Olena Shevchenko
ILGA-Europe
Elected at ILGA Europe Conference, Online, October 2020

Olena Shevchenko (she/her) is a human rights defender and educator from Ukraine whose focuses are LGBT rights and women's rights. She is a head of Insight, a public organisation she and two of her friends founded and officially registered in 2008. 

Insight is unique among other LGBTQI organizations because of its trans and intersex inclusiveness and feminist approach. Before founding Insight, Olena volunteered for 3 years in a feminist-lesbian organisation and was a senior teacher for 4 years at the National Pedagological University in Kiev. Today Insight, under her leadership, has become a visible and significant player for advocacy both nationally and internationally.

In 2012 Olena was elected as a Co-chair of LGBT Council of Ukraine - a new all-Ukrainian umbrella association, where she is also the head of the advocacy and PR committees. In 2010 Olena was elected as a Board member of IGLYO (International LGBT youth organization). This experience brings an international integration and globalisation perspectives in to her local work. She has edited two research papers on the situation of LGBT families in Ukraine and the situation with Transgender rights. In 2014 became an author of the book ABC on LGBT rights. 

Organisation: Insight (Ukraine)