Hi, I’m Lesia — a Ukrainian creative, photographer, and coach-in-training at Columbia University.

Before the war, I was running a successful photography business in Ukraine. I taught others how to enter the creative field, how to build personal brands through Instagram, and how to express themselves with confidence. My community was strong. My work had meaning.

And then everything shifted.

Three years ago, I arrived in New York — pregnant, with two small children, forced to leave my home. I wasn’t starting from zero, but I was starting again. In a new country. In a legal and emotional limbo. With no clarity about whether I’d be able to stay — or how to build a life that felt like mine.

I began to question whether my skills still mattered. Whether my voice still had a place.

Coaching helped me find my footing again. It gave me the clarity, self-trust, and direction I couldn’t access alone. And now, I want to offer that same support to others.

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I’m raising funds to complete the final step of my coaching certification — and to offer at least 50 fully-funded coaching sessions to Ukrainian women who’ve lost their stability, but not their strength.

These women are:

• raising children in uncertainty,

• holding families together while holding in their own fear and grief,

• navigating life between two worlds — trying to survive, and maybe, dream again.

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As part of my certification, I must complete 100 hours of coaching.

Your donation allows me to meet this requirement ethically — not by charging high fees, but by paying it forward to women who cannot access this kind of support on their own.

This is not therapy.

It’s not business advice.

It’s a space to pause, to hear yourself again, and to begin moving forward — gently, with support.

If we raise more, I’ll coach more.

You’re not just funding my education — you’re co-creating a network of care.

For every $100, someone gets a session that might change everything.

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I know you can’t stop the war.

You can’t change immigration policy.

But you can help one woman rebuild her future — and give another woman the tools to do the same.

Thank you for reading this. For seeing me. For believing in what’s possible when we hold each other up.

With all my heart,

Lesia

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