Through her work, Polina Chernomordik — graduate of the HSE WEaIA Faculty and trainer of the Lightning Process technique — gives new meaning to the concept of success. After all, only the ability to identify and live by your own values — and not doing what everyone else does — enables you to develop in your profession and as a member of society. Ms. Chernomordik also knows how NGOs work in Great Britain, the purpose of a good education, and why we chase after phantoms even though inner peace is more important than career.
Why did you go to Moscow for your second degree after receiving your first in Perm?
I understood while studying management that an education in business was not for me. Ever since childhood, I have had an acute sense of justice: I wanted to help people, save the world and make life better for everyone. I dreamed of working for the UN. I read articles about politics and took part in charitable initiatives, many of which I initiated. After learning about the International Affairs programme at HSE in Moscow, I decided to apply: it offered a global perspective in not just the humanities, but also in humanitarianism. Political economy, philosophy and even Protestant ethics all concern the individual, and that is exactly what I wanted to study.
Why do you have such a strong interest in humanistic values?
As a child, I was keenly aware that not everyone was as fortunate as I was and that some children have no parents at all. My social studies teacher in school, Pavel Mikov, grew up in an orphanage. (He is now the Human Rights Commissioner for the Perm region.) While I was of school age, my family worked with Kidsave International, an organization that helps foreign families adopt children. I remember being embarrassed to talk about what I do and why I care. But now, I understand how lucky I was and I realized at an early age what makes life worth living.
As a cloud computing trends for 2025 child, I dreamed of studying and becoming a philanthropist, but to begin with, I just found like-minded people on the Internet. We created the Circle of Light charitable organization dealing with issues related to orphans. We started by organizing holidays for the children and bringing them things. Then we understood that just entertaining them would not solve the bigger problems. So we developed ‘smart assistance programs,’ including training for orphanage employees. Now I am most involved in the financial side of the organization, but also provide advice and moral support.
Did graduate studies meet your expectations?
It was clear that the things I was doing were conduct contract negotiations important from an ethical point of view, and there was definitely a more democratic atmosphere at the Moscow HSE campus. The academic supervisors of my master’s programme drank tea with us at the seminars and spoke ao lists to us as equals. It didn’t have the authoritarian approach that characterized the HSE campus in Perm at that time. In this sense, the instructors in Moscow were really ‘cool’: it was interesting not only to study various subjects with them, but also to discuss whatever topic came up. In general, the programme takes you to a level where you can think about the world globally and understand the logic behind social and political processes.