In August, the UCU campus brought the community together for “Alumni: New Wave 2026.” The event showcased a revitalized ecosystem of opportunities, collaboration, and impact for UCU Business School alumni.
The UCU Business School alumni community is a dynamic ecosystem of shared growth, where each alumnus’s experience becomes capital for the country’s development. The UCU Business School offers alumni a unique platform where everyone can find their own way to contribute — from mentoring young people and investing to rebuilding Ukrainian communities and strengthening defense resilience. We’re sharing these opportunities and ways to get involved.
Three Approaches to Engaging Alumni
Sharing Expertise:
- Business case studies and expertise. Provide relevant case studies from their companies and projects for academic courses and to work with participants in master’s programs and executive development programs.
- Guest Lectures and Mentoring. The school actively engages alumni as guest experts, speakers for course modules, and facilitators for brainstorming sessions on future thesis projects.
- Thesis Projects. Offer your own business or social challenges as the basis for student projects, advise teams, and serve as reviewers.
Creating Opportunities:
- Company Visits. Invite participants in master’s programs, executive development programs, and colleagues to your companies and organizations. This is an excellent way to share real-world management experience, demonstrate internal processes, and discuss business models.
- Socially Oriented Projects. Help create solutions for the reconstruction and development of vulnerable communities in Ukraine, drawing on your entrepreneurial potential.
- Serving as an ambassador for the UCU and UCU Business School brands. Represent the school’s values and philosophy at public events, industry gatherings, and during meetings with prospective program participants.
Expand the Community
- Your Own Network. Recommend talented leaders, partners, and employees for UCU Business School programs, and invite colleagues to open modules and events.
- Regional and Professional Clubs. Initiate and coordinate alumni chapters based on geographic or industry criteria to facilitate ongoing exchange of experiences and the launch of joint business ventures.
- The Value of Collaboration. Share your current business needs and challenges with the Association. It is precisely this open, two-way dialogue that helps us create the most relevant forms of support.
Alumni Council for Community Development
The Alumni Council — a volunteer body — works to develop the community and foster collaboration with the UCU Business School. The Alumni Council is elected every two years. Candidate nominations for the Council and elections take place within the association. Any alumnus may nominate themselves or a colleague. Alumni from each master’s program vote for their representatives. The next elections to the Council will take place in the fall of 2027 — stay tuned for announcements.
Continuing Education for Alumni and Their Teams
Unique post-MBA programs are available to alumni, including the mentoring and corporate governance programs. In particular, alumni can join new groups for elective courses after completing their studies.
To support professional growth, particularly within teams, the UA Marketing Club platform offers a conference on September 19 titled “The Economics of Creativity,” which will explore how to create work that not only wins festival awards but also drives brand and business growth. Throughout the day, speakers will discuss the role of strategy in generating ideas, managing creative processes, modern design, creativity in times of war, and case studies of Ukrainian companies.
As part of its human resources management program, the Business School is organizing a series of HR Friday events—lectures and webinars featuring experts. HR Friday events will be of particular interest to HR professionals who are just starting their careers and looking to develop their skills; experienced HR managers and directors; and business owners who want to better understand the role of HR in business. Stay tuned for announcements.
To support the professional development of graduates and their teams, the UCU Online platform offers courses taught by Adrian Slyvotskyy and Yaroslav Hrytsak. We invite you to explore all the courses by following the link.
Offline, the Institute for Professional Development offers over 60 programs — ranging from leadership to psychology.
Book Club
The UCU Business School Book Club is a platform for communication and discussion of books among like-minded individuals, with the goal of exchanging ideas, networking, and mutual development. Each year, the alumni book club attracts an average of more than 20 participants, who read and discuss 8 books. The goal of the UCU Business School Book Club is to bring alumni together to read and reflect on business literature — though not exclusively — with the involvement of experts. The book club operates on an ongoing basis, and meetings will take place once every two months. Club members select books from a list compiled based on recommendations from the school’s faculty and international bestsellers across various genres.
According to the participants themselves, the club serves as an effective incentive to read, thanks to the motivation provided by deadlines and the opportunity to hear completely different perspectives on the same book, where, through discussion and reflection, experience is transformed into knowledge, and one person’s insights multiply and enrich those of others. The diverse backgrounds of the participants broaden their worldviews, and the discussions help them step away from their daily routines and discover new perspectives on solving everyday problems and tasks. At the same time, this space fosters an important sense of alumni community, which maintains regular contact after graduation and serves as a source of inspiration for new collaborative projects.
Another unique aspect of the clubs is that meetings take place in alumni-run companies, where there is room for safe strategic planning. In fact, two more clubs will soon be launched at the Business School, which we will announce at a later date.
Expertise, Scaling, and Investments
Advisory boards are in place to support business scaling and investments. This project, led by UCU Business School alumni and in collaboration with experts from various fields and industries, aims to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. This year, more than 60 alumni volunteered to form advisory boards for over 20 veteran-owned businesses. Stay tuned for the call for applications to join the advisory boards
Read more: Advisory councils from UCU Business School alumni for small and micro-businesses in Ukraine. Making an impact with the UCU Business School Alumni Association
The UCU Ideas Center is an educational center dedicated to developing student startups and helping Ukrainian entrepreneurs scale their businesses. The center’s mission is to foster a new entrepreneurial culture in Ukraine that is ready to make its mark on the world.
The UCU Ideas Center currently encompasses the following areas:
IdeasLab — a free accelerator program for Ukrainian student startups. It is a place where the next generation of entrepreneurs is born — those who are shaping Ukraine’s new economy.
Stanford Ignite Ukraine – an academic program from the Stanford Graduate School of Business for Ukrainian small and medium-sized business entrepreneurs. This unique program provides participants with access to cutting-edge research and frameworks across all business functions. Founders interact with Stanford GSB faculty, venture capitalists, industry experts, and experienced entrepreneurs.
Venture Camp Ukraine is a free educational program hosted by the Ukrainian Catholic University for young people aged 15–17. It offers teenagers the chance to try their hand at entrepreneurship and develop critical thinking, teamwork, and creativity.
UCU Stanford Ignite Business Community is an alumni network that brings together participants of the Stanford Ignite Ukraine program to create a proactive community where they can collaborate on projects.
Read also: Horizon 75 Years: How Ukrainian Leaders Can Look Beyond the War
Angel One Fund is a venture capital fund launched in 2022 by the UCU Foundation that invests in Ukrainian startups with a global mindset at the late pre-seed and early seed stages. Learn more about the fund in this article.
Alumni Winter Trip
Every year, alumni of the UCU Business School’s master’s programs gather in the Carpathians for the Alumni Winter Trip. In addition to the traditional mountain hike, warm embraces, emotional memories, Christmas carols, and winter sports, they explore the region through its traditions and by meeting people who share their success stories and discuss their impact on the region’s development and business in Ukraine. Details and dates for the 2027 trip will be published at a later date. You can see what it was like in previous years here.
Social Impact and Recovery
The Business on the Frontlines program, launched in 2008 at the University of Notre Dame by Professors Viva Bartkus and Emily Block, is led by Artem Kornetskyy. This program focuses on sustainable development and the recovery of vulnerable communities in Ukraine through business consulting, analytics, and strategic planning.
Graduates can participate in the program for three years. Initially, they serve as direct members of consulting teams; later, they act as mentors and instructors for new teams.
This summer, the project expanded beyond the Lviv region — in addition to the Novorozdil community, the Verkhovyna settlement community became the second location on the recovery map. The final presentations will take place in October 2026.
Major Annual Events: Leadership Day and Alumni Awards
Leadership Day is an event that provides a platform to present unique insights not found in textbooks or open sources. It typically involves an in-depth analysis of Ukrainian leadership cases — particularly military leadership and unique experiences of resilience — that are often unknown to the general public. The event offers a glimpse into the essence of decision-making under extreme conditions and helps participants adapt these tools to manage their own teams in both the business and civil sectors.
The Alumni Awards are our tradition of honoring the achievements of alumni who inspire and bring about positive change in the business community and the country, and who contribute to the development of society and our community. This annual ceremony honors UCU Business School alumni for achievements in categories approved by the Alumni Association Council in collaboration with the Business School.
The Alumni Awards ceremony will traditionally take place in November 2026.
The Alumni Association is a space that opens up great opportunities. Join our initiatives, become a mentor, and create change together with the UCU Business School!
