Heifer's Heart: Meet the Staff

By Maegan Clark

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: July 23, 2011

Name: Viktor Teres

Title: Country Director, Heifer Ukraine 

Location: Heifer Ukraine operates in 20 of the 24 regions in Ukraine.

How long have you worked for Heifer? Almost eight years

What attracted you to work for Heifer? I was attracted to Heifer International because it is one of the most admired and desirable organizations with a great mission, values and practices. Prior to working for Heifer, I developed the needed skills and experience, which are being successfully used in Heifer Ukraine program development. Heifer is a great place to serve.

What has been the most memorable experience you have had while working for Heifer? I think the most exciting time is now. I am very impressed with the current ability of the new leadership of Heifer International to inspire and ignite for doing organizational restructuring and to reflect current global trends, moving toward decentralization and active resource mobilization at the level of country programs. At the same time, I recognize willingness to hold on to key values and practices. I am also impressed with their serious commitment to increase effectiveness and efficiency to accomplish the mission. It means it will positively impact smallholder farmers and empower the community. It really creates opportunities for country programs to develop with larger-scale institutional and public fundraising, which will benefit future self-reliance and increase revenue for programmatic activities to have better impact on the communities.

My education includes: I have a Ph.D. in Biology, a master’s degree in Animal Science, and a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration.

My hobbies include: In my free time, I love taking care of my garden. I love horse riding and numerous other sports activities, traveling, and singing Ukrainian folk songs. Moreover, I am a fearless dancer.

My family consists of: My family consists of my wife, Natalia, who is an associate professor of History at Kiev National University; my lovely son Andriy; already 26, he has been doing his Ph.D. thesis in Finance and is becoming an entrepreneur; and his wife Oksana, also 26, has already become my lovely daughter.

Something about me that you might not know: Working for Heifer for almost eight years, I managed to receive numerous recognition from local communities, and local government and national authorities, which is a credit to my staff and team also. I have received different kinds of awards from Ukraine ministers, particularly from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, who recognize the achievements of Heifer Ukraine's projects. Not many people know that I have a very diverse professional experience, including 16 years managing projects funded by different international development and donor agencies, such as the European Union, USAID, CIDA, World Bank, and others. Overall, I have 28 years of combined work and research experience in Ukraine. I have done research at the famous Roslin Institute of Biotechnology at Edinburgh University in Scotland and the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and the Institute of Radiobiology and Radioecology in Ukraine.

What is the best thing about working at Heifer Ukraine? Heifer Ukraine sets very high goals and is working hard to achieve those goals. Our work is hard; my staff is full of dedicated and passionate people. My staff is proud and enjoys working and volunteering for Heifer Ukraine. Our organization, which has already become widely regarded, has a solid reputation as one of the best charitable organizations in Ukraine. Heifer Ukraine has highly qualified and motivated personnel. My staff has established open lines of communication with partners, government agencies, donors and other stakeholder organizations.