Marta Farion

Attorney Marta Farion serves as president of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America, a non-profit organization established to support National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, Ukraine’s oldest and most progressive national university, founded in 1615. Since its re- establishment in 1991, the university has focused on preparing change-leaders for Ukraine through excellence in education, spearheading all major reforms in higher education.

For over twenty years, Ms. Farion was the in-house counsel of Redex Packaging Corp., a research and technology firm specializing in food packaging and distribution.She conducted legal matters related to intellectual property, contracts and negotiations with clients and suppliers in the US and abroad, and participated in management decisions.

Ms. Farion is a board member of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), a US regional fund for Ukraine and Moldova. She serves as director on the boards of the Ukrainian World Congress, and Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. In that capacity, she participates in policies and activities to advance U.S. support of Ukraine’s security, democratic reforms for rule of law, transparency, human rights, and civil society.

In a partnership with Northwestern University and National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, and initial funding from USAID, she initiated ELibUk (Electronic Library of Ukraine), the first project in Ukraine to provide access to the world’s academic data bases to Ukrainian universities.

Ms. Farion served as chairperson of the Kyiv Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program, where she co-directed numerous educational, humanitarian and cultural projects, including the official visit of Chicago’s mayor to Kyiv, Warsaw and Krakow.

Ms. Farion has been a frequent guest on Chicago Public Radio’s “Worldview” program, speaking on events in Ukraine and US-Ukraine relations. She contributed articles to Kyiv- Post, Atlantic Council, New Eastern Europe, and Ukrainian Weekly.

Marta Farion was born of Ukrainian parents in Rome, Italy; she grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, immigrating to Chicago with her parents as a teenager. Together they became American citizens.

Marta Farion received her J.D. degree in 1980 from Chicago Kent College of Law, and her

B.A. and M.A. degrees in Spanish Literature from Loyola University Chicago.