Irena Chalupa is a journalist specializing in broadcasting. She was born in northeastern Poland, formerly East Prussia. She emigrated to the US as a child with her family and settled in New Jersey. From 1985-2011, Irena lived in Europe, working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, Kyiv and Prague, where her last position was that of director of the Ukrainian Service. Irena has worked for the Atlantic Council, spearheading the Council’s Ukraine Alert initiative and was a Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine from 2016-2017. During her Fulbright tenure, Irena recorded video interviews with former Ukrainian political prisoners and worked at two state universities training students in radio journalism, which resulted in the students launching radio stations that continue to broadcast to this day. Since 2016, she has worked as an editor at StopFake, a fact-checking website that debunks Russian disinformation and propaganda. Irena is a member of the national board of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America and the chair of the DC chapter. For the last five years, Irena has taught Ukrainian literature and is a member of several Ukrainian book clubs. Irena also volunteers at the Walter Reed Naval Hospital translating for Ukrainian soldiers who are currently undergoing treatment and prosthetic development at this facility.

Ksenya Kiebuzinski holds a PhD in literary studies from Brandeis University, as well as master’s degrees in information sciences and French and women’s studies. Her diverse background led her to serve as Head of the Petro Jacyk Central and East European Resource Centre, and Slavic Resources Coordinator for the University of Toronto Libraries.She is co-director of the Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. She has held a variety of positions in academic libraries, archives, and museums. Her research interests include nineteenth-century French cultural history, Slavic studies, and the history of the book.

Olga Klymenko holds an M.A. in History (Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University), M.A. in Central European History (Central European University) and an MSc in Research, Economic and Social History (University of Edinburgh). She currently holds a research position with the Holodomor Research & Education Consortium in Toronto, Canada.

Oles Kulchynskyy is a scholar, writer, and translator from Turkish into Ukrainian and a lecturer at the Department of Ukrainian Studies, Istanbul University. He holds a PhD in Turkish Studies (Istanbul University) and a PhD in Linguistics (A. Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies, NAS of Ukraine).

Born in Crimea, Ukraine, Anton holds a Public Affairs and Policy Management degree from Carleton University. Fluent in three languages, with working knowledge of three others, his journalistic, NGO, and policy work on foreign affairs and human rights led him to advise delegations at the UN, the U.S. Senate, and Canadian Parliament. He has served as a senior consultant at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, held senior executive and advisory positions with leading Canadian firms, and is currently an Ottawa-based foreign policy and communications consultant.

Oksana Smerechuk has a degree in Linguistics from the University of Sydney (Australia). She was a researcher and fixer for CBC News and BBC Newsnight in Moscow in the last years of the USSR, and co-hosted Hromadske Radio’s Ukraine Calling in Kyiv. Ms. Smerechuk spearheaded Ukrainian-English interpretation and translation for Canada at the head of state-level. She was President of the International Women's Club of Belgrade, President of the Ambassadors' Spouses Club of Kyiv and contributed to the recent podcast and book edition of Ukrainian Public Radio’s Ukraine Calling.