How Mom’s Monday project is changing the lives of Ukrainian mothers — the story of the Values and Society seminar alumni

The Aspen Institute Kyiv team believes that leadership dialogue and its impact are not limited to the audience where it is held. A sincere exchange of ideas and a desire to understand others create the ground for practical changes. After the Values and Society seminar — 10, Olga Serdyuk and Anna Mazur came up with the idea of a joint project. As a result, more than 1115 women received assistance in 2024. Read more about it below.

Olga Serdyuk, Director of the Olena Pinchuk Foundation, and Anna Mazur, CEO & Founder of Happy Monday, share a common goal: to help women find a balance between professional fulfillment and personal life. Their cooperation became the basis for the Mom’s Monday project. The NGO ‘Pregnancy and Maternity Support Club “Lada” has also become one of the project’s partners. The idea was born after a leadership seminar. The trigger was a discussion of Sheryl Sandberg’s text “Embrace the Revolution,” which focused on women’s challenges during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and the first years of a child’s life. The seminar also showed that combining different experiences and knowledge can produce more outstanding societal results.

Mom’s Monday is a support space for women with young children, enabling them to return to active professional life. The program includes psychological support, lectures on reproductive health, body practices, and career counseling. Moreover, professional babysitters work during the events, allowing mothers to focus independently. 

In 2024, the collaboration with Happy Monday took Mom’s Monday to a new level. Together, they held 16 events that helped more than 1115 women. Participants gained access to career counseling, sent their resumes for review, attended coaching sessions, and learned about professional development opportunities. 

“The Aspen Institute Kyiv seminars bring together people with similar aspirations and goals,” says Olga Serdyuk, “For Anna and I, the idea of women’s professional realization, their economic independence, and enjoyment of what they do is common and close to the heart. The main thing this partnership brings is debunking myths that motherhood and career are incompatible.” 

Anna Mazur notes: “The seminar provided common understanding, a foundation of values, and enabled fast and effective cooperation. We resolved organizational issues quickly, launched real projects for women’s professional realization and career development, and created a support network for finding specialists for the participating teams. The seminar is not just a knowledge-sharing but a dialog platform that stimulates action and builds deep mutual understanding and openness. This allows us to quickly overcome organizational barriers, build trust, and move on to the most important thing — implementing important initiatives.”

This story is an example of leadership synergy and cooperation that is improving Ukrainian society.