Olivier Vedrine came to Ukraine in 2012 to open a business school in Kyiv, but couldn’t. The French political scientist says it was impossible because of bureaucracy and corruption, so he put the project on hold.
Seven years later, Vedrine is launching the Global Transformation Academy — weekly seminars on business and governance in Kyiv by practicing specialists from around the world. And it’s better than a business school, he says.
“The academy is a showcase for an ecosystem that connects entrepreneurs and civil servants with our speakers — successful and experienced businessmen,” Vedrine, president of the academy, told the Kyiv Post.
Besides the academy, this “ecosystem” will include branches that help participants with legal and security expertise — GT Legal and GT Security — as well as investment for some of their projects — GT Fund. GT Media branch provides publicity and records the seminars on video.
The idea for this kind of system belongs to Henry Shterenberg, a U.S. investment banker who founded and finances the academy to “build a ‘shared economy’ of knowledge, experience and network.”
Shterenberg asked Vedrine to lead the academy. Both men share a sentiment for Ukraine: Shterenberg was born in Ukraine and Vedrine has lived here for seven years, including the crucial winter months of the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych from power on Feb. 22, 2014.
A lecturer on behalf of the European Commission, Vedrine, 50, spent days in the makeshift camp of the EuroMaidan talking with protesters. After the revolution, Vedrine hosted several shows on geopolitics on Ukrainian TV, including on the state international broadcaster. He also wrote articles in support of Ukraine in its European integration and against the war that Russia is waging against the country.
“It was counter-propaganda. Now what’s important is the economy,” Vedrine says. “So it’s logical that my support now goes to business and economy in Ukraine.”
Global Transformation Academy started in August with a free seminar on investment appeal for businesses. Vedrine says that almost 50 people attended the first seminar — mostly business executives and some academics.
Every seminar will have a moderator and at least two speakers. Some speakers will connect via Skype, and can speak either English, Russian or Ukrainian. Also, during the two-hour seminar, students debate with the speakers. Ideally, 20 to 50 students are needed to make this interactive format work, Vedrine says. But the number of students barely reached 20 at the third seminar about competition and collaboration, which the Kyiv Post attended on Sept. 11.
The academy hopes to gain popularity by the end of the year. Until then, most courses are free to attend. Starting in January 2020, the academy will charge Hr 500–750 ($25–30) per person for each seminar, or Hr 250 ($10) for the live video stream of the course, according to Vedrine.
“We want to show what we can do,” Vedrine says. “People can see what we can give and then decide whether they want to come again and pay. And so far, we see a lot of persons coming back for the second and third seminars.”
Vedrine says they have about 70 speakers in their network from the Americas, Europe and Asia, including Frank Richter, former director of the World Economic Forum and current chairman of Horasis, a platform for cooperation between developed and emerging markets.
In coming weeks, the academy will hold seminars on mergers and acquisitions by investment banker Rod Robertson, on legal roads to U.S. markets by Kyiv-based American lawyer Christopher Giles and on the marijuana business by Stan Zislis, CEO of the U. S. Silver Stem Fine Cannabis company. For now, the speakers are also giving courses for free.
The academy doesn’t have an office yet and holds the seminars Wednesdays at 7 p. m. out of Platforma Co-working in Kyiv’s Leonardo Business Center (4th floor, 17B Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.). Registration at www.gtaua.org is required to attend the courses.
