Leaders in Exile: Future of Belarus
Past leadership programmes
After a successful pilot programme in 2023-24, we developed a bespoke ‘Future of Belarus’ programme for Belarusian leaders and change-makers living in exile. This fellowship was for exceptional professionals who were forced to leave their home country after the repressions in 2020 and since then are working towards a free and peaceful future for their country.
We brought together Belarusian professionals from different sectors, including civil society, journalism, politics, social enterprise, education and business, who are working to improve governance, justice and sustainability in their society and beyond. We are currently seeking funding to continue this fellowship, so please do get in touch if you want to get involved.
2025-26 Leadership programme
Our Leaders in Exile: Future of Belarus Fellowship 2025-26 was for exceptional professionals supporting young people and the efforts of the next generation to bring change for a better and fairer future for their society and country.
Each Fellow participated in a core programme of group workshops and visits and has an individually tailored programme of meetings related to their professional interest and action plan.
After completing the programme, participants also become life-long members of the collaborative community of JST Fellows and have the opportunity to participate in Fellows’ network activities.
2024-25 Leadership programme
Nine Fellows took part in our 2024-25 Future of Belarus Fellowship programme, from sectors including journalism, civil society, human rights law and politics. We asked them about their experiences during their fellowship.
Lawyer and activist Lizaveta Trakhalina set up a mentorship programme called Bright Belarus, which helps talented Belarusians apply for international scholarships.
She says: “The UK is famous for its culture of volunteering, of connecting with people and empowering people with fewer opportunities.
JST supported our personal action plans and helped us set up meetings with UK institutions that have been doing the work we’re doing for a very long time.
“I met with several mentorship programmes to learn how they work. I’ll take this experience and the connections I made with me to improve the quality of our mentorship programme.”
In 2020, Ivan Kravtsov became actively involved in the broader movement for democratic change in Belarus and emerged as one of the prominent figures of the Belarusian democratic opposition.
Since August 2020, Ivan has served as Secretary of the Coordination Council, a representative body of the Belarusian democratic movement. In September 2020, he was forced into exile after avoiding arrest. He has lived in Poland since then and continues his political and civic activities from there.
Ivan has been working on a plan to sustain political engagement among sections of the Belarusian diaspora community.
“The fellowship was absolutely great,” he says. “The workshops were top tier, and the ability of JST to connect people with their extensive network of contacts in the UK really helped us to achieve results.”
Journalist Anna Yafremenka joined the JST fellowship with a plan to reach and grow young, engaged, pro-democracy audiences within Belarus.
"I witnessed the Belarusian regime's crackdwon on independent media when goverment forces stormed my office and arrested mycolleagues, some of whom are now serving long prison sentences. I want my journalism to influence change in Bealarus and counter state propaganda.
Anna applied to the fellowship to learn from the British media’s experiences of communicating with young people and create a clear strategy to reach different audience segments.
She says: "It was a really intense programme but at the same time amazing. I've got so many insights, including precise for journalistic media and it was inspiring."