Startups to Meet in Reno; Ukrainian Startup Helps Children Displaced by War Learn in Their Own Language • Reno News & Review

A relatively new event can be added to the list of business events that have made Northern Nevada a great place for startups: The second annual Reno Startup Week will take place Sept. 16-20 and will feature a series of free events.

My longtime friend and colleague Doug Erwin—SVP of Business Development at the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN)—and his team have put on probably some of the most extensive and diverse startup and founder events in Nevada history. Doug and his team at EDAWN have been incredible partners with my Entrepreneurs Assembly (now BizAssembly.org) for the past 15 years and have been instrumental in building and creating the thriving startup economy we have today.

“Reno Startup Week is about more than just starting businesses—it’s about cultivating a community where innovation thrives,” Doug said. “We believe in the power of collaboration, and by bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders, we create an environment where ideas can flourish and new ventures can take root. This week is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that drives Reno.”

I’m registered. If you’re interested in meeting like-minded entrepreneurs, taking your business to the next level, or quitting that crappy day job to take control of your future, sign up for free at www.renostartupweek.com. To warm up, come to BizAssemly.org’s free Founder Workshop at 9 a.m. Saturday, September 14 at The Innevation Center, where founders will share challenges and define strategies in confidence.

Let’s take a look at a startup that faces many more challenges than you can imagine that you will have to overcome.

To start with: this action takes place during a war.

In May, the U.S. Department of Commerce asked me to mentor one of 10 Ukrainian female founders who are building companies. Some of them are in Ukraine. Others are refugees who fled their war-torn country to save their families while their husbands, brothers, fathers, and grandfathers (yes, grandfathers!) stayed behind to fight for their country. These women-led companies are filling gaps in the economy, gaps in wartime needs, gaps in everyday needs, and gaps in supply chains—all of which have been destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine 2 1/2 years ago.

Among the most important things that have been disrupted in Ukraine are education and the well-being of children. If Putin wins, Ukrainian education, language, heritage and legacy will face serious threats. This does not include the loss of loved ones, assets, businesses, land and human identity of every Ukrainian fighting this fight. Now, while these women are struggling with all these factors, they are building businesses.

I work with Tsvit, an international online school of Ukrainian language and culture for children abroad. The school was founded six months after the outbreak of the war in 2022, when 2 million children were forced to leave Ukraine. The founder is Lesia Duda, a linguist and defender of the Ukrainian language, a lecturer at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

Tsvit currently has students in 16 countries, including Japan, the United States, Canada, and several European countries. This means that all of the school’s teachers, who are currently in Ukraine, work early mornings and late evenings to ensure that the children have access to a Ukrainian education. The school operates in wartime conditions, facing constant threats of missile attacks, frequent air raid alerts, and power outages that last six to eight hours a day.

However, the need to fulfill the school’s most important mission — helping children maintain ties with Ukraine for a better future — gives the team the strength to continue working.

Students range in age from 4 to 16. The school offers three educational programs: Ukrainian as a foreign language, for children learning Ukrainian from scratch; Ukrainian as a native language, for children with an intermediate level of Ukrainian; and Ukrainian as a native language, primarily for children who were forced to leave Ukraine and already have experience with the Ukrainian education system. The school also offers free online classes every Saturday to learn more about Ukrainian traditions, meet Ukrainian children’s authors, and celebrate Ukrainian national holidays. Last academic year, 300 children from around the world took part in 50 Saturday classes.

The school provides scholarships to 30% of its students, including those living abroad, children of soldiers and others. The school psychologist helps the children with some of the challenges, including finding new friends of the same age with whom they can talk in their native language.

The mother of 4-year-old student Eleonora, whose family fled Ukraine for Germany, said her daughter found the material interesting, the teacher attentive and kind, and the teacher’s assistant – a cat named “Baton” – exceptionally likeable, adding: “The child spoke Ukrainian, her native language!”

Now you can see why I have become personally involved in helping Dr. Duda and her team continue the amazing work they do to keep Ukrainian culture alive. The school is currently looking for benefactors. If you would like to make a donation or sponsor a child, please contact me at [email protected].

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