Leading Ukraine Relief Initiatives Highlighted Through KIN Action Event

April 6th, 2022

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The goal of the Knowledge Impact Network’s (KIN) ‘Powerful Stories from Ukraine Leaders to Inspire Action’ event was to accelerate and amplify assistance to Ukrainians, and indeed, the talk spurred a flurry of follow-up discussions and collaborations. 

Common themes raised during and after the event in subsequent coordination dialogues include: 

1) Obtaining continued funding past the initial rally will be a challenge, as the war is likely to last for some time and aid reserves are depleting

2) Raising awareness among Ukrainians on the myriad aid services available is challenging when it is difficult to reach them

3) Safe distribution of goods and supplies within Ukraine is extremely challenging in an active war zone.  Talks are continuing among the Ukraine relief initiative leaders to accelerate and amplify impact for Ukrainians in need

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Below are some initiatives being spearheaded and coordinated by KIN.

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To learn more or help with these efforts, or to seek ways to amplify your own Ukrainian relief initiative, contact info@knowledgeimpactnetwork.org. 

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One initiative shared with participants was a peer-to-peer humanitarian aid matching platform called the LifeForce Ukraine Project. (https://ai4good.org/the-lifeforce-project/). Championed by the Chairman of the AI for Good Foundation’s Executive Committee, Mark Minevich, in concert with EverestEffect and partners on the ground in Ukraine, LifeForce Ukraine ensures a coordinated and resilient response of government and NGO resources, providing immediate support, advice and real time content on a secure platform to those who are most affected in Ukraine. 

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Its first set of services:

• CONNECTS real time aid requirements with available support & resources
• ALERTS civilians about supplies, shelters, transport, and dangerous situations in their vicinity
• SECURES civilian and critical online infrastructure
• PROTECTS humanitarian data and locational assets and resources

Contact for more information info@knowledgeimpactnetwork.org. 

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Another relief effort was described by Rachel Dew, DNM, PhD, the CEO of ModiHealth– a health technology company providing free emergency medical and mental health care, and emotional trauma first aid and mental health support for Ukrainians via its tele-health platform. In addition to medical and mental health care, ModiHealth is also focused on providing medical care and first aid training, and emotional trauma first aid and mental health training for those in Ukraine as well as those in border countries currently providing support for refugees. Medical and mental health services and training are being piloted now in Ukraine, with awareness of its platform being shared by word of mouth. Dr. Dew, whose family are Lithuanian immigrants with many distant relatives currently living within Ukraine, hopes to raise awareness of this free service more broadly among Ukrainians in need. For more information, or to volunteer, click on the link above or directly contact Dr. Dew [ rachel@modiht.com]. 

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Housing innovator DignityMoves Founder Elizabeth Funk is working in partnership with KIN to explore bringing small interim housing units for Ukrainian refugees in need. Leveraging the high quality, insulated, and portable pre-fabricated homes DignityMoves has built to serve the homeless in California, KIN and DignityMoves could provide a longer lasting solution for families to live with dignity as more permanent housing becomes available or during the rebuild and recovery period for homes bombed in Ukraine.  DignityMoves and KIN are currently in the feasibility and validation phase, and are seeking a Feasibility Study Manager to spend three months assessing the need, local partners, and logistics of bringing thousands of interim housing units for Ukrainians.  Contact for more information info@knowledgeimpactnetwork.org. 

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Grace Children’s Foundation offers GCF’s Children's Resource Exchange (CRE)—an emerging cloud-based, HIPAA compliant platform to coordinate aid for children from Ukraine who are in need of medical/surgical and rehabilitative care with doctors, hospitals and non-clinical services. Nancy Robertson, GCF Founder, spoke about the need to obtain information about the medical conditions, locations and numbers of children who have been displaced and are unable to access vital healthcare resources. For more information, contact Nancy Robertson [nancy.robertson@gracechildren.org].

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Payel Farasat, the Co-Founder/Managing Principal of V4 CAPITAL, a bespoke private equity impact house and endowment fund manager, and KIN Global Advisor, has experience connecting food and medical supplies to India during the height of the pandemic.  She shared how she is now pivoting her resources to ensure that Ukrainians are getting much needed aid.  For instance, she was part of a $550,000 raise to get a chartered cargo plane with 100 pallets of excess inventory medical supplies ranging from PPE to baby food from New York to Poland and Romania for Ukrainian refugees. She was also part of an effort to fund hot meals served to the refugees and volunteers at several humanitarian corridor exits and borders by the brave Khalsa Aid International crew. Coordinating with Lena Minitch, active in her YPO Kyiv chapter for coordinating supplies needed within Ukraine, Payel’s ongoing efforts are focused in these areas:

• Trauma care, helping procure Individual First Aid Kits (“ambulance in a backpack”) from her US military and private contracting connections.
• Pharmaceuticals, helping procure essential medicines, surgical medical equipment and specialized bandages for overwhelmed hospitals.
• Food, helping procure canned foods like MREs, vegan protein powders and similar non-perishables for the refugees at the 5 borders. 
• Telecom, helping procure tech equipment to replace and repair the communications infrastructure in Ukraine that has been damaged and destroyed by bombings.

“Even in my wildest imagination I didn’t think we would be still talking about the invasion in present tense,” Payel says. “I really thought we’d be focusing on economic redevelopment, returning locals and rebuilding communities by now, but sadly it’s not how it goes.” To support her efforts on food and medical access, contact Payel Farasat. [payelfarasat@gmail.com].

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