Western NIS Enterprise Fund Elects Marta Farion to Board of Directors

Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) announced today that the Board of Directors elected Marta Farion as a Member of the Board, subject to USAID approval. Marta Farion is an American attorney, active in the Ukrainian-American community and with years of experience in Ukraine.

“We are honored to welcome Ms. Farion to the WNISEF Board, as she brings extensive experience that aligns with our goal of transforming the lives of ordinary people,” said Dennis A. Johnson, Chairman of the Board of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund. “We are confident that Ms. Farion has the best mix of skills and experience necessary to help the Fund in its efforts to assist Ukraine and Moldova with further development of sound economic policies by contributing to international trade and investment, regional development, entrepreneurship, and education.”

As president of Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America, a non-profit organization established in 2002 to support the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in its mission to educate Ukraine’s new generations of leaders, Ms. Farion raised financial and educational support for Ukraine’s oldest and premier university, promoting education at an international level, university autonomy, academic freedom, and national legislative reforms.  Ms. Farion also serves as chairperson of the board and founding member of the Electronic Library of Ukraine (ELibUkr), a project that provides access to digital academic and research information to Ukraine’s universities.

„We are all very pleased that Ms. Farion is joining the Board,” said Jaroslawa Z. Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund. „Her leadership positions and experience in business and education together with her strong and varied board experience will further enhance the expertise of the WNISEF Board.”

Prior to her position as president of Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation, Ms. Farion engaged in 20 years of work as in-house attorney at Redex Packaging Corp., a company engaged in research, development, and production of proprietary food packaging and delivery systems, where her duties included matters related to business negotiations and transactions, employment and insurance issues, intellectual property, and USDA approvals.

During her 13-year tenure as chairperson of the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee, Ms. Farion organized and raised funds for numerous major international programs between Chicago and Kyiv in the areas of culture, health, business development, municipal administration, human trafficking, and education.

Since 1991 when Ukraine became independent, Ms. Farion managed numerous official visits of members of Ukraine’s government to Chicago and assisted members of Ukraine’s Parliament and leaders of civil society at their meetings with government officials in Washington D.C.

Ms. Farion received her J.D. degree in 1980 from Chicago Kent College of Law, and a M.A. degree and a B.A. degree from Loyola University Chicago.  Ms. Farion is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Ukrainian-American Bar Association, the Field Museum Women’s Board, the University Club, the Chicago Council on Global Relations President’s Circle, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.  She served on the board of the Chicago Grant Park Music Festival for 15 years.