deploying to a conflict zone

traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine

Dear democracy baby readers,

I am willingly risking my safety in pursuit of humanitarianism and life experience, and I made this decision resolutely.

When I met my former boss “Leathers” for lunch at Grand Central Station in early March, he had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. While I was in graduate school, Leathers left Deloitte to run Ukraine Torch (UT) full-time, an NGO he co-founded after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since its bootstrapped inception, UT has raised over $300,000 to provide first-aid, training, technology, and supplies, meeting the greatest needs of front line Ukrainian troops.

I’d had a brutal career setback earlier that week, and it was confidence-building to reconnect with Leathers, who I had worked with through highs and lows, including a COVID-19 vaccination project for my home State of Oregon. Exhausted by the virtue signaling and tightrope walking of the corporate social impact job hunt, it was a relief to chat with a trusted colleague who knows me and what I’m capable of in the workplace.

When Jonathan found out I was available indefinitely, he started the Ukraine Torch recruitment pitch. I was an easy sell. Truly, as soon as the opportunity to join Ukraine Torch was on the table, I never doubted for a second that this was the path I should take. Perhaps a more directly impactful position than any of the roles I was considering in the private sector, but certainly less lucrative, deep down I knew that a bird in the hand was better than a six figure salary in the bush. The uncertainty of an increasingly tight job market, confirmed anecdotally by my peers, further reinforced my gut feeling. My future flashed before my eyes; another three months of resumes, cover letters, networking, and interviewing, but still no offers. What a waste of my precious time on this earth! And for what? To pay off student loans? Buy a small apartment in Brooklyn?

Why was it so easy for me to abandon my job search and pivot to an unpaid volunteer job with an NGO? After all, I took out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, and my plan was to exit MBA with a high-paying salary to chip away at my debt. My looming debt influenced the career paths I considered all throughout graduate school, but my heart sang at the chance to escape the rat race. The same opportunity cost and risks remain, but more than anything, I want to get back to work and regain my sense of societal contribution.

Moreover, the blatant cronyism of the Trump regime has revealed the weak spines of American corporate, institutional, and political leaders. I have little interest in banging my head against the wall just to minimize the backsliding of corporations and governments on human rights and sustainability violations. At our lunch, Leathers and I lamented about Deloitte’s recent capitulation to the Trump administration, ending DEI programming and investments citing the importance of federal contracts to its business and employees. Though I know many of the leaders we personally worked under feel queazy about this moral collapse, I refuse to work for a firm that abandoned its values when push came to shove, in one of the moments that mattered most.

With Ukraine Torch, I can blaze my own path without the constant compromising and permission-seeking. I will demonstrate the leadership I believe those with more power and influence than I should. Undoubtedly, Ukrainians need help, especially as US government support dissipates and Russia’s assault on Ukrainian freedom persists. Why not me? Why not now? I couldn’t genuinely answer these questions, so I booked a flight. Now, I’m on my way to Kyiv.

More to come soon

!

Warmly,

Brian