Featured staff member of the month

Olena Vlasova, Manager of Education Programs

Olena joined FIUTS in November of 2022 after her transition from UW Bothell. Olena brings not only expertise in education but also a genuine enthusiasm for cultivating an enriching learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds. Her positive attitude is always so refreshing to all of us around the office.

During her free time, Olena takes part in catchball tournaments with her Ukrainian-speaking team The Sunflowers. She also enjoys walking around the beautiful outdoors and chasing sunsets all around the world. She is also the proud mother of 2 amazing kids, Andrew and Kateryna.

This is what Olena had to say about her experience at FIUTS so far:

My year at FIUTS as the Manager of Education Programs:

It has just been a year, but it feels like a decade, maybe because we have implemented 10 programs for students from more than 20 countries and each program is like a separate chapter or even a separate book, a treasure book of happy memories that we create with my team and are also a part of.

Working with the students from so many countries and continents or even hosting some of them in my home has been enlightening and humbling, enriching and inspiring. I see my mission in connecting people, connecting them to each other and to opportunities, and I am happy to share that my year at FIUTS has helped me achieve it. I am so happy to see the direct impact of our work, read student success stories, how they implement community action projects in their home countries, read thank you cards to host families and to our team, to guest speakers and everyone involved in the program.

I am so lucky to have such an amazing team and to come across so many people from different spheres of life who agree to share their stories or their expertise with our students. I am so grateful to our host family community, people who create special experiences for students on so many different levels.

A year at FIUTS: a book with many chapters or 10 books with different covers, a rollercoaster with unexpected turns or a beautiful road with a lot of curves, a year with FIUTS is definitely a special experience and I am grateful to be able to serve so many people and create special experiences for them.

It has been amazing working with Olena for the past year and we look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in upcoming projects!