Intergenerational Mentoring

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine two-and-a-half years ago, twin sisters Kateryna and Iryna Platon fled to Lausanne, Switzerland, via a refugee camp in Poland.

"Arriving here felt like playing a game when you don't know the world or rules and you just have to survive," says Kateryna. As they face the challenge of adjusting to a new country, the war and their family's safety are never far from their thoughts.

The sisters, aged 26, taught English in Ukraine, but that isn't an option in Lausanne since such a job required fluency in French, a language neither of them knew.

The sisters received critical help from two established humanitarian aid organizations, Ukraine Day Center and Ukraine Reborn, and a nonprofit initiative called USpring.

Launched a year ago, USpring is an intergenerational mentoring program powered entirely by volunteers. It connects experienced Swiss-based professionals with Ukrainian refugees looking to build new lives and careers.

USpring is the brainchild of Herb Riband, 62, an American who has lived in Switzerland for over 25 years, and Dmytro Milashchuk, 48, a Ukrainian who moved to Switzerland more than a decade ago. They met while volunteering at the Ukraine Day Center. Both have extensive corporate experience and connections to experienced people willing to volunteer their time as career mentors.

"These young Ukrainians are highly skilled and we have a labor shortage of skilled people in Switzerland," Riband says. "How can we connect the dots? Some of them may go back to Ukraine some day and they can be a critical part of rebuilding the country. But others may stay here and build a new life and career here. How can we help them do that?"

USpring started small, matching 20 people for a three- to six-month pilot test. Eight of the 10 pairs reported mutually positive experiences. There are now 26 pairs working together with a goal of reaching 50 pairs this fall.

Kateryna was matched with Jeremy McTeague, 65, founder of the Ukraine Day Center. "Kateryna is highly motivated and really wants to make the most of the time that she's here," he says. "And I find the way she communicates refreshingly blunt. She's taught me a lot about Ukrainian culture."

Kateryna says meeting McTeague, who served in the British Army before coming to Switzerland, felt like "accessing a cheat code," describing him as a great listener who always gives very clear instructions.

"He gave me so many life hacks," she says. "Like, in Ukraine, when you ask someone to say something nice about you or make a professional connection, it's seen as an improper advantage. But in Switzerland, personal recommendations are very important. That was a huge paradigm shift for me."

After completing an internship at the U.N. and working for the business center for the Vaud cantonal government, Kateryna began working for an organization that supports Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland while also learning French.

"I'm now looking for a new job again and I'm going to ask Jeremy for a cup of coffee," she says. "It feels amazing to know that I can go back to him and that he is there for me."

Kateryna's sister, Iryna, also completed an internship at the U.N. in Geneva, where she worked alongside younger interns who chatted mostly about partying and trips to Paris or Milan. "Maybe because of this trauma that I have now, I am still young, but deep inside I am old," Iryna says. "I can't be so cheerful or carefree. I didn't do the internship for fun. It was a serious step in my life."

After the internship, Iryna took an online course in digital marketing. "I think this direction is something that makes sense for me," she says about her current job search, "because I want to do something creative that is still in communications."

Iryna is grateful to have continued support from her USpring mentor Geri Bose, 60, who was born in India, raised in America and now lives in Switzerland.

"I felt connected to her from the first meeting, and I felt a sense of relief," Iryna says. "Geri has been through a lot in her life and all those experiences helped shape her. She always finds such deep and encouraging words that speak to my heart."

She and Bose have been working together for the past year. "I'm always encouraging Iryna to go beyond what she thinks she can do," says Bose. "This is a time like no other. Her life has been completely changed so it's a great time to change her career, too."

Working with Iryna and another mentee through USpring has helped Bose, too. She says she mostly ignores the news media because of its negativity and appreciates how her mentees give her a more balanced picture of what's happening in Ukraine. "These are real people with real lives and it helps me enormously to hear their stories," she says.

The Swiss cantonal government has taken interest in what USpring is doing, recently providing them with funding to support their continued growth. "This is what the government ultimately wants," says Bose, "for talented Ukrainians to contribute to the country."

Career transitions and moving to a new country are never easy, even when doing it with the security of a corporate job. That's something mentors McTeague and Bose and USpring co-founders Riband and Milashchuk all know.

But navigating these changes as a young Ukrainian refugee can be extraordinarily difficult. "It's one thing to be doing it because you want to," says Riband. "It's another to be doing it because you have to."

Providing young Ukrainian refugees with a sense of renewed purpose is motivating Riband and Milashchuk to continue expanding USpring by adding new mentoring pairs.

"The war is a massive trauma in our society," Milashchuk says, "but if younger Ukrainians are able to find themselves and find new meaning in their careers and lives, it will be a huge achievement."

Sarah McKinney Gibson is a storytelling and media specialist at CoGenerate, a national nonprofit that brings younger and older people together to solve problems and bridge divides. Read More