When I think about my time at the foundation, I don't start counting from the moment I became its head. I joined the team in January 2021 as a copywriter, later coordinated support for political prisoners, and in October 2022 took on the leadership role.
I'm deeply grateful to the foundation's first director, Masha Moroz — she was the one who gave me this opportunity and believed in me. I'd like to think that today she can be proud: the foundation hasn't just kept going — it has grown, become stronger, and brought together dedicated, professional people. The team is different now; Slava and I built it together, but these are people I genuinely admire. Each one individually, and all of them together.
There was one moment that was especially difficult for me. In the autumn of 2022, I took on responsibility for the foundation. It was a hard time — almost no resources, just Slava and me in the team. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold on. I remember clearly how Slava calmly said: "Everything will work out." There was so much strength in that certainty that my doubts faded. And it truly did work out.
Sadly, the need for help hasn't gone away. Repression in Belarus continues, and despite more than three thousand people having already been released, the number of political prisoners remains significant. So the work must go on. We need to find opportunities, work more effectively and responsibly, and make each day better than the last — until everyone is free.
The foundation's strength lies in its people. Those who, often at the limits of their own resources, do invisible but vital work. Public-facing and behind-the-scenes staff alike — they are all parts of one great mechanism. The foundation exists as long as each person on the team holds firm to the inner resolve not to give up and to support those who are struggling the most.
I'd like the team to always remember why we came together. The foundation was born as a response to the pain and injustice that Belarus experienced after the 2020 elections, when thousands of people found themselves in crisis and needed support.
Our mission is simple and important — to help. And our core value is human rights. Everything we do must rest on that foundation.
There is no "perfect" moment — there is only a sense of readiness. Change happens when people are ready for it, and the team above all.
For me, it was important to put the internal processes in place so that the work wouldn't stop for a single day when leadership changed. We spent about six months preparing, passing on responsibilities step by step. And now I feel at peace: the foundation will keep moving forward.
Everything will work out. You are about to become a new chapter in the story of a foundation that means so much to all of us — one into which so much strength and heart have been poured. I believe in you, in the team, and in everyone who offers their support.
I'm always here. I'm the shoulder you can lean on in the hardest times. Take care of each other, and cherish what we have today.
Every donation helps support political prisoners and their families, giving them hope and the means to overcome challenges.
