Tetiana Pechonchyk

Head of the Board of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA. The organization was founded in 2012 and is engaged in informational, educational, monitoring, analytical, and advocacy human rights activities in Ukraine.

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Studied at Harvard University under the program of the Ukrainian Research Institute (2006), at the Ukrainian School of Political Studies (2008), and the Mohyla School of Journalism (Digital Future of Journalism program) (2011).

In 2010, defended the thesis entitled “The concept of ‘freedom of speech’ in modern Ukrainian mass media discourse” at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Has an academic degree of a Candidate of Sciences.

In 2007-2011, worked at UNIAN news agency as an editor of the Human Rights special project. Contributed to Ukrayinska Pravda and Dzerkalo Tyzhnia media outlets as a journalist.

Since 2012, a monitor of the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture and Ill-treatment in Ukraine under the “Ombudsman Plus” model.

Since 2016, a member of the Commission on Journalistic Ethics which considers conflict ethical and professional situations arising in the journalistic environment.

In 2020, received the “Human Rights Tulip” award from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.

In 2021, became a member of the board of DEJURE organization created to promote the rule of law and justice reforms in Ukraine.

In 2021, rated among the Top 100 most influential women in Ukraine according to Focus magazine.

After the beginning of large-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, ZMINA, headed by Tetiana Pechonchyk, together with other 30 NGOs, founded Ukraine 5AM Coalition which is engaged in documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity to protect the victims of Russian armed aggression in Ukraine and hold the top leadership of Russia and the direct perpetrators of the crimes to account.

In May 2022, ZMINA received the OSCE Democracy Defender Award “for outstanding contribution to promoting and protecting fundamental freedoms and human rights in both non-government and government-controlled territories in Ukraine”. In June 2022, Ukraine 5AM Coalition was awarded the CEU Open Society Prize “in recognition of their courageous work to document atrocities committed during the Russian war on Ukraine.”