Tanya (Tetiana) Kotelnykova
Tetiana (Tanya) Kotelnykova is a graduate student in European and Russian Studies at Yale University and a Teaching Fellow in the Political Science Department. A lawyer by training, she graduated summa cum laude from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 2022. She gained legal experience by interning with the Kyiv City Administration and the Prosecutor’s Office of Kyiv, and by working as a part-time judicial assistant at the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal. After the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, she was named the first Ukrainian recipient of Columbia University’s Scholarship for Displaced Students, a groundbreaking program launched under then–Columbia University President Lee Bollinger.
After joining Yale, Tanya worked as a Teaching Fellow in courses taught by Timothy Snyder in the History Department, as well as in courses such as War and Technology, Introduction to International Relations, and Nuclear Politics in the Political Science Department. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, the Atlantic Council, and the Kyiv Post.
Alongside her academic work, Tanya is the founder of Brave Generation, a Ukrainian-American nonprofit established in New York City after she arrived in the United States as a refugee during her first semester at Columbia University. What began as volunteer work has grown into an established NGO operating across the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine. Brave Generation supports Ukrainian youth most affected by war, equipping them with transformative education and leadership development to maximize their potential as the next generation of Ukraine’s leaders and changemakers. To date, young Ukrainians supported by Brave Generation have received more than $18.54 million in scholarships worldwide, along with over $2.18 million in pro bono services, and more than 1,200 individual services across mental health care, educational tutoring, and leadership development.
Tanya is also the founder of the Ukrainian Recovery Youth Global Initiative in partnership with Yale’s International Leadership Center, and has been recognized with the Columbia University Alumni Award and the Yale University Public Service Award. She has collaborated with Ukrainian and European members of parliament, the United States Institute of Peace, and UN Women. In 2025, she completed Harvard Business School’s program in strategic nonprofit leadership.
Tanya’s work is guided by her personal journey. She was displaced from her home in Horlivka, Donetsk region, during the 2014 Russian-backed occupation and later witnessed the 2022 full-scale invasion while living in Kyiv. These experiences became the foundation of her life’s work, inspiring her to support the youth most affected by war as they rise above trauma and loss and grow into leaders who change the world.
Beyond her academic and professional work, Tanya is committed to writing and advocacy. In her free time, she spends time with her two rescue cats, one of whom she brought with her from Ukraine when she fled as a refugee.
Department: European & Russian Studies