Maria Ovcharenko

Maria was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and was raised in the Ukrainian community in Edmonton. She has been a member of Plast since the age of four. Having grown up with Plast values and traditions and completing the youth program, she has been volunteering as a counsellor and mentor of various age groups since 2014. As a Scoutmaster in the Edmonton branch, she led programming for girls aged 12–18, organized local camps, and collaborated on modernizing organizational policies. On the national level, she was a member of the counselling team at the youth leadership camp “Golden Mace” (Золота Булава) in 2022 and 2024, mentored junior leaders, and co-organized national leadership workshops. She received training through Plast Canada and Plast U.S.A., and has been active in both Plast Edmonton and Ottawa branches. Maria was a recipient of the UCC Alberta Provincial Branch Hetman Award for Outstanding Youth Leadership in 2023.Maria brings the same integrity and sense of duty to her professional life as she does to her community service. She is an executive coordinator at the Government of Alberta's representative office in Ottawa and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Infrastructure Protection and International Security at Carleton University. She is a UCC Parliamentary Internship Program alumna and continues to promote the program on various platforms, including Carleton's CKCU Literary News. Maria attended the Ukrainian bilingual program in Edmonton, played piano for 10 years—including performing Ukrainian pieces at annual Shevchenko concerts organized by UCC Edmonton Branch and Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta—and gained her first experience in public service as a Page at the Legislature of Alberta.