Oxford

Russian NGO leaders announced as 2019 Vladimir Potanin Foundation Fellows

Published

The Fellowships are awarded to professionals working in Russia on projects addressing social challenges

Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and the Vladimir Potanin Foundation are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 Vladimir Potanin Foundation Fellowships. Now in its third year of a three-year initiative, the Fellowships are awarded to professionals working in Russia on projects addressing social challenges, and provide a fully-funded place on the week-long Oxford Social Finance Programme.

The Fellows accepted for the highly coveted Vladimir Potanin Foundation Fellowship are:

  • Mrs Natalia Zaitseva, President, Head of Sustainable Business Centre, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO (non-profit), Moscow
  • Mr Grigory Sverdlin, Director, Charity Organization Nochlezka (Shelter), St. Petersburg
  • Ms Anastasia Basenko, Deputy Head, Resource Center of Nonprofit Organizations of the Ivanovo Region, Ivanovo
  • Ms Maria Oborina, Senior Analyst, Fund Civic Analysis and Independent Research (Centre GRANY), Perm
  • Ms Ekaterina Babina, Head of Major Gifts Programme, SOS Children's Villages Russia, Moscow

The selection process was competitive, with 40 applications for the Fellowship received in total, demonstrating a growing recognition of the programme and the development of the social finance sector in Russia. The 40 applications for this year’s Fellowships were received from organisations across the third sector including charities, foundations and regional, national and international NGOs.

One of the key ambitions from the programme is to understand how to use a combination of funding models to secure the ongoing work of their organisation, and to develop this learning not only through the Oxford faculty, but also the range of CEO level industry experts presenting on the programme, and their global group of peers.

Oksana Oracheva, General Director of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation, said: ‘We see the relevance for the latest mechanisms of financing non-profit organisations in Russia. Venture philanthropy and social investing is being practiced by the third sector more often. Among diversity of Russian NGOs endowment subject has been of great interest and keeps developing. The Social Finance Programme enables participants to learn about innovative finance instruments, ensuring sustainability. Many graduates from previous years are already adapting and scaling up in Russia knowledge they have gained through the programme. This year fellows will again discuss with social finance leaders ways to solve global challenges, contributing to the development of the NGO’s sector once back home.’

We are looking forward to hearing fresh perspectives from their respective sectors and regions.

Alex Nicholls

Professor of Social Entrepreneurship

Alex Nicholls, Academic Director of the Oxford Social Finance Programme and Professor of Social Enterprise at Saïd Business School said: ‘We are pleased to welcome the third cohort of Vladimir Potanin fellows to the Oxford Social Finance Programme. Over the last two years, participants have joined us from a range of organisations varying in size, sector and region. They will be joining the ranks of previous participants from organisations such as Altai State University, The Centre for NGO Development and Foundation Navstrechu Peremenam. We are looking forward to hearing fresh perspectives from their respective sectors and regions.’

Gayle Peterson, Programme Director of the Social Finance Programme, said: ‘The Oxford Saïd Social Finance Programme gives participants the opportunity to learn from Oxford faculty, industry pioneers and peers from across the globe to develop innovative ways of addressing large social challenges and tackling the UN’s SDGs. Participants will leave Oxford having built the skills to access finance – whether through grants, venture philanthropy, or impact investing and with a social finance strategy for their organisation. We are grateful to the Vladimir Potanin Foundation for enabling these participants to attend and represent the Russian landscape in social finance’.

Guest faculty on this year’s programme include: Phyllis Costanza, CEO UBS Optimus Foundation; Bruce Lourie, CEO Ivey Foundation; Ellen Dorsey, CEO, Wallace Global Fund; Naina Batra, CEO AVPN.