By Leah Mordehai and Nellie Fouksman
Founders of Slavic Voice 4 Ukraine

Slavic Voice 4 Ukraine (SV4U) is a youth-led media and advocacy organization founded in San Francisco by first-generation Ukrainian American students Leah Mordehai and Nellie Fouksman.  We created SV4U to amplify Ukrainian voices, preserve culture and make education about Ukraine accessible through journalism, podcasts and youth-led initiatives.

Over winter break, we had the opportunity to share our story on a radio channel called “Good Evening, We are From Ukraine” hosted by Ethno FM Radio in Sacramento. While the interview was recorded outside the city, the conversation was deeply rooted in San Francisco and the Richmond District, where our work began.

On air, we talked about how SV4U started from a personal need. As students, we watched a war unfold that was shaping our families’ histories, yet we rarely saw Ukraine represented in our classrooms or local media. What began as late-night writing and conversations between classes grew into a platform that now connects youth across the United States and internationally. 

We shared how SV4U has grown into a space where students write, create and lead. Through our newspaper, podcast and education campaigns, young people use storytelling as a way to advocate and to build understanding. We also spoke about what it means to carry both identities at once, as students and as activists, and how learning to balance school with advocacy has shaped the way we lead.

During the interview, we reflected on how our backgrounds influence our work. As first-generation Ukrainian Americans, this is not an abstract issue for us. It is about family history, language and memory. That connection is what pushes us to keep showing up, even when the work feels heavy. The hosts of Good Evening, We are From Ukraine even shared their stories of seeing Ukraine combined with Russia on maps in U.S school textbooks. These types of symbols in mainstream media content, like school books, are exactly the narrative SV4U attempts to counter. 

We also talked about what comes next. Our goals include returning to Washington D.C. to continue national advocacy, expanding our youth education programs, and organizing a future service trip to Ukraine to support youth-led cultural and education initiatives. These plans feel ambitious, but they are rooted in the same belief that started SV4U, that young people should be part of shaping the world they inherit.

Even though the interview took place in Sacramento, we kept returning to San Francisco – to the Richmond District classrooms where our first articles were read. To the community spaces that supported us when SV4U was just an idea. That local grounding continues to guide everything we do.

Ethno FM Radio gave us the chance to reflect on how far this work has traveled, and how deeply it still belongs at home. When youth voices are amplified, communities listen. When stories are shared, empathy grows. And when empathy grows, action follows.

Slavic Voice 4 Ukraine is still growing, and we invite students, educators and community members in the Richmond District to join us.

🎙️ Listen to our interview: https://lnkd.in/gcDCmFii

Leah Mordehai and Nellie Fouksman can be reached at voiceslavic@gmail.com.

Learn more at https://voiceslavic.wixsite.com/the-slavic-voice.

Membership form: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/4/d/1sf8RWsQqVux1j9r9ZrfO8Lnz3KhvKM_CM8nJTynJ7GI/edit.