Iryna Bilan is based in Kyiv and works with partnerships, cooperations, and grants in the team of Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex. Also, she is a co-founder and head of Art Arsenal Community NGO, a newly created organization to support the sustainability and development of individual and institutional actors in the cultural sector.

Iryna received her first degree in Marketing from Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine. After serving at Tustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve as Communications Manager, she completed a year-long traineeship at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The following year Iryna returned to the United States to pursue her Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in nonprofit management and leadership at Grand Valley State University, Michigan. After graduation, for one-year Iryna worked at Grand Valley’s Development department as a Prospect Research and Grant Writer, helping raise money for capital campaigns and outreach programs, and then returned to Kyiv, Ukraine, to work at Mystetskyi Arsenal.

With the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, Iryna joined the volunteer initiative, which later was officially established as Group 35 Charity Fund. The fund began with the basic equipment support of the Territorial Defence Forces units, and upon gaining expertise started focusing on providing the technological dominance of the Ukrainian army over the enemy.