With Ukraine well into the fourth year of the war with Russia, the challenges it faces remain, yet there is talk of peace and planning is already underway for rebuilding the country once the war ends. It is with this in mind that the Unity Club was founded with the goal of helping Ukraine deal with the current war crisis and to help manage the transition into the post war environment. The club draws on leading experts in various sectors to provide advice, conduct public discourse and to provide possible roadmaps to both government and the private sector in an effort to stimulate discussion of the best ways to move Ukraine forward. Members are drawn from throughout the world ensuring that there is a wide array of views and expertise. This will also involve gauging the concerns and views of the Ukrainian public from all parts of the country to ensure that the people have a voice in building the country.

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Planned events include conferences, lectures, cultural displays, support of programs aimed at assisting Ukrainians and partnering with other groups to maximize levels of support. The Unity Club is a nonpartisan organization aimed at bringing various viewpoints together in an open and productive dialogue in order to form a cooperative platform for assisting in the rebirth of Ukraine. The issues the club will focus on include creating a strong and inviting business environment, including the fight against corruption, attracting investment, building civil society, developing independent media, helping the reintegration of veterans into society, strengthening Ukraine's ties to the outside world, particularly as regards its efforts to join the European Union, and working for more efficient and responsive government institutions. We believe that these efforts will create a magnet to attract many of the refugees who fled the country to return and to dedicate their talents to building the new Ukraine.

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Roman Popadiuk will serve as President of the Unity Club. Roman served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and continues to be active in various activities in support of Ukraine. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elevate Ukraine, a Texas based nonprofit dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Currently joining Roman in leading the work of the club are former California Governor and U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, Jim Moran, former Democrat Congressman, Senior U.S. Federal Judge Bohdan A. Futey, who has been very active in Rule of Law programs, especially in Ukraine, and Michael Sawkiw, President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Experts in various areas such as business, culture, medicine, technology and construction, among others, will provide the expertise in structuring programs to help Ukraine move forward. The inspiration for the Unity Club is Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Pavlo Chumak.

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Ukrainian businesses, like many in the western economies, need to develop a greater sense of corporate citizenship whereby they provide support to strengthen the social fabric of society. This involves, among other things, supporting the arts, education, providing for the needy and becoming partners in the local communities where they operate. Building this sense of corporate citizenship is important for creating an attractive business environment to help the country grow. The Unity Club, therefore, is making a special effort to work with both foreign and domestic companies to help build a tradition of corporate citizenship.

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One project that ties corporate citizenship with a great social need for Ukraine is the challenge of reintegrating veterans as meaningful members of society. The challenge is on two fronts: medical and societal. On the medical front there is a great need for prosthetics care and dealing with mental disabilities, especially issues of PTSD. Many groups, both domestic and foreign, are involved in providing prosthesis and psychological support.

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On the societal front, there is the challenge of reintegrating veterans as gainful members of society. This involves, primarily, providing meaningful employment, obtaining the requisite skills for jobs and creating social support networks. It is important to get the private sector involved, particularly as regards employment issues. The Unity Club plans to help integrate veterans into the job market by working with private and public companies to provide the employment opportunities, necessary skill sets and to provide family counseling to help veterans reintegrate into society and not fall prey to alcoholism or drug addiction. Unity will work with a number of other organizations, such as Modern Ukraine, a major Ukrainian nonprofit, that already works with veterans and has an established network. Other supporting groups include Elevate Ukraine and Penta Medical Recycling, a U.S. nonprofit which provides prosthesis.

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As an initial step, Unity will be reaching out to both the domestic and foreign business communities to enroll their support on behalf of Ukrainian veterans and their families. As a start, Mr. Chumak’s businesses commit to hiring a number (5?) of veterans. Complete information about the Unity Club initiative on behalf of veterans can be found on its website. Unity looks forward to working with all interested parties in helping the veterans and starting the rebuilding of a prosperous, democratic and secure Ukraine.