Oksana Strashna

Oksana Strashna joined the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund (UMAEF) in September 2024. She leads the SME Direct Investment Program, a strategic initiative designed to drive the growth and resilience of SMEs in Ukraine and Moldova. Oksana brings with her decades of successful private equity experience and non-executive directorship across both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Her focus has consistently been on catalyzing growth and development, while empowering managers and business owners to unlock their businesses’ potential.

In 1996, Oksana was among the first professionals to join the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (currently UMAEF), a pioneer in SME focused direct investment in Ukraine and Moldova with a mission to attract private capital to the region. In 2006, she joined Horizon Capital, a leading private equity fund manager in Ukraine, where she sourced and executed deals, led post-investment value creation, and managed exits across multiple portfolio companies in diverse industries such as FMCG, construction materials, services, and retail. As a Partner at Horizon Capital, she represented the firm on numerous portfolio company boards, working closely with executive teams to identify and implement strategic growth opportunities.

Before returning to UMAEF, drawn by the opportunity to directly participate in the rebuilding of Ukraine and contribute to Moldova’s economic growth by providing capital to resilient and ambitious SMEs, Oksana had an independent advisory practice and served on the boards of both for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Oksana holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a CFA charterholder.