A reception at the Suzir’ja Theater in Kyiv on November 29 marked the official launch of the East Europe Foundation (EEF). The Foundation will continue the work of Eurasia Foundation (EF) in Ukraine and Moldova, mobilizing public and private resources to drive social and economic development. William B. Taylor, United States Ambassador to Ukraine and Douglas Menarchik, USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia spoke at the opening reception to celebrate the launch. The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister, Andriy Veselovsky, also attended to congratulate the Foundation.
Leaders in the business, diplomatic and academic communities make up the EEF Board of Trustees. Members of the board include: Yuriy Sivitsky, co-founder of Softline; Trond Moe, head of Telenor in Ukraine; Helen Volska, Managing Partner and Director of Emergex Business Solutions; Sarah Carey, partner at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP; the Honorable Adriaan Jacobovits de Szeged, former Ambassador of the Netherlands and Special Representative of the European Union for Moldova; Natalie Jaresko, Managing and Founding Partner of Horizon Capital; Tatiana Komarova, Financial Director of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods; the Honorable Steven Pifer, Senior Advisor of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Andy Wilson, President of the East Europe Foundation; and Regina Yan, Executive Vice President of Eurasia Foundation.
EEF has already gained the support of over a dozen organizations prior to the January 1, 2008 launch of its operations. The Foundation will use this support for grant making and targeted programs in the areas of corporate social responsibility, local economic development, sustainable solutions for organizations, municipal partnerships, business and economics education and building the capacity to govern justly and fairly.
