Ukrainian World Congress appoints Roman Zyla executive director

TORONTO – After a long and thorough global search and interviewing process, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is pleased to welcome Dr. Roman Zyla as the organization’s new executive director. 

Dr. Roman Zyla’s leadership experience, longstanding service to the Ukrainian community and skills of managing global teams will bolster the UWC, as well as our organizations across the world. 

“We are very pleased that Dr. Roman Zyla has accepted this responsible position and are convinced that his expertise and considerable experience of raising funds for Ukraine will help the UWC team to achieve its strategic goals. We look forward to fruitful and effective cooperation,” said UWC President Paul Grod.

About Roman Zyla: 

Dr. Roman Zyla was born into an active Ukrainian family in Ottawa, Canada. 

He grew up at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic parish, where he attended a weekly Ukrainian-language school, was a member of the Plast scouting organization, and was an engaged member of the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union at the University of Toronto. Roman also worked at the Edmonton branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, received his master’s degree in Ukrainian history from the University of Alberta and was an active member of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation. 

Roman Zyla holds a doctorate degree in philosophy from the University College London, where he studied the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. After receiving his doctorate, he together with his family settled in Kyiv. There, he worked for the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group that supported corporate development in Ukraine. 

He made a successful career working at IFC, where he worked on enterprise development, governance and continued to work in community development in whatever country the family was posted. 

Roman founded Plast in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in Thailand, his family lent support to Ukrainian students and new arrivals who strove to establish a students’ association, and held protests and letter writing campaigns in recent years. Upon returning to Canada in 2022, Roman worked for the Export Development Canada (EDC) credit agency and is actively reintegrating Ukrainian community in Ottawa.