Members of the Mentorship Community received their first practical training from the cycle on stabilization under conditions of uncertainty.

“On February 24, our lives changed. And so did the life of our organizations. What we had planned became impossible to implement, and we had to say goodbye to some things,” said Olena Matviichuk, organizational development expert and Mentorship Program coordinator.

The need for stabilization for effective work and development of mentee organizations and alumni of previous programs has become the main goal for the training cycle.

At the first class “Stabilization under Conditions of Uncertainty: What We Have and What Keeps Us Afloat?”, representatives of organizations from different parts of Ukraine analyzed and discussed in groups the below: 

• What was the work of organizations before February 24, what gave strength to the NGO members in their work back then?
• What happened to organizations after February 24? Are the motivators that had worked before still present?
• What is helping to move forward now?

“In the midst of chaos, something new is always born. But this new thing is born when we already have something in us for the period when the chaos occurred. As of February 24, what you were doing in the organization has been up in the air,” said Olena Matviichuk.

The lecturer talked about what is at the heart of the first existential fundamental motivation of “To be able to exist”, namely, the role that space, security and support play in the existence of civil society organizations:

• Space: organizations should have their own space – a place where the team can get together (offline and / or online); 
• Security: How safe it is to be in the organization, and how safe it is for the organization itself to exist;
• Support: Culture and structure are something to lean on.

“Structure is being built in chaos. When we live in conditions of uncertainty, we are able to see the truth. It is on the truth that we can build our future: what we will do next, who we will be doing it with. If the structure was true, it is likely to survive. If the structure was built on the basis of several individuals, it can break down,” emphasized the expert.

At the next class of the cycle, Mentorship Community members will learn about leadership, team and adaptation for stabilization under uncertainty, as well as how and why organizations can act now.

Mentorship Program 3.0 is being implemented as part of the Project Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity implemented by the Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” in partnership with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM).