Synergy in Action: Mentors, Participants, Partnerships

An intensive mentoring week in Luzhany and Chernivtsi brought six one-to-one consultations—three in Luzhany and three in Chernivtsi—that helped Business School participants of the project “Reintegration of War Veterans through the Creation of Educational Opportunities: Ours for Ours” spotlight the strengths of their ideas, cut the excess, and move from dreams to concrete steps.

In parallel, mentors Oksana Palagecha and Oksana Danyliuk held a joint session to shape a collaboration strategy among participants. The first cross-participant cooperation emerged—a pilot “Women’s Transformation Project,” uniting a hair stylist, a psychologist, a photographer, and a rehabilitation center. It’s not just about services—it’s about support, confidence, and restoring a sense of strength through care and tangible results.

The range of business ideas is broad: sewing enterprises, coffee shops, nail salons, flower studios, baking/pastry, retail trade, farming (including horticulture), carpentry workshops, and sports-related initiatives. Some participants are still choosing their niche—and here mentoring serves as a compass, helping them validate ideas and assemble viable business models.

Mentoring is a crucial stage of the Business School, where the transition “from learning to launch” happens. Within mentoring, participants:

• validate their ideas and test hypotheses with real customers;
• build a financial model and a launch roadmap;
• receive individual guidance on legal and operational steps;
• join a community of partnerships and collaborations that amplify each business.

The project “Reintegration of War Veterans through the Creation of Educational Opportunities: Ours for Ours”, implemented by the “Public Resources and Initiatives” Charity Foundation in partnership with DVV International in Ukraine with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.