News
21.04.2026
Victor Pinchuk Foundation Launches First International Leadership Program for Ukrainian Veterans
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation is launching the Ukrainian Veterans Leadership Program (UVLP), the first international leadership program specially created for Ukrainian veterans, designed to develop leadership capacity through access to world-class educational practices. The program is a cornerstone of the Foundation’s long-term commitment to fostering leadership in Ukraine.
A collaboration with Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs will serve as the pilot phase of the program. Under this framework, the first cohort of 15 Ukrainian veterans will travel to the United States in late April 2026 for an intensive training residency.
Participants will engage with leading faculty and practitioners in leadership, strategic thinking and decision-making in complex environments. The program focuses in particular on developing leadership skills that are transferable across all spheres of life: military service, communities, business and civic society.
“Those who defended Ukraine have already demonstrated their exceptional leadership,” said Victor Pinchuk, businessman and philanthropist, founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. “They deserve nothing but the very best — be it the finest education, the world-class rehabilitation or the highest standard of care and support in all areas.This leadership program in Yale provides them with access to the best global learning,”
“While mentorship from the world-leading professors will empower our heroes, I am equally convinced that Yale’s faculty, and indeed all of us, have much to learn from them,” he added.
UVLP is a vital addition to the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s leadership ecosystem. For two decades the Foundation has been dedicated to empowering the next generation of changemakers through initiatives such as Aspen leadership seminars; Zavtra.UA (the largest scholarship program in Ukraine); and WorldWideStudies (an international scholarship program for Ukrainian students). This new leadership track complements Victor and Olena Pinchuk’s existing veterans and military-focused projects: RECOVERY, which focuses on high-tech physical rehabilitation for military persons and veterans; RETURNING, which provides essential mental health support for military persons, veterans and their families, as well as Message from the Frontline initiative by Ukrainian veterans and soldiers to share insights with Western decision-makers.
"We are proud to welcome these veterans to Yale Jackson," said Jim Levinsohn, Charles W. Goodyear Professor of Global Affairs and Dean of "Our faculty and senior fellows are leading experts in history, economics, political science, and the practice of global affairs — and they will offer participants a new perspective on both their past contributions and the paths ahead."
Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs is a professional school offering interdisciplinary academic programs that prepare students for global leadership and service. Its graduate programs include the Master of Public Policy and the Master of Advanced Study in Global Affairs, along with a number of joint-degree and undergraduate offerings. Yale University, founded in 1701, is committed to improving the world today and for future generations through outstanding research, scholarship, education, and practice.
