Marijka Stadnyk
BIO
Marijka Stadnyk was born into a family of community volunteers and this tradition continues through her many years of activism, advocacy and fundraising activities, both in Canada and Ukraine.
Marijka serves on the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Toronto Executive Board as Vice President of Operations and is a member of the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM). In her various roles as Executive Member of the Board, Marijka has planned and executed numerous high-profile fundraising and community events.
Over the last 13 years, Marijka has helped plan, organize and execute the Ukrainian Independence Day Festival in Toronto as both Chair and Executive of the Festival Planning Committee from 2008-to present. Under her leadership, Festival attendance has grown to over 11,000 visitors, and is now recognized as the largest Ukrainian Independence Day celebration in North America. This celebration raises significant funds for UCC Toronto while engaging the local community.
Marijka was Chair of Groundbreaking and Chair, Official Unveiling Ceremonies of the Holodomor Memorial Parkette (unveiled Oct. 21, 2018 in Toronto), the largest and most significant UCC Toronto project to be undertaken in decades.
Marijka was a co-founding member of the EuroMaidan Canada Committee (2014). Under the auspices of this committee, the community was quickly mobilized to protest against Russian aggression, lobby and advocate on behalf of Ukraine and raised over $100,000 in aid.
She is a co-founder of Orwell Art, based on the book “Orwell and the Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm” by Andrea Chalupa, which raises awareness of the Holodomor in Ontario’s high school curriculum. Marijka has continually raised awareness of the Holodomor to educators by assisting with curriculum writing, consulting with teachers on how to incorporate Holodomor studies, providing resources and by making special presentations to educators.
In a volunteer capacity, Marijka also participated in education workshops in Ukraine and Mongolia to transfer knowledge to local educators and improve education practices and standards in these countries. Local teachers gained valuable insight into second-language teaching methods and recognition of course work. She was an election observer in Ukraine in 2005. A defining characteristic of her work is the ability to actively engage and include a wide variety of community members to join in the call to participate and contribute for whatever job needs to be done.
Marijka Stadnyk is a professional educator with over 25 years of experience in education in Ontario with a focus on English as a Second Language (ESL), Cooperative Education and Alternative Education for at-risk youth. She resides in Toronto with her family.
