Empower Ukrainian Women Rebuilding Their Lives in Lithuania

I’m Angel Rose, and this September I’ve been invited to serve as a volunteer Advisor with Tech2Empower for Ukraine, a program run byWAKE – Women’s Alliance for Knowledge Exchange (WAKE International)

For one week in Vilnius, Lithuania, I’ll join a team of women professionals standing alongside Ukrainian refugee women who are rebuilding their lives and livelihoods after being forced to leave home because of war

Many of these women have lost businesses, jobs, and communities they spent years building. Yet they continue to show extraordinary courage: starting over in a new country, learning new systems, and trying to provide stability for their families. Tech2Empower for Ukraine exists to meet them where they are - with respect, practical tools, and the message that they are not alone.

The Real Mission we are on:

WAKE’s mission is to empower women leaders, social enterprises, and communities globally through collaboration, skills‑based volunteerism, and technology. In Lithuania, this means working hand‑in‑hand with Ukrainian women and women‑led organizations so they can:

• Restart or grow their businesses in a new environment.
• Gain confidence using technology and digital tools to reach customers, tell their stories, and access new opportunities.
• Build networks of support that last long after the program week is over.

This will be WAKE’s fourth Tech2Empower program in the region, building on a deep, ongoing relationship with Ukraine and local partners who have already seen how powerful it is when women come together to share skills, experience, and solidarity.

What I’ll actually be doing:

Over three core Impact Challenge days, Advisors like me pair up with local women‑led organizations that support Ukrainian refugees. We listen first - learning about their realities, their goals, and the barriers they face - and then we co‑design solutions: communication strategies, digital presence, operations plans, and other practical tools they can start using immediately.

We then host a Tech2Empower Day for Ukrainian Women Entrepreneurs, which is all about equipping individual women with:

• LinkedIn and networking skills to open doors to clients, collaborators, and jobs.
• Website and online branding support so their businesses can be visible and trusted.
• Business planning and personal/professional branding workshops that help turn ideas into sustainable income.

It’s a day of learning, mentorship, and joy, designed to remind these women that their skills, stories, and dreams still matter, and that there is a community cheering them on.

Where your donation really goes

To participate, I have committed to donate or raise $2,500, which goes directly to WAKE via their official every.org page

Your gift is a charitable donation that helps cover the cost of running Tech2Empower for Ukraine so the women and organizations we serve can attend at no cost to them. Concretely, your donation supports:

• Local programming and community events that bring Ukrainian women together to learn and connect.
• Interpretation/translation, workshop materials, and structured support that turn our skills into something usable and lasting.
• Group transportation, venue space, and cultural activities that create safe, welcoming environments for healing and collaboration.

Every pound and dollar goes back into the program itself - into the rooms, tools, and human connections that make change possible.

The impact you’re part of

Past Tech2Empower for Ukraine programs have already created tangible, measurable change:

• Advisors from Google partnered with Ukreate Hub, a Vilnius‑based center supporting displaced Ukrainian women, to improve operations and member engagement. Together they created a new strategic action plan and helped Ukreate Hub enroll in Google for Nonprofits, freeing up more time and resources for mission‑driven work.
• The Women’s Issues Information Centre, which promotes gender equality and supports women facing violence, trafficking, and work‑life challenges, worked with Advisors to design a year‑long communication plan. In just three days, they left with clear priorities, concrete goals, and tools that will help them reach more Ukrainian women in need.

These are the kinds of outcomes your donation helps create: better‑run organizations, stronger outreach, and more women reached with real support

How you can see the results

I want you to feel connected to this work, not just to this fundraiser. If you choose to contribute, I will:

• Share updates before, during, and after the program - stories (with respect to privacy), key learning, and examples of the projects we co‑create.
• Reflect on how your support showed up in specific moments: a woman gaining the confidence to pitch her business, an organization launching a new communication strategy, a new partnership formed during the week.
• Point you to WAKE’s ongoing communications and stories so you can follow the wider impact beyond my individual participation.

My hope is that you won’t just be a donor; you’ll feel like part of a circle of people choosing to stand with Ukrainian women at a time when they most need to know the world has not looked away.

Why this matters to me - and to us

From the UK, it can be easy to feel distant from what’s happening in Ukraine and across Europe. But the reality is that the consequences of this war live in individual lives: women making hard decisions every day to keep their families safe, to rebuild income, to maintain dignity.

I’m raising these funds because I believe that skills, technology, and community can help turn survival into possibility. When we show up together - some of us volunteering time and expertise, others contributing financially - we say to these women: your future is worth investing in.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to:

• Donate whatever you can - no amount is too small to matter.
• Share this page with friends, colleagues, and communities that care about women’s rights, Ukraine, or impact‑driven tech.
• Check whether your employer offers donation matching so your contribution can be doubled and reach even further.

Thank you for considering being part of this mission. Your generosity will travel with me to Vilnius, into every workshop, conversation, and collaborative session - and it will continue to echo in the lives of Ukrainian women long after the week is over.