Daria Taradai:

Name: Daria Taradai
Country: Ukraine
Age: 25
Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, English, French

Relevant Experience:

I have a certain experience of participating in different initiatives for young people; also I have an experience of promotion of such organizations and networks, and I hope that as such my skills could be useful for the WYMD.

• 2002 – 2003 Editor of the student newspaper “MK”
• 2002 – 2004 Participant of the Project “School of Young Leaders”
• 2005 Internship in the Special Commission Ukraine – NATO of Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), duties – PR and communication
• 2009, September Participation in the II part of the MediaNext Program “New Media Communication”
• 2008 Responsible for the evaluation of applicants essays for the scholarship of Pinchuk Foundation “Zavtra-in-UA” (in 2007 I was among those who received this scholarship).

Professional experience (journalistic background that is important for promotion of the WYMD as well as teaching in the University):
• 2005 – September 2007 Editor, News Agency “Ukrainian News”
• 2007, September – 2007, December Reporter, News Agency “Ukrainian News”
• 2007, December – 2010, February Journalist in the department of international news, “5 channel”
• 2008, January – till now Lecturer at the Mohyla School of Journalism, NaUKMA
• 2010, April – till now Journalist at the Ukrainian Service of BBC

Why do you want to serve on the Board?

I feel that ideas lying in the base of the WYMD are important for me; I share them and really want to help promote them. I think that serving on the Board of the WYMD is a very responsible task that requires relevant skills, great desire to perform and initiate different activities. I hope very much that my skills can be useful for the members of the WYMD. As a lecturer I work a lot with the students of the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, that is why I have great possibilities to spread information about the WYMD among the students of one of the best Ukrainian universities.

What skills can you contribute to the leadership and objectives of the network?

Since 2005 I have been working as a journalist in different media, I have started in the news-agency as an editor and correspondent, than continued as a journalist at the “5th channel”, and finally I have started to work as the journalist/multimedia producer at the Ukrainian Service of BBC. The job of the journalist requires being active, curious, always interested in everything that is going on around, as well as always broadening ones own horizons, striving to self-perfection and development. I have also experience of establishing communication, and I think that such skills can be useful for reaching the objectives of the network. I am also accustomed to working with huge amounts of information, to prepare different documents as well as in translating them, and I think that such skills are necessary for the Board member of the WYMD.

Also I have experience with NGOs that protect the rights of children with HIV/AIDS. I was preparing materials for their web-site in order to attract the attention of journalists and to establish communication with media.

Finally, I can communicate freely (both orally and in written form) in three languages, the fourth language (French) I can also use in communication, but not yet for preparing some documents (however, I am working on it).

What do you envision for the future of the WYMD?

I think that young people are the most active and ready to act part of the humankind, and that is why I am deeply sure that everybody who wants to change this world for better should start by engaging young people. We have lots of different examples from history when young people dared to change the system and successfully did this. That is why I think that the activity of the WYMD has great perspectives.

There are numbers of people in different countries who feel that they would like to do something but do not know where to start and what to do. I think that the WYMD can easily help such people by widening its network, by providing the necessary knowledge and sharing experiences. Sometimes it is very important just to know that in the neighboring country there are people who are also fighting for such values as human rights or democratic elections. The WYMD should unite the most active people from different regions, so called leaders of opinions and in such a way the network can help people in a great number of countries.