Taras Kulish is a bilingual (French/English) graduate of McGill University's Law School. Since 2002, Taras has practiced business law, trademark law and not-for-profit and charity law currently with Mills & Mills LLP. For over 20 years Taras has worked with a diverse clientele: local restaurants, ice cream and juice manufacturers and distributors; local pharmacies; advertising agencies; medical professionals; hospitals; Internet start-ups; Board game creators; Life coaches and public speakers, among other interesting clients.
Taras Kulish is a committed community volunteer and advocate. Since 2001, he has been involved with HOPE worldwide of Canada as a director, president of the board, Country Director, and now as the International Relations Officer responsible for International Giving and Disaster Relief. In 2015, Taras has raised awareness in Canada and funds to support orphans and displaced persons in partnership with HOPE worldwide Ukraine.
Andy Balaura practices exclusively in the area of management-side Employment & Labour Law. He advises corporate clients on a wide range of human resource issues, including employee discipline and discharge, employment and consulting contracts, workplace investigations, collective agreement administration, obligations of departing employees, and the statutory obligations of employers pursuant to the Employment Standards Act and Ontario Human Rights Code. He has presented seminars, training programs, and papers on a variety of employment law topics.
Andy has appeared as litigation counsel before the Ontario Courts on wrongful dismissal matters, injunctive proceedings, and occupational health and safety prosecutions. He has represented employer clients before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Workplace Safety and Insurance Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. Andy is also active as a member of the Board of Directors of several not-for-profit organizations.
Secretary: Andriana Ozymtchak
Andriana Ozymtchak is a second year student in the French common law program at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. She is a strong leader in her community and thrives in group collaboration. This is demonstrated through various volunteer groups she is involved with. At the University of Ottawa, she is the current Vice President of the Social Justice Society | Société de justice sociale (SJS). Andriana is a proud Ukrainian Canadian and it is important for her to stay active in the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. She is the Co-President of the Uottawa Ukrainian Students’ Club this year and the secretary of the Ukrainian Canadian Bar Association. Over the past two years, she has been working alongside a small team of students and lawyers to create their own non-profit organization by the name of The Centre For Eastern European Democracy. She serves as the Editor-In-Chief of the blog which strives to promote Western-European style liberal democracy in Eastern Europe.
Yuri Chumak is a lawyer, patent agent and trademark agent and has practised exclusively in the area of intellectual property law since 2006. He is a partner with Dickinson Wright LLP in Toronto.
Yuri is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the International Trademark Association.
Since 2017, Yuri has been a board member of Ivan Franko Homes where he serves as secretary.
Anna Kuprieieva is a partner at Solvis Law in Ottawa, specializing in business and corporate law, employment, charity law, contracts, and real estate.
With a legal career that spans across Canada and Ukraine, she offers vast experience in corporate governance, transactions, and not-for-profit law. Anna is known for advising a diverse clientele, from local entrepreneurs to multinational corporations.
Her academic credentials include law degrees from Donetsk National University and the University of Ottawa, and she is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian.
Beyond her legal practice, Anna actively contributes to the Ukrainian community in Canada, serving on the board of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and aiding humanitarian projects through the Canada Ukraine Foundation..
Andriy Semotiuk is a U.S. and Canadian immigration lawyer. He is a past President of the Canada Ukraine Foundation, a Forbes Columnist and a former United Nations Correspondent. He is a member of the bars of Ontario, B.C., New York and California.
Olha Senyshyn practices in the areas of immigration and refugee law, family law and civil litigation.
Olha is currently involved in a number of research projects with professors from Osgoode Hall Law School and Carleton University. She also assists in teaching Canadian Contract Law to foreign-trained lawyers and works as a Student Coordinator at Osgoode Business Clinic
Alana Scotchmer is a Financial Services Regulatory Lawyer and a Partner at Gowling WLG. Alana provides regulatory and strategic advice to Canadian and foreign financial institutions and other financial services industry participants. She specializes in insurance and reinsurance, insurance distribution and banking.
Natalia Vandervoort is a commercial litigation lawyer whose practice focuses on securities disputes and regulatory investigations. Natalia draws on her experience as in-house counsel at a major financial institution to achieve pragmatic business-minded solutions to complex commercial disputes for her clients.
She has expertise in managing complex securities disputes, including class actions, and working closely with the business and control partners to mitigate litigation and regulatory risk. Natalia also has experience advising on ESG-related litigation risks and conducting internal investigations.
Natalia has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario including the Ontario Court of Justice. Natalia has also appeared before the Ontario Securities Commission, Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA).
Immediate Past President: Alesia Nahirny, JD MA CAMS
Alesia Nahirny is Counsel at Department of Justice. Alesia was previously overseeing financial crimes risk for Scotiabank including anti-money laundering, sanctions, fraud and anti-bribery and corruption risks as well as providing advisory services on sanctions regulatory requirements and leading the development and execution of strategy relating to sanctions risk assessment of new products and initiatives. She has more than ten years of professional experience having worked as the Executive Director of Transparency International Canada, the Department of Justice Canada, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Alesia obtained her law degree from the University of Ottawa and has a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies and a Master’s degree in anti-corruption from the University of Toronto.
Past President: Jason Woycheshyn
Jason Woycheshyn's practice is focused on complex litigation including corporate commercial disputes, securities litigation, fraud investigations and recovery and professional negligence matters. Jason has experience before all courts in Ontario and Alberta, as well as a number of administrative and regulatory boards and tribunals. He has experience in securities regulatory and enforcement matters, shareholder and partnership disputes, auditors' and accountants' liability, directors' and officers' liability, oppression proceedings, derivative actions, and class proceedings. As part of his fraud law practice, Jason has experience in obtaining Mareva injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal orders, Anton Piller orders and assisting in fraud investigations. Jason has special expertise in e-discovery and record management issues in complex litigation and is often asked to lecture on these topics.
Advisory Committee Member: Eugene Zalucky
Founding Partner, Mitchell Bardyn & Zalucky LLP, 1973 Call.
Advisory Committee Member: Alexandra Chyczij
Alexandra Chyczij was first unanimously elected and sworn in as President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) on December 8, 2018 and subsequently re-elected by delegates at the XXVI UCC Triennial Congress of Ukrainian Canadians in November 2019. Previously, she served as 1st Vice President of the UCC.
Alexandra Chyczij is a committed leader, activist and volunteer, dedicating her efforts to serving the Ukrainian community in Canada. The UCC coordinates and represents the interests of one of Canada’s largest ethnocultural communities (1.35 million).
Alexandra Chyczij is the Executive Director of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA), the national voice of in-house counsel in Canada. With a membership more than 5000-strong, the CCCA is a section of the Canadian Bar Association.
For many years, Alexandra has worked with the UCC and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association on legal issues, advocating for matters affecting the administration of justice, rule of law, human and civil rights.
She has conducted research and advocated for recognition of the Holodomor (Ukrainian Famine) as a genocide and for recognition of the unjust internment of Ukrainian Canadians and others in Canada’s first national internment operations during WWI.
Alexandra was co-counsel with Justice John Sopinka on the International Commission of Inquiry into the 1932-33 Famine in Ukraine, convened by the World Congress of (Free) Ukrainians in 1988, whose report was delivered to the United Nations.
Advisory Committee Member: Eugene Czolij
Eugene Czolij was called to the Quebec Bar in 1982 and is a senior partner at Lavery, de Billy, one of the largest law firms in Quebec. His legal practice includes corporate and commercial litigation, as well as insolvency and financial restructuring law. He pleads before the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as all court levels in Quebec. Since 2012, he has been listed by Best Lawyers in Canada in his areas of practice.
In 2016, Eugene received an honorary doctorate from Lviv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine for his contribution to promoting Ukraine’s interests and its Euro-integration. In 2019, he received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine for his outstanding achievements as a community leader.
In 2020, he was appointed Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Montreal.
Since 1993, Eugene has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian World Congress, and President from 2008 to 2018. In 2019, he was the Head of the Ukrainian World Congress International Observation Mission to Ukraine’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
Since 1994, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and President from 1998 to 2004.
Since 2019, he has been President of the NGO “Ukraine-2050”, a non-profit organization established to help implement, within one generation – by 2050 – strategies for the sustainable development of Ukraine as a fully independent, territorially integral, democratic, reformed and economically competitive European state.
Since 2019, he has also been President of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of Canada, a not-for-profit corporation that supports the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and students of Ukrainian origin attending post-secondary institutions in Canada.
Since 2004, Eugene has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Caisse populaire Desjardins Ukrainienne de Montréal, and President from 2006 to 2019. Since 2006, he has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada.