On 1 October 2026, 16 participants in the WIN Ukraine Leadership Accelerator, delivered as part of the “Stronger Together: Gender Equality and Inclusion” component of the “Stronger Together: Media and Democracy” project, met in Lviv. The meeting, held as part of the 15th Media Congress “People. Trust. Solutions”, focused on developing newsrooms during the war, supporting teams and putting gender equality policies into practice in day-to-day work.
The WIN Ukraine Leadership Accelerator helps women leaders in Ukrainian media strengthen their leadership skills, plan strategically and manage their teams. The programme will run until December 2026. Participants combine strategic workshops, mentoring sessions and one-to-one coaching with work on their own projects.
Developing newsrooms amid uncertainty
During the roundtable, the media leaders spoke about working amid shelling, exhaustion, changes within their teams and unstable funding. They also shared their experiences of setting up sales departments, recruiting interns, building reader communities and developing new products.
One participant described how her newsroom is bringing in experienced journalists and exploring ways to turn new ideas into revenue despite shelling and power disruptions:
“I can see that life hasn’t been put on hold, and we have to live it. We’re tired of being tired, tired of being afraid.”
Participants also discussed how training helps them settle into new management roles. One had joined the programme as a deputy head and was leading her organisation by the time of the meeting:
“Without training like this, sharing experiences with colleagues and trying to develop new areas of work, I wouldn’t have felt confident in my new role.”
Putting gender equality policies into practice
The exchange of management experience was followed by a practical workshop led by Lesia Lazorenko, Executive Director of the media outlet Kremenchutskyi Telegraf. Participants explored how to apply gender equality policies when managing teams and producing journalism.
Topics included ethical reporting on domestic and gender-based violence, protecting survivors’ confidentiality and challenging gender stereotypes in media content. Participants also discussed how to create safe, inclusive working environments within their newsrooms.
Support from a professional community
Participants also spoke about being able to turn to colleagues for advice, talk through a difficult decision or share a problem. The value of this exchange was summed up at the end of the roundtable:
“When you hear what inspires others in your professional community and what challenges they are overcoming, it helps you feel grounded.”
Our photo report and video reels from the meeting offer more stories about newsroom work, team support and the changes participants are making in their media outlets.
Applications for the 2027 WIN Ukraine Leadership Accelerator will open soon.
The WIN Ukraine Leadership Accelerator is delivered as part of the “Stronger Together: Gender Equality and Inclusion” component of the “Stronger Together: Media and Democracy” project.
The “Stronger Together: Media and Democracy” project is implemented by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in partnership with the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPPU) and the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL), with support from Norad under the Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine.
