Ivanna Franko - Wasyl Sytnyk Memorial Scholarship winner

Now we move on to the first of our two larger scholarship awards. These awards are granted in memory of two very important builders of Ukrainian Credit Union Limited, Wasyl Sytnyk and Michael Rebryk.

The winner of the The Ukrainian Credit Union Limited Board of Directors' Memorial Scholarship Award, in Memory of Wasyl Sytnyk in 2013 was Ivanna Franko. The scholarship is valued at $2,500.


Ivanna Franko is enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Administration at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo. She has actively put that education to good use in her community work serving both as the Treasurer of the Ukrainian Youth Organization of Eastern Canada (CYMK) and as the Treasurer of the Laurier Residence Council. She is a member of Enactus (formerly Students in Free Enterprise) a non-profit organization that connects leaders in business to university students to help them make a difference in their communities. She has filled various positions with the organization including Director of Program Development. She has been an asset to the Waterloo Ukrainian Community helping to revive the Rosmaj School of Ukrainian Dance as a way to pass along the joy of Ukrainian dance and culture to a new generation.


About Wasyl Sytnyk
Wasyl Sytnyk (1907‐2000) led Ukrainian Credit Union through its early years, serving as its first President of the Board from 1944 until 1979. Upon his retirement from the Board in 1987, Mr. Sytnyk was appointed Honorary Director for Life for his outstanding contribution to our credit union. In recognition of his exemplary service to Ontario's credit union movement, Mr. Sytnyk was awarded the Credit Union Central of Ontario's Distinguished Service Award in 1982. In addition to his role as UCU President, Mr. Sytnyk was a long‐time president of the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada, The World Council of Ukrainian Co‐operatives, and was very active in the church and organizational life of the Ukrainian Community.

In recognition of his lifelong interests this award will be made to a candidate of Ukrainian heritage who is enrolled full time in a post-secondary institution in a field of study that will lead to a career in the fields of business, finance, banking, IT, marketing, computer science or wealth management, and who shows above average academic skills, and demonstrates leadership and community involvement.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.