Borys Mykola Bodnar is a British-born Ukrainian civic leader, humanitarian practitioner, financial expert, and Rotarian whose life and work are rooted in Ukraine’s struggle for sovereignty, dignity, and peace.
Born in Leicester, England, to a Ukrainian family, and now a permanent resident of Ukraine, Bodnar has spent his life moving between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, carrying a deep love of the language, history, and culture of both places. He is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and French, with basic German. He joins IIPAC’s team of peace professionals, adding his own valuable blend of humanitarian experience, financial expertise, language skills, a deep familiarity with Ukraine’s culture and the lived realities of the war zone.
Bodnar’s commitment to peace and Ukraine began long before Russia’s full-scale invasion. From an early age, he was active in the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and the Ukrainian Youth Association, participating in camps that celebrated and preserved Ukrainian identity, civic duty, and community leadership. He later became active in the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations and took part in Action “The Bell 90” in Ukraine in the summer of 1990 as a speaker and activist during a defining moment in Ukraine’s movement toward independence.
Professionally, Bodnar built a distinguished career in international finance, risk management, corporate governance, and strategic consulting. His senior roles included service with HSBC Global Private Bank in Geneva, Daiwa Capital Markets, Commerzbank, Deloitte, and Mellon Financial Corporation in London. Across banking, audit, consulting, fintech, IT, biotech, and commercial startups, he developed deep expertise in financial control, restructuring, evaluation, team leadership, and complex international business.
That background now strengthens his humanitarian and civic work. Bodnar understands international institutions, systems risk, governance, accountability, and the physical risks of working inside a conflict zone. He knows how to build structures that can survive pressure. Those skills matter deeply in peacebuilding during active conflict, where good intentions are not enough and humanitarian work must move with urgency, integrity, and competence.
Bodnar does not approach IIPAC’s mission from theory alone. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has lived the experience of conflict in real time, inside a society facing violence, displacement, grief, resilience, and the daily work of survival. His perspective gives IIPAC something essential: the voice of a person working for peace from within the conflict conditions IIPAC was created to address.
Bodnar is also deeply committed to Rotary service. He is the founder and charter president of Rotary Club Ukraine Unity and has served in leadership roles within Rotary District 2232 Ukraine, including District Secretary, Head of the District Audit Commission, Assistant Governor, Ukraine-Germany Inter-Country Committee lead, Ukraine–Great Britain and Ireland Inter-Country Committee lead, District Environment lead, member of the District Foundation Committee, and participant in district task forces supporting Ukraine. Through Rotary, he has helped connect international goodwill with practical aid, partnership, and action on the ground.
As IIPAC Ukraine Advisor, Bodnar brings lived experience, language skill, humanitarian credibility, financial expertise, and direct knowledge of Ukraine and the United Kingdom. His work reflects IIPAC’s central conviction: peacebuilding must not wait for war to end; it must take place during conflict, within conflict, and alongside the people who carry its burden.