The Kyiv Investment Forum 2025 (KIF), held this year in Berlin, reaffirmed its role as a key platform for accelerating Ukraine’s recovery, driving innovation, and building long-term resilience. For the fifth time in a row, Impact Force served as a co-organizer of the Forum shaping its agenda, curating cross-sector dialogue and advancing ecosystem collaborations that connect Ukrainian and European partners.
Under the theme “Investing in Resilience, Shaping the Future” KIF 2025 united more than 300 policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs and city leaders. Together, they explored how cooperation, innovation and social impact can transform a crisis into a catalyst for renewal.
As a long-standing co-organizer, Impact Force positions the Kyiv Investment Forum as not just an annual event but a platform for ecosystem-building where cities, businesses, innovators and civil society co-create solutions that strengthen Ukraine’s resilience.
Impact Force ensured that the 2025 Forum reflected this mission across all sessions ‘ from city diplomacy and investment to digital innovation and social entrepreneurship.
While each panel explored a specific sector, all discussions were united by a shared principle: recovery must be systemic, inclusive, and driven by collaboration.
The mayors’ dialogue demonstrated how cities are becoming powerful drivers of resilience, innovation, and recovery. Coordinated by Impact Force, the session underscored the growing role of European urban leaders in shaping Ukraine’s future. It highlighted how diverse city ecosystems — from Berlin, Brussels, Vilnius, Poznań, and Wrocław — are contributing experience, expertise, and practical solutions to strengthen Kyiv’s recovery and long-term development. The discussion emphasized shared commitment, mutual learning, and concrete mechanisms for structured, city-level collaboration that moves beyond symbolic solidarity.
In the investment panel, Impact Force emphasized that reconstruction must integrate not only large institutional investors but also SMEs and entrepreneurs, who are fundamental to Ukraine’s economic recovery. Discussions showcased blended finance models enabling investment during wartime, partnership-driven investment mechanisms, the importance of affordable housing and human capital retention and the growing role of mid-size businesses in reconstruction.
Impact Force continues to advocate for digital innovation as a foundation of Ukraine’s recovery. Beyond supporting digitalization, Impact Force highlighted two critical elements: cyber hygiene & public trust as key components of digital resilience and human-centered digital ecosystems that protect citizens and empower communities.
“We clearly understand that recovery must not only be about investment and infrastructure, but primarily about trust and inclusivity. Resilience means that no community is left behind. That is why Impact Force creates ecosystems where social entrepreneurs stand side-by-side with mayors, ensuring that Kyiv’s future will be profoundly human and fair. This is the main outcome of the forum” said Olga Diakova, co-founder of Impact Force and KIF’s Head of Organizing Committee.
Social impact was intentionally embedded across all Forum discussions. Impact Force curated a dedicated Breakout Session on Social Entrepreneurship for Inclusive Recovery, which became one of highlights of KIF 2025. The session laid the foundation for Kyiv’s forthcoming Social Impact Cluster – an ecosystem platform uniting entrepreneurs, investors, academia, and city authorities.
This Cluster will help Kyiv embed social innovation into urban recovery, ensuring that resilience is not only infrastructural or technological, but deeply human-centered.
“Resilience is built through people, not projects,” said Nina Levchuk, co-founder of Impact Force. “When social entrepreneurs, city leaders, and communities work together, we create systems that strengthen behavior change, economic opportunity, and digital trust. The Kyiv Social Impact Cluster is exactly this kind of ecosystem — a platform designed to drive human-centered recovery for Ukraine.”
KIF 2025 reaffirmed Impact Force’s core belief that Ukraine’s recovery cannot be fragmented or sectoral — it must be built through interconnected ecosystems where government, business, civil society, and international partners work as one. The Forum demonstrated that resilience is multidimensional: it is rooted not only in infrastructure and investment, but also in people, trust, digital readiness, and the strength of communities.
“Kyiv Investment Forum is a strategic platform where ideas turn into alliances, and alliances into systems. This year in Berlin we demonstrated that social impact, digital resilience, investment and city-to-city cooperation are not separate tracks, but interconnected pillars of Ukraine’s renewal. Ecosystem work is our core priority, and KIF 2025 proved how powerful it can be” stressed Olga Danko, Program director of Kyiv Investment Forum and Advocacy Director at Impact Force.
For Impact Force, the path forward is defined by this understanding. We will continue strengthening mental resilience and community well-being through evidence-based national programs; supporting Ukrainian entrepreneurs, social innovators, and displaced women as they rebuild economic independence; advancing digital resilience by promoting cyber hygiene, civic tech, and public trust; and amplifying these priorities across our advocacy platforms — from the Kyiv Investment Forum to the Impact Force Forum and global stages — ensuring that Ukraine’s human-centered recovery remains a shared priority.
Ukraine’s future will be shaped not only by the capital it attracts, but by the people and systems it cultivates. Impact Force remains committed to building these systems — integrated, inclusive, and designed for long-term transformation. Together with our partners, we will continue driving the social behavior change, economic opportunity, and digital security that define a modern and resilient Ukraine. The work ahead is complex, but the direction is clear, and Impact Force stands ready to lead and co-create the solutions that will shape a thriving future for all.
About Impact Force – Impact Force is a Ukrainian NGO, founded and led by women since 2021, focused on driving transformative social behavior change, generating economic opportunities, and implementing interventions for an inclusive and sustainable recovery in Ukraine. We envision a thriving Ukraine, leading the way in the modern world, empowered by its people and its commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Our aim is to drive transformative social behavior change and generate economic opportunities to advance Ukraine’s journey towards a sustainable and equitable recovery.