Айзек

Isaac Evans Having completed a stimulating and rewarding education, recognised by top degree
classifications from the Universities of Oxford and St Andrews, I am now focused on
contributing my knowledge and skills to Ukraine’s recovery and development.
Academically, I specialised in societal transitions away from violence and specifically
community peacebuilding approaches in the post-Soviet and post-Yugoslav spaces. I
have complemented this with experience working for regionally-focused NGOs on
programme facilitation, impact report writing, project design, and grant writing. To
further develop my capacity in this field, I plan to be based in Ukraine full-time and
reach fluency in Ukrainian.

Experience

Feb 2024-Present
Contact Ukrainian Development Centre, Kremenchuk, Ukraine
Grant Writer
Phone As a voluntary member of staff at a young Ukrainian NGO, I design programmes and
[відкрити контакти](див. вище в блоці «контактна інформація») activities to strengthen democracy and civic identity in Krememnchuk and the wider
Poltava region, particularly among women and IDPs. This involves keeping abreast
of funding opportunities and sources and the evolving local situation, designing
Email projects in response to these, completing grant applications in various formats,
[відкрити контакти](див. вище в блоці «контактна інформація») consulting with local and international stakeholders, and cooperating with partner
NGOs such as ANTS. Under ANTS’ guidance, I have learnt how to write persuasive
proposals.

Jul-Sep 2023
University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
Skills
Research Assistant
English (native speaker) As the research assistant to an academic, I prepared the book proposal for a
forthcoming book. This involved collating the relevant information, formatting it
according to publishers’ specifications, and presenting it in a clear and concise
Ukrainian (intermediate, manner.
actively learning) I also proposed edits for several chapters of this book, focusing on accessibility and
theoretical insights, and suggested similar edits for two articles. This developed my
editing skills and attention to detail, while allowing me to demonstrate my strong
Russian (intermediate) written communication skills.

Mediation (accredited Feb - Jun 2023
qualification from Scottish John Smith Trust, Oxford, England
Mediation) Research Practice Placement
My primary responsibility was conducting the monitoring, evaluation, and learning
Proficient in Microsoft Office for the Trust’s ‘Oxford Ideas Exchange.’ I produced a detailed impact report to
inform future programmes and demonstrate the impact of the Ideas Exchange to
funders. This was based on the Trust’s theory of change model and I chose to
delpoy outcome harvesting as my methodology after researching options including
a logical framework. The report combined quantitative data with qualitative
storytelling for comprehensive analysis.
In addition to this, I drafted and edited articles on the Trust’s work for publication
References on its website and assisted the Programme Manager in organising and then
facilitating the Ideas Exchange. There, I built connections with prominent JST
Fellows from a range of professional and cultural backgrounds, demonstrating my
Available on request
strong people skills.
 Feb 2021 - Mar 2022
Organization for World Peace, Online
Correspondent
I wrote weekly articles or reports on current affairs as they pertained to peace. It
allowed me to develop and showcase my writing and analytical skills, as well as to
explore complicated situations of my choosing in depth. I primarily wrote about
issues in the post-Soviet space, broadening my understanding of the region. As I
completed this alongside language learning and then my Masters degree, I relied on
my time management and organisational skills to consistently meet these and
other deadlines.

Nov 2020 - May 2021
Coachbright, Online
Tutor and Mentor
As a volunteer with this education charity, I had the dual role of providing life
mentoring and maths tutoring to disadvantaged and underperforming pupils. This
involved planning weekly sessions and delivering them online, demonstrating my
organisational skills and ability to work with various software including Microsoft
Office.

Education

September 2021-August 2023
University of St. Andrews, Scotland
MPhil in Peacebuilding and Mediation, with Distinction
Modules included: Critical Approaches to Peacebuilding (18.2); Mediation:
Community and Global Praxis (16.5); Modern War: Histories, Strategies, and Critical
Interventions (16.8); Prisons: Spaces of Power, Resistance and Peacebuilding (18.1).
Dissertation: ‘In Conversation with Conflict: Exploring the Decolonial Power of a
Grassroots Archive in Donbas’ (17).
Awards: Dean’s List for Academic Excellence.

Sep 2022-Feb 2023
University of Belgrade, Serbia
Study Abroad Semester at the Faculty of Political Sciences
Modules included: Failed States and Statebuilding (18.5); Image of the Other (18.5);
Disintegration of Yugoslavia and Post-Yugoslav Wars (18); History of Balkan
Relations (18); Regional Peace and Security through Cinema (17.5).

Sep 2017 - Oct 2020
Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, England
BA in History and Politics, First Class Honours
Modules included: British Politics and Government since 1900 (72); 1919:
Remaking the World (72); International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars
(70); A Global War, 1914-1920 (68); Q-Step Quantitative Methods Essay (74).
Dissertation: ‘Between the Land and the Sea: Exploring the Governance of
International Waterways in Relation to the Regional Ordering of East-Central
Europe, 1918-1923’ (72).
Sep 2010 - Aug 2017
Teign School, Devon
A Levels: Government and Politics (A*), History (A*) and Maths (B).
GCSEs: 11 A*s and awarded the Teign School Academic Excellence Award.