Uralcitizen.ru - building civic‑dialogue & creating civic spaces in Russia, Ural region
Role: Co‑founder and Program & Operations Lead, 2017-2022
Context
Demand for civic participation was rising, but delivery depended on founders and ad‑hoc projects. No legal entity, fragmented outreach, no cadence.
Objective: make delivery reliable at scale, build a durable partner pipeline and funding mix, and position the org as a credible mediator between government, companies, and civic leaders.
Results
- Scaled from 2 to 10 FTE and 25 volunteers.
- Delivered 20+ programs (capacity building, boosting sustainability of initiatives) + direct support with fundraising, partnership building, visibility - engaged 1,000+ civic leaders annually
- Helped them to launch or scale 50+ successful initiatives across sustainability, culture, urban planning, heritage, tourism & creative business, innovative education, philanthropy, and local democracy.
- The hub hosted 300+ events per year and served as a shared space for leaders/communities/partners.
- Raised demand for community participation within regional development companies and infrastructure funds, and government institutions: invited to mediate & engage local leaders/communities for 10 high‑stakes urban cases/regional programs
What I did
- Set a regular strategy review and program planning cadence
- Set strategic → program & operational goals flow and a weekly/monthly cadence with clear owners → next steps → deadlines.
- Built an SOP library for events, partnerships, comms, and MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) basics.
- Created a partner pipeline, sponsorship materials, program proposals for sales/co-run programs with partners, and a reporting rhythm for donors and stakeholders.
- Set up and led fundraising (grants/corporate programs)
- Opened and ran the 1,200 m² (13,000 sq ft) civic hub - co-run with a major partner, the City Culture Department - to anchor programs and convenings and strengthen collaboration between civic leaders/communities/partners.
- Hired and onboarded the core team; added lightweight performance reviews and cross‑training.
Key learnings