a connection between young people and various organizations.

Our organization was created at the request of the times. The fact is that in 2014, People.ua began to exist as a public initiative. It was an association of guys and girls who started painting the city since the beginning of the war. I can't say that they were full-fledged murals, but they were wonderful images that created a more national and patriotic atmosphere in the city. Eventually, the name "People.ua" emerged for this initiative. Then this initiative turned into a youth center, and this year we have already started our own public organization with the same name.

There are always enough challenges in the work of a philanthropist. For me, the biggest ones are the following three.

The first challenge is working with young people. Those who stood at the origins of People.ua are now volunteers of the youth center and organization. In addition, other residents of the city are joining the volunteer work. When working with volunteers, it is important that the relationship is based on sincerity and the principle of "equal to equal". These are the things that are felt immediately and then form either long-term relationships or not. I was convinced of this from my own experience. If you build sincere relationships, then you can even gather 10 thousand volunteers from all over Zaporizhzhia region to hold an eco-activity. People often ask me how I managed to do it. A volunteer does not have a boss, but a friend, a partner, and a person who is ready to help you. I always say that I just started cleaning together with the volunteers, because this is how the principle of "equal to equal" is realized. When you force it and simply use the volunteer resource for your own purposes, nothing will work. I really don't like those initiatives where young people are forced to participate. This is not the way to raise young people with an active life position. It is important to support those who want to implement social projects and join initiatives, because after that, such young people become even more motivated and charge others with the same energy!

The second challenge is migration. I am painfully aware of the fact that every year so many young Ukrainians leave Ukraine, those who could develop their local communities here. It's good when it's internal migration, because it gives impetus to the launch of various initiatives throughout Ukraine, but when it's an outflow of young people to other countries, it's a bad sign for the state. That is why I see my vocation as making sure that young people continue to engage in civic activities that benefit society in Ukraine.

The third challenge is building trust in society. This is especially true for older people. You need to be able to hear them. Their needs are completely different from those of most other people. But middle-aged people need to be involved in partnerships because they have experience and can share it, and when young people are involved, it creates a very cool effect! Motivating yourself is also a challenge! Personally, I am motivated by people who create tasks for themselves and make every effort to fulfill them. If you want to be on a certain wave as a person and as an organization, you need to be very socially oriented. You need to have up-to-date knowledge, because the world is changing rapidly - what was useful yesterday may not be useful today. Therefore, since the beginning of our organization's activity, we have been constantly looking for opportunities for development. For example, we recently joined a mentoring project from CEDEM and participated in the ProCharity project from the Klitschko Foundation.

These projects provide an opportunity to systematize our knowledge and discover new ways to apply it. For example, at the ProCharity project, I knew about project management and fundraising, but the speakers managed to present it as if under a new "sauce," and at that moment I saw that my knowledge was a new opportunity to improve my organization, and after the trainings I had some ideas of what to do and how to do it. The most memorable exercise was the one with Lesya Ukrainka's brand. I could never believe that such a common example could be played up in such a way. And what about charitable and public organizations, if each of them is unique in its own way?

Now we are open to absolutely any project. These are projects of any direction, and all because our audience is young people, and they are interested in everything today. Therefore, our main vector of activity is aimed at developing this particular segment of Ukrainian society.