Yuliya Sporysh is a Ukrainian feminist, mother of three, PhD sociologist, and founder of the NGO “Girls”.
In 2016, Yuliya Sporysh separated from her partner during pregnancy and became a single mother of two. At the maternity hospital, she met another young single mother in distress and decided to initiate an educational project for teenagers to prevent unwanted pregnancies and unhappy marriages. This is how the NGO “Girls” was born.
Born in 1985 and raised in Kyiv, Yuliya Sporysh holds a PhD in sociology from Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. She wrote her doctoral thesis on the lifestyles of the middle class in large cities.
Yuliya was a successful researcher in a marketing research company and ran a Ukrainian fintech company for ten years. She could not imagine being a manager in the third sector. But the impact of her initiative and the demand for sexual education and awareness-raising on gender-based violence in Ukrainian schools moved her heart and she became an activist.
She made this decision in 2019 on a flight from Singapore to Berlin during her business trip for start-up funding. Instead of looking for investors for a fintech app, she decided to find money to support Ukrainian girls.
In February 2022, Yuliya woke up in Irpin in the occupied territories and suffered from the shelling and flooding. Her house was bombed, and she became a temporarily displaced person.
And again, her experience influenced her initiatives. The NGO “Girls” expanded its activities to help the victims of the war, assisting them with evacuation and providing psychological and financial aid. Yuliya opened a shelter for internally displaced people, created safe spaces and a rehabilitation centre for children, and established a charitable foundation to have more opportunities for direct action. Her education project is also continuing and has now reached more than 250,000 people; more than 5,000 events have been held in schools and youth organisations.
In order not to lose track of the chaos of violence, Yuliya founded a research centre and began to analyse the psychological effects of war and the needs of society.
She is looking for ways to increase her influence within the NGO cluster. As a member of the NGO Platform Steering Committee, Yuliya is committed to getting humanitarian aid to Ukraine where it is needed most.
Yuliya Sporysh is a multifaceted leader characterised by diverse experience, academic skills, and commitment. Her feminist mission is to empower vulnerable groups and promote positive social change in Ukraine.
