On April 16, 2026, a formal ceremony to present the Open Society Award was held in Kyiv. The winners were the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, human rights activist Oleksandra Matviychuk, the civil society organization Ukrainian PEN, and filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov.
The Open Society Award honors individuals, organizations, and projects whose actions are transforming the country, strengthening democratic values, and promoting the development of an open society. The event took place at the Sense bookstore.
The award had two categories: Creators of an Open Society for those who have made a lasting contribution to the development of Ukraine’s civil society, and Voices of an Open Society for those who, in 2025, became a powerful voice for democracy and actively worked toward change. In each category, the jury awarded both a collective and an individual prize.
In the Creators category, the collective prize was awarded to the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. University President Serhiy Kvit accepted the award on behalf of the institution; the award was presented by journalist Yuriy Makarov.
The shortlist for this category also included Public Broadcasting, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, the OPORA Civic Network, the Yellow Ribbon movement, and the civil society organizations Center for Civil Liberties and Truth Hounds.
The individual award in the Creators category went to human rights activist and head of the Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviychuk. The award was presented by journalist Vitaliy Portnikov.
The shortlist also included Lilia Hrynevych, Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi, Maksym Butkevych, Yevhen Zakharov, Olena Apchel, and Yevhen Hlibovych.
In the Voices category, the cultural and human rights organization Ukrainian PEN received a collective award. The award was accepted by the organization’s executive director, Maksym Sytnikov, and presented by Yevhen Nyshchuk, general director of the Ivan Franko Theatre.
The Mystetskyi Arsenal, the civic organizations Victory Drones and Ukraïner, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the Center for Civil Liberties, and the People with Cardboard Signs initiative were also nominated for this award.
Director Mstyslav Chernov received the individual award in the Voices category. Due to his absence from Ukraine, Mstislav was unable to accept the award in person, but addressed the ceremony’s guests via video. The award was accepted on the director’s behalf by his colleague, producer Volodymyr Yurchuk, and presented by journalist Myroslava Barchuk.
The shortlist also includes Mykhailo Tkach, Pavlo Kazarin, Volodymyr Mykolayenko, Maria Berlinska, Lesya Litvinova, and Maksym Butkevych.
To select the winners, the Foundation reached out to more than 50 civic organizations, agencies, and institutions, asking them to nominate candidates. This resulted in a long list of 30–40 nominees in each of the four categories. Afterward, the jury members independently evaluated the nominees and compiled their own ranking lists. To avoid conflicts of interest, jury members were not allowed to vote for themselves, their colleagues, or the organizations they represent.
In 2026, the jury included writer and military officer Serhiy Zhadan, director of the Art Arsenal Olesia Ostrovska-Lyuta, philosopher and former director of the International Renaissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky, director of the OPORA Civil Network Olga Aivazovska, and journalists Vitaliy Portnikov, Sevgil Musaeva, and Myroslava Barchuk.
In 2026, the Award is being presented for the second time. In 2025, the winners were the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, Myroslav Marynovych (in the Creators category), the Come Back Alive Foundation, and human rights activist Masi Nayem (in the Voices category).
The award is presented in the form of a symbolic brick. It underscores the role of civil society leaders in building, brick by brick, an Open Society for a free Ukraine.
