Nova Ukraine is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in March 2014 that delivers humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and services to communities in Ukraine. Its name translates as "New Ukraine". The organization was established by a coalition of Ukrainian-American volunteers in response to the annexation of Crimea and the broader instability following the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine and the Revolution of Dignity.
Nova Ukraine coordinates grassroots relief efforts, operates humanitarian initiatives, supports education, culture and civil society, and carries out advocacy campaigns supporting Ukraine and its diaspora. The organization operates across multiple program areas. Its medical aid division, known as the Heal initiative, has supported more than 600 medical institutions and delivered surgical instruments, diagnostic equipment, and rehabilitation technologies to hospitals in Ukraine since 2022. Through its people support programs, Nova Ukraine has assisted refugees, internally displaced persons, coordinated evacuations and established educational initiatives in collaboration with international partners including the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The organization's public infrastructure efforts have delivered generators, emergency equipment, and solar panels to critical facilities across Ukraine. Focus reported that the organization sent more than US$130 million in aid to Ukraine through May 2025.
Nova Ukraine is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and since 2022 has established volunteer chapters across eight U.S. states and the District of Columbia, along with operational offices in Ukraine. The organization's board is chaired by Nick Bilogorskiy, one of its co-founders alongside Ostap Korkuna. In August 2025, Erin McKee was appointed chief executive officer of Nova Ukraine. The organization is a founding member of the American Coalition for Ukraine.
Two co-founders were each awarded the Order of Merit (Ukraine) 3rd class in 2022 and 2023 by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in recognition of their leadership in humanitarian relief efforts. Nick Bilogorskiy was included in Ukrainska Pravdas annual ranking “UP 100: Power of Influence” as #2 in the Society category. The organization has received recognition from major charity evaluation platforms, including a four-star rating from Charity Navigator in 2024 and a Platinum Transparency Seal from GuideStar in 2025.
History and founding
In March 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan movement, a coalition of Ukrainian-American volunteers established Nova Ukraine in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, aiming to coordinate grassroots relief efforts. The organization hosted cultural events and advocacy rallies in the San Francisco Bay Area, coordinated multimodal aid shipments to Ukraine, and partnered with relief organizations such as UNICEF and local volunteer networks.
The founding years
In 2014, Nova Ukraine co-organized concerts in San Francisco that raised nearly $100,000 in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, supporting internally displaced persons and families from conflict zones. Ticket sales from a performance by Okean Elzy funded $23,000 worth of medical equipment for hospitals in Ukraine. A performance by Skryabin (band) in San Francisco raised funds for Nova Ukraine's charitable projects, and a fundraiser with Eurovision winner Ruslana funded support for displaced people.
The Heart2Heart program Launched in 2015, Heart2Heart is a long-term initiative where volunteers in California collect and ship donations, such as clothing and food, to vulnerable populations in Ukraine, including disadvantaged families, orphans, and disabled individuals. Heart2Heart delivered 80,000 pounds of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in 2018 and 55,000 pounds in 2019. Each year, the organization delivered approximately 600 pounds of Christmas and New Year presents to children across Ukraine.
COVID years In 2020 and 2021, Nova Ukraine worked to counter the coronavirus pandemic by equipping Ukrainian doctors and nurses with personal protective equipment. It purchased and distributed more than 4,200 FFP2 respirators and 2,000 protective suits to 14 hospitals in Ukraine. It also distributed oxygen concentrators for hospital patients in 2020 and 2021. The Heart2Heart program continued supplying essential goods to children and adults with disabilities. Nova Ukraine also supported Ukrainian veterans and soldiers, contributed to the ENGin project for youth language skills and promoted Ukrainian cinema.
Supporting Ukraine during full-scale invasion Nova Ukraine started expanding its operations in the weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It organized street rallies in support of Ukraine in the San Francisco Bay Area, mobilized local diaspora, and provided commentary on developing events to local, national and international media. It launched emergency aid efforts and raised funds in partnership with UNICEF USA. Nova Ukraine used software tools to streamline its operations. To enhance aid delivery, the organization implemented a grants management platform on Salesforce.
By the end of 2024, Nova Ukraine distributed more than $110 million in aid and services in Ukraine during the full-scale invasion, reaching 8 million people. To manage the scale of its operations, the organization established teams specializing in medical aid, public infrastructure in Ukraine, people support (vulnerable populations, education, culture) and advocacy, each with heavy reliance on unpaid volunteer work.
In 2026, Nova Ukraine was designated as an undesirable organization in Russia.
Programs and initiatives The organization describes its work in four program areas: Heal delivers medical supplies and strengthens healthcare services. Build focuses on infrastructure and reslience projects; Empower tackles educational, cultural, rehabilitation, and social programs for vulnerable populations and civil society; and Advocate raises awareness of issues affecting Ukraine and Ukrainian communities, and encouraging public engagement on humanitarian and policy matters.
The organization’s spending and activities have been concentrated in emergency medical aid and basic-needs support.
Medical work (Heal) Since February 2022, Nova Ukraine has coordinated with national government, regional authorities, and local hospitals to address shortages of medications, diagnostics, and power-independent devices, while also establishing pain treatment and rehabilitation initiatives for war-injured civilians and veterans.
In 2022, the organization reported prioritizing hospital requests and procuring medications and supplies through domestic and international purchasing.
In March 2022, Nova Ukraine partnered with several Ukrainian organizations, including the Ukrainian Student Association at Stanford, to deliver $3.5 million worth of medical supplies, such as bandages, surgery kits, and pediatric medicines, to Ukraine. The supplies were flown from Seattle to Poland and then transported to Ukraine for distribution by the Ministry of Health. The organization also worked with Unite with Ukraine and the Ukrainian World Congress to purchase 9,000 medical tourniquets.
In 2023, Nova Ukraine responded to emergencies in Ukraine and modernized healthcare facilities in the region. With support from partners like ZDOROVI and funding from Pioneer Natural Resources, Nova Ukraine provided modern equipment such as portable incubators and electric generators to 50 neonatal hospitals and clinics, purchased six ambulances and had them delivered through Enkidu.
In 2023, amid repeated strikes and power disruptions affecting healthcare facilities, the organization supplied generators and portable diagnostic equipment for frontline and field use. In total, Nova Ukraine’s Heal initiative supported over 600 medical institutions, distributed a million dollars worth of medical packs, delivered more than 2,000 hospital beds and surgical tables, and provided over 47,000 surgical instruments and 37 prostheses for complex amputation patients. One year after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, San Francisco Chronicle reported that Nova Ukraine had distributed $55 million in humanitarian aid, more than half of which went to emergency first aid, hospital medicine, supplies, and medical equipment.
Nova Ukraine signed a two-year Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to provide medical equipment, prosthetics, medications, and rehabilitation programs. Delivered equipment included ventilators, X-ray devices, ultrasound systems, and chemotherapy medicine, in response to numerous hospital requests. Nova Ukraine launched the “Ukraine Without Pain” partnership with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, aiming to establish a nationwide network of pain treatment centers, train specialists in modern pain medicine protocols, and equip facilities with rehabilitation technologies for chronic pain and post-traumatic recovery. Throughout 2024, the initiative distributed medical equipment and supplies valued at $6 million to over 120 specialized hospitals in collaboration with Medical Bridges and MedGlobal. In 2024, the initiative reported distributing over 43,000 tourniquets and significant quantities of first-aid kits, medical equipment (such as ultra-sound and defibrillators), generators, operating tables, and training materials to training centers. Through Project MedHub, Nova Ukraine assisted more than 13,000 wounded Ukrainian service members and delivered aid worth $150,000, supporting military medics and medical evacuation units.
In 2025, Nova Ukraine received the first place in the “Charity in Healthcare” category at Charitable Ukraine 2024.
Public infrastructure in Ukraine (Build)
In 2022, San Jose Fire Department donated safety and firefighting equipment worth more than $1 million to Ukrainian first responders, to be distributed by relief organizations including Nova Ukraine and Firefighter Air Ukraine. The donation included self-contained breathing apparatus packs, regulators, air cylinders, and masks. Additionally, Nova Ukraine, in collaboration with Firefighter Aid Ukraine, collected over $3 million worth of rescue equipment and medical supplies from Canadian fire stations, which were delivered to State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
In January 2023, Nova Ukraine and Razom were noted for assembling 1,263 generators in Ukraine 30 days. In 2023, the Charitable Foundation of the Energy Bar Association announced a $50,000 Cornerstone Grant to Nova Ukraine to fund generators intended for hospitals and warming centers in Ukraine. Working with Nevados, Nova Ukraine helped install solar panels in schools in Chernihiv, so that they remain operational during power outages caused by the 2022 invasion. The organization also partnered with the Ministry of Education to enhance digital education and promote STEM programs across Ukraine.
In partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Ukrainian Railways, Nova Ukraine established 96 initial Points of Invincibility that provided shelter, heat, charging stations, and Wi-Fi routers to people affected by energy blackouts in Ukraine. The organization installed a water treatment plant in Kherson and delivered generators to hospitals.
People support (Empower)