July 10, 2023. Ottawa, ON.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress Charitable & Educational Trust is pleased to announce that following an extensive national search process, Maria Ovcharenko has been selected as the new UCC Parliamentary Intern for September 2023.
“Maria Ovcharenko brings knowledge, an enthusiasm for politics, and community involvement to our internship program.” Demyan Hyworon, Chair of the UCC Charitable and Educational Trust, said, “We are confident that she will be a valuable addition to the program and that the experience she obtains on Parliament Hill will be extremely beneficial to her future career. We are grateful to the program’s many kind supporters, who help us create the next generation of Ukrainian Canadian leaders.”
“I’m very happy to be selected as the next UCC Parliamentary Intern. As the Ukrainian people bravely defend themselves against Russia’s genocidal war, it is more important than ever to work to ensure that Canada’s support for Ukraine remains strong and steadfast,” said Maria Ovcharenko. “I very much look forward to starting my internship and gaining a deeper understanding of Canada’s political system. I’m thankful to everyone who supports the UCC Internship Program for this opportunity.”
The Parliamentary Internship Program is a program of UCC Charitable & Educational Trust and is made possible through the generous support of individual and organizational donors to the Roman Waschuk & Oksana Smerechuk Fund. To see a full list of our past donors and learn how you can make a donation to support this program please click here.
Ihor Michalchyshyn, UCC National CEO, stated “The UCC Parliamentary Internship program provides the future leaders of the Ukrainian Canadian community insights and experience working in the Canadian Parliamentary and political process, to better serve the Ukrainian Canadian community in the future.”
To learn more about the UCC Parliamentary Internship Program please visit our website.
About Maria
Maria (Marichka) Ovcharenko completed her Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Psychology at the University of Alberta in June 2023. Ovcharenko worked as a Policy Analyst with Environment and Climate Change Canada in 2022 and for the summer of 2023. Between 2019 and 2023, Ovcharenko worked with Alberta Hansard at the Legislative Assembly Office of Alberta as a Transcript Editor, transcribing House and Committee proceedings. She is very active within the Plast community, loves hiking and the outdoors, and will be climbing the Everest Base Camp trek in January with a long-time Plast friend.
