Citi Ukraine continues its support of humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine. In the autumn of 2025, Citi Ukraine provided a grant to the educational charity Svitlo School. The grant’s purpose is to provide Ukrainian children with free, high-quality English-language education and contribute to their leadership potential, both in Ukraine and internationally.
Since the founding of Svitlo School, over than three thousand children have studied here. Sixty-two native English speakers currently conduct free English lessons for Ukrainian children. Lessons, psycho-emotional support and leadership development programs are structured to address the needs of children experiencing war and forced displacement. Two hundred and forty-four new students have joined Svitlo School since the beginning of the school year. The school's mission is to educate and train a new generation of leaders in business, the public sector and public administration.
"Citi Ukraine is privileged to support the educational initiative from Svitlo School to develop an accessible educational system for children. This grant is our investment in the future of Ukraine, which will be shaped by the next generations. We believe that education can open new doors for children and build success stories," said Alexander McWhorter, Chairman of the Board of Citi Ukraine.
“This partnership with Citi confirms the value and impact of our work,” said Yuliya Kosko, CEO of Svitlo School. “Thanks to this support, we can scale our programs, reach more children — especially in underserved and frontline areas — and invest further in emotional well-being, teacher development, and innovative educational practices.”
The Svitlo School team will regularly share updates, student stories, and activity results on their digital platforms. The school invites the public and partners to join its journey and support its mission.
Since February 2022, Citi and the Citi Foundation have donated more than $8.5 million to support humanitarian initiatives, including reopening schools, providing legal and psychological counselling to women, and helping Ukrainian refugees find safe haven in other countries.
It has been present in Ukraine for more than 25 years, serving international companies, large Ukrainian corporations, some state institutions of the country and medium-sized businesses. Our offering covers all aspects of cash and liquidity management, trading and finance services, treasury services, corporate finance and lending, securities services and issuer services. We are honoured to help unlock the country's economic potential by serving nearly 500 clients, including the public sector, multinational corporations, leading Ukrainian companies and foreign investors wishing to invest in the Ukrainian market.
With the support of Citi Ukraine, Svitlo School is entering an important new stage of growth.
We are developing a dedicated online platform and mobile app that will become the digital home of our school. This new system will give students a smoother, more interactive learning experience - making it easier to join classes, track their progress and take part in the activities that help make our community special.
Alongside this, we are launching the Svitlo Graduates Programme to empower young Ukrainians aged 18-25 with the skills, language and global outlook they need to shape their future, despite the challenges of war.
Our latest survey revealed that 64% of older students worry about accessing higher education or securing employment. Svitlo Graduates will provide the structured support they need to plan their futures with confidence: personalised mentoring, expert-led workshops from industry leaders and practical guidance on early career development, university applications and entrepreneurship. Our aim is to prepare the next generation of skilled and resilient leaders who will shape Ukraine’s future.
To support this new stage of growth, we have welcomed three new team members in Ukraine: Lisa Tkachenko, Career Advisor Specialist, Svitlana Lykholit, Curriculum Corodinator, Vera Tkachenko, Timetable Coordinator.
