The Board of Directors oversees and guides the organization’s operations, ensuring it fulfills its mission and adheres to legal and ethical standards. The Board sets the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. Nova Ukraine Board members serve the organization by volunteering their time and skills and do not receive compensation.
Ostap Korkuna | Director, Co-Chairman
Ostap Korkuna was born and raised in Lviv, Ukraine, and holds a master’s degree in informatics from Lviv National University. He moved to California in 2009 to work as a software engineer at Meta (then Facebook). Currently, he is the Director of Engineering at People.ai. In 2014, he became one of the founding members of Nova Ukraine. He strongly believes that no matter where we are geographically, we can still find ways to effectively help when a country and its people are in need. In 2023, President Zelenskyy recognized Korkuna’s work at Nova Ukraine by awarding him the Order of Merit III degree.
Mikola (Nick) Bilogorskiy | Director, Co-Chairman
Nick Bilogorskiy grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He worked on computer security at Facebook, co-founded the computer security company Cyphort, and led the Trust and Safety team at Google as a director. He is a serial investor in Silicon Valley technology companies. In 2014, he co-founded Nova Ukraine to give the young people of Ukraine’s diaspora a voice and as a simple way to help Ukraine. He loves giving back and feeling connected to his roots in Ukraine. At Nova Ukraine, he coordinates corporate relations. In 2022, Bilogorskiy was awarded the Order of Merit III degree by President Zelenskyy.
Michael Simbirsky | Director, Treasurer
Michael Simbirsky grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where he studied mathematics. In the mid-1990s, he moved to Israel before finally settling in California as a software engineer. He joined Nova Ukraine in 2014 to assist internally displaced persons. Before the war, he coordinated educational projects, the project “Help to wounded soldiers,” and others. He is now coordinating financial planning for Nova Ukraine’s broad humanitarian efforts.
Rodion Yaryy | Director
Rodion Yaryy grew up in Odesa, Ukraine, before moving to the US to pursue his education. After graduating from San Jose State University, he worked as a software engineer for several tech companies in San Francisco. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, he joined Nova Ukraine as a volunteer and later as a board member. He is involved in bringing new technology solutions to Nova Ukraine’s humanitarian efforts. He volunteers to help Ukrainians in the hardest of times, because he believes that together we can rebuild Ukraine as a more prosperous and democratic nation.
Dr. Igor L Markov | Director
Dr. Markov grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to the US in 1993 for graduate studies at UCLA. He worked at Google and is currently a research scientist at Meta (Facebook), focusing on AI platforms. As a former professor at the University of Michigan and a visiting professor at Stanford, he co-authored 5 books, peer-reviewed over 200 publications, and supervised 12 Ph.D. degrees. Markov initially served on Nova Ukraine’s Advisory Board and was then elected to the Board of Directors. Before the invasion in 2022, he curated Nova Ukraine’s COVID-19 response, advertising efforts, and publicity materials. Since 2022, he’s led government and media relations, contributed to fundraising, and established and curated large medical projects and evacuation efforts.
Iryna Bilokin | Director, Secretary
A Nova Ukraine co-founder, Iryna Bilokin was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. Having worked for the International Organization for Migration, she has extensive experience in capacity building in migration management, as well as in migrant and refugee programs of direct assistance, institutional reforms, and education. With a passion for art, her focus in recent years has been on art education for vulnerable children, and on the promotion of Ukrainian culture at large.
Larisa Nadukhovskaya | Director
Larisa Nadukhovskaya grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to the US in the early 1990s. She studied medicine in the US and trained at the LA County USC Emergency Medicine program. After moving to the Bay Area, she trained residents at UCSF San Francisco General Hospital ER, served as director and chairwoman in private hospital settings, and served on the Emergency Medical Care Committee for San Mateo county. In 2022, she joined Nova Ukraine as a medical team lead and later as a board member. Currently she coordinates providing critically needed medical aid to Ukraine, focusing on interventions that improve health care and help save patients’ lives in Ukraine.
Sergey Kishchenko | Director
Sergey Kishchenko grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He moved to California in 2013 to join Google where he currently works as a software engineer on the AI Research team. After the 2014 invasion, he joined Nova Ukraine as a volunteer. In 2022, he led the newly formed Ground Ops team and coordinated the evacuation efforts, procurements, and delivery of critical supplies. He joined the Board of Directors of Nova Ukraine with a strong commitment to build a peaceful, hospitable, free Ukraine.