Sofia Burtak

Sofia Burtak is President of the Rural Women Business Network (RWBN), a Ukrainian association advancing the rights, economic opportunities, and leadership of women in rural communities. For more than 15 years, she has worked to strengthen rural women’s economic participation, entrepreneurship, access to resources, and voice in decisions affecting rural development and agri-food systems. As President of RWBN, Sofia leads initiatives that bring rural women together as entrepreneurs, producers, community leaders, and advocates for change. She works to ensure that rural women are recognized as economic actors and have meaningful opportunities to own and develop businesses, access finance and knowledge, participate in cooperatives and value chains, and shape policies affecting their communities. Since 2010, she has supported the development of agricultural cooperatives and rural enterprises, from grassroots mobilization and entrepreneurship to organizational governance and institutional development. She is the founder of the Cooperative Academy and a certified trainer in organizational development, conflict transformation, and cooperative development. Her work connects economic empowerment with women’s rights, collective action, and resilient rural communities. Sofia regularly speaks at Ukrainian and international forums on rural women’s economic empowerment, cooperative development, gender equality, and Ukraine’s recovery and European integration.