Academy of Women's Resilience: A New Project in Ukraine

About a year after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Valter Baldaccini Foundation began a collaboration with the Lviv Polytechnic University to implement interventions for those affected by the conflict. Since 2023, a project has been underway to provide training and job placement courses for women forced to flee those most affected by the conflict.

The Academy of Women's Resilience, a community for personal and professional growth

In a social and economic context marked by conflict and precariousness, the Academy of Women's Resilience has proven to be an initiative capable of offering concrete answers to the needs of many Ukrainian women.
Between March and June 2025, the project welcomed and trained 66 women between the ages of 20 and 60, helping them not only acquire professional skills but also regain confidence in themselves and their future.

The training courses, led by a team of professionals from the Ukrainian University, were held in a hybrid format, although most of the lessons were held online, to provide opportunities for both women and adults living in Lviv. The program is divided into three main modules:

• Emotional and Psychological Support
  Through sessions dedicated to emotional intelligence, emotion management, and improved interpersonal relationships, participants were able to strengthen their internal stability and acquire tools to deal with stressful situations, such as the one they are currently facing due to the war.
• Financial Education
  This module provided skills in economics, digital marketing, and job market reintegration strategies, with a particular focus on female entrepreneurship. Most of the women who attended the course had stable jobs that they were forced to abandon.
• Beyond Online Training: Networking and Partnerships
  Participants learned effective networking strategies, public speaking techniques, and the use of social media (LinkedIn and Instagram) for professional development, with a special focus on building supportive communities of women. In addition to the online training, the Academy also included an offline networking event to bridge the gap between theory and the real world, demonstrating how even in challenging times it is possible to build a career, start a business, and have a positive impact on one's community.

A video featuring the voices of some of the participants

The women who attended the course are ordinary women, living a daily life of work, study, family, and leisure, but the war took everything from them. Some project participants created a video dedicated to all women and the difficulties they may encounter in life. The Academy of Women's Resilience is a concrete example of how training, solidarity, and support can generate true, boundless resilience.