Since the Kyiv Post established the Top 30 Under 30 awards in 2016, the event has become a big success.
For the last four years, the newspaper has honored young Ukrainian leaders who have achieved impressive results in all kinds of fields, moving the nation toward a brighter future.
The most recent Top 30 Under 30 ceremony took place on Dec. 10 as part of the Kyiv Post’s Tiger Conference, bringing the prize’s alumni club to 120 members.
The awards have become so popular that the Kyiv Post will start holding the event separately from its Tiger Conference in 2020. The reason is to draw more attention to the winners and celebrate their achievements on a grander scale.
“We intend to make the contest truly national, making it known all over Ukraine, and involve more sponsors so that we can have a memorable award ceremony that involves the winners, their friends, family and colleagues, and all who are interested in attending,” Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner said.
Bonner says that over the four years of the award’s history, the Kyiv Post discovered many outstanding talents.
“Young people across the nation need to know that if they work hard and achieve, their contributions to Ukraine will be recognized,” he said.
Stars
The winners’ list features athletes, officials, entrepreneurs, inventors, artists and civic activists. Since Top 30 Under 30, they have continued to achieve.
The athletes are stars far beyond Ukraine’s borders. One of the 2016 winners, boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, has conquered new heights since then. In 2018, Usyk became the third boxer in history to acquire the title of undisputed cruiserweight champion. He hasn’t lost any of his 17 professional fights.
Another 2016 winner, sabre fencer Olha Kharlan, won three new world championship medals since then. Tennis player Elina Svitolina, who was a Top 30 Under 30 in 2017, conquered the top-ranked tournament WTA Finals and peaked as the world’s third-best tennis player.
Three recipients from different years tried on new roles as lawmakers. Activist and official Solomiia Bobrovska, entertainer Roman Hryshchuk and Greco-Roman wrestling champion Zhan Beleniuk are all members of the Ukrainian parliament now.
Hryshchuk, 30, believes that his Top 30 Under 30 prize was part of the reason he got elected in a single-member district in Kyiv. “We actively used it in the election campaign,” Hryshchuk told the Kyiv Post. “Yes, I’m young, but here’s the acknowledgment of my achievements.”
Other winners continued the fight on the civil society front. One of them, LGBTQ rights advocate and 2018 winner Sofiia Lapina, along with her team at the KyivPride nongovernmental organization, managed to attract a record number of participants to Kyiv’s Equality March this year.
The celebrity awardees have increased their success over the years, too. The lead singer of rock band The Hardkiss, Yulia Sanina, enjoyed the warm reception of her band’s three latest albums. The Hardkiss also continues to be one of the most award-winning groups in Ukraine, having collected 11 local music awards in three years.
Another 2016 winner, Anastasia Topolskaia, who performs under the stage name DJ Nastia, is in demand around the world. She recently became a resident of the United Kingdom’s BBC Radio 1, introducing her artistry to one of the world’s most popular music platforms.
More than networking
Over the years, the Top 30 Under 30 award appears to have created an alumni club. United by dedication to their crafts, passion and hard work, many winners felt an instant connection and kept in touch.
The group occasionally meets up, where they exchange information, both success stories and those about their failures. On the day after this year’s ceremony, the alumni spent an informal evening together.
Animal rights activist and 2017 winner Oleksandr Todorchuk, 31, often initiates such meetings. He says that the winners are not close friends, but value communication with each other.
“They are cool people from absolutely different fields,” Todorchuk said. “When such people gather around one table, it’s not just networking, it’s an opportunity to acquire absolutely new information.”
The awardees often support each other’s initiatives. When Todorchuk’s UAnimals initiative holds rallies for animal rights, he knows well that he will meet his fellow Top 30 Under 30 recipients there.
And, very recently, Todorchuk collaborated with fellow winners in the parliament. Along with other lawmakers, 2016 awardee Alyona Shkrum and Hryshchuk established an inter-faction group called “humane country” on Dec. 12. Initiated by Todorchuk, the group aims to promote humanistic values and protect animals from cruelty.
Inspiration
For many of the awardees, Top 30 Under 30 became a milestone.
One of the 2016 winners, LGBTQ activist Bogdan Globa, 31, now lobbies for human rights in the United States, where he moved the same year when he received the prize. At the time, Globa headed an NGO in Kyiv that held an LGBTQ-awareness campaign. The project sparked threats from far-right groups in Ukraine, so Globa decided to leave.
After moving, Globa founded Queer Ukraine in USA, an association of LGBTQ Ukrainians in the U.S., to build bridges between Congress and the Ukrainian parliament and boost their cooperation in developing human rights legislation for Ukraine.
Although Globa didn’t even attend the ceremony in 2016 because he was out of the country, he still feels attached to the award. He met fellow winners when they visited the U.S.
The activist says that he is always excited about the new winners because the selection process is transparent and the awardees appear to be deserving leaders.
“When I read the list of winners, I always feel relish,” Globa told the Kyiv Post.
He believes that the stories of the awardees are inspiring. And it is also a source of motivation for established professionals, including former winners, to keep working, he says.
But more than that, Globa says that the Top 30 Under 30 fulfills the important mission of recognizing people’s hard work, especially when it comes to human rights advocates. It was exactly that way for Globa, whose victory helped him overcome the stress of hateful threats in 2016.
“The prize gave me strength to recharge and start doing something for Ukraine in the United States,” he said.
Todorchuk agrees with Globa. Engaged in rescuing animals, Todorchuk says those he helps cannot thank him, which is why recognition like the Top 30 Under 30 is of major importance.
“The award is not about what you have already achieved but about the right direction that you took, in which you need to keep moving forward,” Todorchuk said.
