Ukrainian Professor Ganna Gorbenko is an anti-corruption crusader. In her classroom at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, she teaches students how to be informed citizens. In a country where the majority of the population views corruption as one of the biggest threats to Ukraine’s democratic development, according to a poll conducted by “Rating  ” in February 2024, efforts like hers to empower people to root out corruption are essential. 

Gorbenko’s students are part of the Anti-Corruption and Research Education Center, or ACREC, and range in age from young adults all the way up to 60-year-olds. “Even at such an age, people are willing to learn,” says Gorbenko, acknowledging there is “a high demand for anti-corruption education in our society.”  

Leveraging her extensive professional background in financial investigations, combined with the knowledge she gained from attending IFES’s Political Finance Violation Investigation Training, Gorbenko crafted a pilot curriculum for her class. She developed a practical, hands-on anti-corruption course aiming to make anti-corruption education more comprehensive and accessible to all Ukrainians.

Even so, learning how to identify corruption is not easy. Using case studies from other countries, Gorbenko teaches her students the intricacies of how to compare and analyze political systems and governance ethics. “Students develop critical thinking skills by analyzing corrupt cases, examining international examples in a Ukrainian context,” Gorbenko explains. Her class emphasizes the importance of using public domain information to draw attention to corruption issues. By publishing news releases or making documentaries publicly available, students can pressure politicians and civil society activists to address specific problems, thereby making a tangible impact.

For their final project at the end of the course, students are tasked with studying political party financial reports. They collect information, identify key stakeholders, and learn to correlate data to identify examples of financial misuse. 

Since completing Professor Gorbenko’s course, many of her students have gone on to employment at think tanks or in public service combating anti-corruption. Some have taken jobs at state institutions that lead anti-corruption work in Ukraine, like the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). Another student adds, “This course helped me understand the issue of political corruption and join the team of the Institute of Legislative Ideas, an independent think tank that works to pass legislation without corrupt, discriminatory rules.” 

With IFES’s help, Gorbenko’s goal is to shape the next generation of anti-corruption activists. Her dream is to expand her teachings to reach a wider Ukrainian audience because she believes anti-corruption education is vital to creating a better-informed Ukrainian citizenry. 

Through its global Strengthening Engagement through Education for Democracy (SEED) methodology, IFES offers a contemporary, interactive approach to civic education for thousands of university and college students throughout Ukraine. These courses were developed with Ukrainian civil society and academia and are complemented by informal offerings to those outside of the formal educational system. To date, over 16,000 students from more than 70 universities and vocational colleges have completed IFES’ semester-long civic education courses in Ukraine.