The Washington Group

On November 20, 2022 a provisional TWG Board of Directors was elected. It was tasked to revitalize TWG and prepare a TWG Annual Meeting for February 2024 to be fully compliant with TWG by-laws. The new TWG Board of Directors consists of: Laryssa Courtney, President; George Masiuk, Vice-President; George Hnatiw, Treasurer; Tania Chomiak-Salvi, Secretary; George Masiuk, acting Membership Director; Michael Drabyk, Public Relations Director; Alexa Chopivsky, Events Director; Andrew Bihun, Immediate Past President; Laryssa Courtney and Christine Lucyk, TWG Cultural Fund Co-Directors; Adrian Karmazyn, TWG Fellowship Fund Director; Members-at-Large – Arthur Belendiuk, Orest Deychakiwsky, Natalie Korytnyk, Lydia Martinec, Rosalie Norair, Oksana Shulyar.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TWG Summer 2024 Internships in Support of Embassy of Ukraine are available – Application Deadline: April 8, 2024

The Washington Group (TWG), in partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States, is pleased to announce a summer 2024 internship opportunity at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, DC.

TWG, an association of Ukrainian-American professionals in the Capital area, will provide a stipend in the amount of $3000 for the eight-week internship at the Embassy.

The TWG intern at the Embassy of Ukraine will report to a designated employee at the Embassy and may be engaged in the following activities:

-Attending and monitoring Ukraine-related events in Washington as assigned

-Research, writing and translation

-Assistance with organization of events and meetings at the Embassy or Ukraine House

-General office tasks and other duties as assigned

The sponsorship of the Embassy internship by The Washington Group reflects an important part of its mission: providing opportunities for college students and young professionals with an interest in Ukraine to gain additional expertise on Ukraine, U.S.-Ukraine relations and diplomacy in Washington. The internship is meant to provide a meaningful learning experience to an intern aspiring to explore career options as a foreign policy specialist engaged in Ukraine-related issues.

Applicants must submit a one-page resume-CV highlighting their educational, work and volunteer experience and an essay – no longer than 1000 words — describing their interest in Ukraine and U.S.-Ukraine relations, why they are pursuing the internship, what they hope to gain from the experience as well as any other information that demonstrates the candidate’s commitment to succeed in this endeavor. Native or near-native fluency in English and a high level of fluency in Ukrainian are required. 

The text of the resume-CV and essay IN ENGLISH must be pasted into the body of an email and sent to InternshipTWG@gmail.com.  Do not include any attachments in the email. The application deadline is April 8, 2024. 

Applications will be reviewed by the Fellowship Fund Committee of The Washington Group.  The top applicants, as determined by the committee, will be recommended to the Embassy of Ukraine for final review of their application materials. The selection process will include interviews with top candidates.  Final selection of the intern rests with the Embassy.

Neither TWG nor the Embassy of Ukraine will cover any expenses for the intern beyond the $3000 stipend. Applicants must be US citizens, legal residents of the United States or international students enrolled at a US university.

RECENT PAST EVENTS

Summer 2003: TWG Summer Interns at the Embassy of Ukraine Comment on Their Experience

Two university students who participated in summer internships at the Embassy of Ukraine with financial support from The Washington Group have sent letters of appreciation to TWG expressing thanks for “the opportunity to work closely with Ukrainian diplomats and gain more insight into Ukrainian-American relations and international affairs more generally.”  They referred to the internship as “a meaningful experience” especially because they “plan to pursue a diplomatic career path and work for the bright future of Ukraine.”

The aspiring diplomats who served as TWG-sponsored interns are Karolina Naidon, a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Mariana Piontkovska, a student at Georgetown University.

In her correspondence Mariana, who is a native of Kyiv, added: “This internship helped me realize the various ways in which I could dedicate my professional career in international relations to advocating for Ukraine. It was truly amazing to have the opportunity to work with diverse professionals united with one purpose of fostering cooperation and friendly relations between Ukraine and the United States.”         Karolina, whose home town is the city of Dnipro wrote:“My summer internship at the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA truly gave me an opportunity to understand international affairs in action outside of my college curriculum. Close work with diplomats helped me to see the hard work of Ukrainian embassies in representing Ukraine on the international arena and gaining such valuable support from foreign states to combat the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. I am genuinely thankful for such an opportunity to work closely with diplomats that highly influenced me to continue to pursue a diplomatic career and, in the future, contribute to the worthy representation of Ukraine in the global political arena.”    

Ms. Naidon and Ms. Piontkovska served as summer interns at the embassy for eight weeks under the supervision of First Secretary Kateryna Smagliy.  TWG provided stipends to each of the interns in the amount of $3000 to help cover their living expenses for the duration of the project.  A dozen candidates applied for the internship. TWG Fellowship Committee members Natalie Korytnyk Forrester, Orest Deychakiwsky and Adrian Karmazyn reviewed the applications and participated in the selection process. The Embassy made the final decision from among the leading candidates.

June 26, 2023. Sacred Land: Music and Poems of Resilience from Ukraine performed by Ensemble Cherubim. The choral benefit concert for Ukraine, in the beautiful and sparkling mosaic filled sanctuary of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, was a great success. It was well-attended and featured an ensemble of twenty professional singers, Ensemble Cherubim, who sang in Ukrainian, but, with just one exception, were not of Ukrainian heritage. English translations were provided. The format of this concert was unique, combining beautiful singing in Ukrainian with movement, acting, and powerful poetry recited in English.  It highlighted the past in Ukraine, as well as the present circumstances amid war. By weaving together all the different elements, the expressive and talented conductor and music director, Marika Kuzma, an actor in her own right, choreographed this fluidity and created a very engaging kind of musical theatre. Proceeds from the concert went to United Help Ukraine. Concert Program. Concert Flyer. VIEW COMPLETE CONCERT. Photos from this concert are part of the slideshow “TWG Professional Events” in the Archive below.

March 16, 2023. This Ukrainian American Life performed by contralto Vira Slywotzky and composer pianist Dina Pruzhansky. Proceeds from the Concert went to Razom for Ukraine. Concert Review. Concert Flyer and Program.

INTRODUCTION TO TWG ARCHIVE

The Washington Group (TWG) website documents TWG’s history and lays the foundation for TWG’s growth in the coming decade. This site contains 135 issues of TWG NEWS, 14 TWG Leadership Conference Booklets, 20 photo albums, and 80 Videos. Collectively this material documents the life of the Ukrainian-American Community in the Greater Washington, D.C. area and its extensive interaction with Ukraine. In the critical years for Ukraine’s independence (1989-1992) just about all significant Ukrainian figures spoke in Washington and their presentations are captured on video.

The TWG Cultural Fund, founded in 1994, is an integral part of TWG, but with its own history, leadership and management. It has its own web site (twgcf.org). Prior to 1994 TWG as such sponsored many cultural events. This TWG website contains material documenting TWG’s promotion of Ukrainian culture in the years before the TWG Cultural Fund was established and also includes photos from TWGCF events (1994-2004). Please download the TWGCF photo album under Photos tab. Also numerous articles in TWG NEWS cover TWGCF events.

If you are new to TWG, click through the slideshows below to get a sense of the quality of TWG forums and its Leadership Conferences, as well as the fun we had at our social events, and then explore the website. Perhaps a good starting point is to look at the extraordinary years 1989-1992 when Ukraine was on its road to independence. TWG hosted just about all of the key persons on the Ukrainian side and many important persons on the American side. You can see videos of what they thought and said contemporaneously, how TWG NEWS covered their presentations and how Natalie Sluzar photographed them. Also see TWG History under the “About Us” tab for a systematic look at the Ukrainian-American Community (1984-2011).

TWG Social Events

TWG Professional Events