OUR PURPOSE

Connected in dance.

With a wish to support the Volya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble’s ongoing successes, the Volya Alumni Foundation (VAF) was founded by a group of alumni with a strong connection to the Ukrainian dance community and to Volya. The VAF was founded on four principles stemming from ongoing conversations with alumni around how a foundation might support past, present, and future Volya dancers.

Connection: To grow relationships between alumni and the current Volya membership. Our alumni grew up as part of the Volya society, and having established strong relationships as dancers, we want to maintain these relationships while building new ones; our alumni need Volya in their life.

Inclusion: To focus on ways of creating opportunities to gather alumni, regardless of geography. We believe in the value of bringing people together, and although our alumni are spread across the country, our goal is to engage all alumni, near and far. 

Recognition: To show appreciation for the many alumni contributions to the success of the ensemble. Volya would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for the passion and commitment of our alumni for over 35 years, and we aspire to honor the past.

Participation: To support the success of generations of Volya dancers to come. We will invest in Volya to help achieve its vision of “increasing global appreciation of the art of Ukrainian culture through dance”, and plan to leverage our collective expertise and resources to further their goals.

“Volya has always been a place I can go to connect with like-minded people, share my passion for dance and culture, and create long-lasting memories.” – Andrew Kowalchyk, Volya Alumni

Our Vision

To build a community of alumni committed to celebrating our experiences and supporting the future prosperity of the Volya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.

Our Mission

Create inclusive opportunities to grow the Volya community, building relationships with past, current, and future members through fellowship, recognition, and the sharing of expertise and resources.

 

“Being a part of the Volya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble is more than just dancing on the stage – it’s creating connections that last a lifetime. Our Alumni Association keeps the Volya spirit alive, connecting generations of dancers who carry the passion, tradition, and energy of our ensemble.” — Odessa Bahri, Volya President

VAF EXECUTIVE: 

President: James Waschuk

Past President: Gord Wengreniuk 

Secretary: Andrea Lakusta 

Treasurer: Karla Kushniruk

Communication Director: Trish Kushniruk

Make it official!

The VAF is evolving. From what started as a small group of people with a goal to reconnect our alumni, we are building momentum and looking to continue our growth to support and engage with our Volya community. As part of this, we have implemented a new membership process, where we are looking to our alumni to formally engage with the foundation.

Why become a member?

  • Reconnect to other alumni with a common goal of engaging our alumni and supporting the Volya ensemble
  • Have a voice in our goals and activities, through a presence and a vote at VAF board meetings
  • Gain access to special member perks, such as discounted event fees (more to come in the future!)
  • Help build a stronger financial base for the VAF with a nominal membership fee

You can become an official foundation member in two simple steps:

  1. Complete the online VAF Membership Form 
  2. Send the $5 minimum membership fee (larger donations are welcomed, and will be validated with a tax receipt) to alumnitreasurer@volya.org by e-transfer with a note that it’s for MEMBERSHIP

Volya alumni that choose not to become a member will still have access to information and events – in alignment with our vision, we are committed to inclusion of all our alumni, regardless of membership status.

We hope to see you all on our official membership list!

 

STAY CONNECTED

We want to connect with all of you.

If you aren’t receiving messages from us, it’s because we don’t have your contact information. Please complete this VAF Contact Form so we can stay connected! You don’t have to be an official VAF member for us to connect with you, so please update your contact information here! Note: if you have already submitted for membership, you don’t have to complete this form as well.

We want to keep building out our alumni community so please, share this link with others you think are being missed as well.

Please reach out to our President, James Waschuk with any questions at jr.waschuk@gmail.com.