Valeriia Ivanova is a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund (GMF), where she conducts research on Ukraine's postwar recovery and anti-corruption efforts. Her analysis is aimed at proposing effective strategies for rebuilding infrastructure amid wartime challenges. She also develops initiatives to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms within Ukraine's governmental structures.
Before joining GMF, Ivanova held the position of deputy head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine. During her tenure, the agency focused on addressing the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine, implementing measures to protect critical infrastructure, and restoring social infrastructure and logistical networks. While in this role, she participated in the development and implementation of policies aimed at ensuring transparency and combating corruption in the execution of infrastructure projects.
Ivanova is the key expert on corruption prevention in recovery efforts within the USAID “Pro-Integrity in the Public Sector” project. She leads a team responsible for implementing a project aimed at developing and executing a framework establishing clear rules and mechanisms for preventing, detecting, and addressing corruption at various stages of the recovery process.
Until 2022, Ivanova served as an official at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine, where she specialized in the strategic analysis of corruption risks and developed strategies to minimize them within public administration. Before joining public service, Ivanova worked in the civil sector and for one of Ukraine’s most influential independent investigative journalism organizations, where she conducted investigations into cases of illicit enrichment by officials and unlawful influence on the formation and implementation of state policy. Ivanova holds a master’s degree from Dnipropetrovsk National University with a major in journalism.
In 2003, Taras Byk was a trainee at the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in Lviv, afterwards, he worked as a journalist and head of the World news department at the Lvivska Gazeta newspaper. In 2006, he moved to Kyiv where he worked for 3.5 years at the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, and then went for a six-month internship at the European Commission in Brussels. Afterward, for 8.5 years, he worked with the International Republican Institute on the development of democratic practices all over Ukraine.
In 2019, Taras joined Wooden Horse Strategies as a political and business consultant. During 2021, Taras was Head of the Advisory Board to the Mayor of Rivne, Ukraine. When Russia launched Big War on Ukraine, Taras stayed in Kyiv helping Armed Forces as a volunteer and has worked on humanitarian assistance projects. Then, he joined the Community Volunteer Formation of the Territorial Defense of Kyiv. Responding to new challenges before Ukraine, Taras became Director of the NGO “COD Help Ukraine – Operation Palianytsia” organizing support for military and humanitarian projects in Ukraine. Finally, since 2022 Taras has been a Member of the Board of the NGO “Agency for Recovery and Development” providing help to municipalities in different parts of Ukraine, especially, close to the frontline, on their recovery and development.