Meet our Volunteers: Uliana Gorbolskaya

Continuing with our “Meet the Volunteer” series, we would like to introduce you to Uliana Gorbolskaya!

Name: Uliana Gorbolskaya

I’m Russian born and bred and spent my first twenty years in Moscow, where I went to school for international relations. I really wanted to be a diplomat then… travel the world solving global problems. As it turned out, that career was not really a good fit for me, but my desire to travel and solve problems remained. Since then, I’ve moved countries three times already (USA, back to Russia and then Switzerland) and changed careers - also three times (start-ups, consulting and banking)! I’m happy that the world is a dynamic and open place, and am excited to see where the Swiss part of the journey will take me.

What personal experiences drew you to charity work?

My first encounter with charity work happened around ten years ago. A family member was sick with cancer, and thankfully our battle with it was successful. In the aftermath, I felt so grateful for this medical miracle that I participated in a fundraiser for Lymphoma and Leukaemia society. This was actually a sport fundraiser - so while fundraising I also trained for and completed a marathon. Yay! It was one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life, not to mention a ton of fun. Since then charity/pro bono work has become part of my life.

How did you get involved in Zharity?

I saw a Zharity post in the Spoogler community almost immediately after moving to Switzerland, and got curious about the organization. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened at the same time, so the timing wasn't perfect. About a year later though, I participated in one of Zharity's collections, and then my participation evolved into a more consistent role.

What projects are you working on right now?

I'm working on revamping Zharity Earth - starting with Swiss Clean-Up Day (coming up on September 18th - anyone interested still has time to sign up!) And certainly planning more environmentally-focused events for later in the year, so stay tuned!