Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
President Marta Danyluk spoke briefly on member ship issue and presented Roxolana Yaromovych, the first official UNWLA liaison for Members-at-Large. Ms. Yarymovych defined the need for the liaison position, which serves as a unifying force for UNWLA members who are not affiliated with a branch and are sometimes inadvertently marginal ized because of the absence of information and erratic communication with other members of the organization. She noted that the number of Members-at-Large is growing and is likely to continue to grow as more young Ukrainian women settle in cities and states without large and established Ukrainian communities. She also noted that the position afforded a way to encourage other young women to join the UNWLA as Members-at- Large, using a three pronged approach of infor mation, innovation, and inspiration. Information will ensure that new members do not see themselves as fringe members. Inspiration includes introducing new and potential members to possibilities, partly by introducing them to current Members-at-Large who have already assumed leadership roles within the organization. As examples, Ms. Yarymovych cited Parliamentarian Oksana Xenos, English- language editor Tamara Stadnychenko, and the UNWLA’s Webmaster Hanya Krill. Innovation, she continued, must happen and Members-at-Large can help make it happen. She discussed the possibility of “virtual branches” with members sharing their knowledge, opinions, and expertise via the Internet. Marta Danyluk spoke briefly about the organizational structure of the UNWLA and com mented about its tax-exempt status. She reminded those present about the need to guard against collecting for other charities and institutions in the name of the UNWLA, as this poses a conflict of interest that may cause the IRS to reassess our status as a tax-exempt charitable organization. She then invited Marianna Zajac to comment on the question of membership and how she plans to address this issue as president of the UNWLA. In response, Ms. Zajac spoke about revisiting the UNWLA’s vision, emphasizing in particular that we are “at a cross roads in our relationship with Ukraine.” She stressed that this by no means indicates that the UNWLA should sever ties with Ukraine but means that we should look at ways to change our approach. Our work for decades, she noted, focused on firefighting—responding to a succession of crises. Today, we need to concentrate our efforts in a different direction. Ms. Zajac also addressed the issue of demographics, how they affect the UNWLA, and what might be done to use the demographic changes to our advantage. There are, she explained, many young women who live on the fringes of the Ukrainian communities, some who want to find a place and a way to belong and can be invited to join us. Some live in areas with no Ukrainian presence; others have been alienated, by choice or happenstance, from participation in Ukrainian hromada life. They can be found at Plast reunions, at university gatherings, and other venues and should be sought out. Citing Ukrainian demographer Volodymyr Wolowyna, she com mented on successful women of Ukrainian descent who no longer speak Ukrainian, stressing that this should not be a barrier to membership in the UNWLA. She also spoke about Ukrainian women from the last wave of immigration, many of whom have settled in Washington or Oregon or other states with a sparse Ukrainian presence and that these women might welcome the opportunity to belong to an organization of women with similar roots and interests. In connection with this, Ms. Zajac emphasized the need to remember that we are a national organization, which means that we should take an interest in women from all parts of the United States, not just those living in Ukrainian communities. She also expressed her belief that an e-newsletter was a convenient and useful tool to disseminate information and maintain ties to members. Continuing on the theme of membership, Renata Zajac discussed things she had learned from conversations with her contemporaries—women who are not members of the UNWLA. There is, she said, a perception about the UNWLA that it is “my mother’s organization or my grandmother’s organi zation,” and that it is up to us to change this perception by showing these women who we really are and what we really do. They don’t see the benefits, she explained, because we are not getting the message across. We need to refocus on the way we tell them about the UNWLA . . . create a passion by focusing on things that are interesting to them. At this juncture, several UNWLA members commented on what they had gained through membership in the UNWLA, on some of the ideas discussed by the speakers, and on related issues.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
