Ionan Valeriya Eduardivna

Ukrainian innovator in public administration and business, from 2019 to 2025 — Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration

By profession, Valeriya Ionan is a manager (studied in Cherkasy), began entrepreneurial activity early — founded her own IT agency at the age of 23. She was a co-founder of the Quadrate 28 group of companies with offices in Ukraine, Spain, and the UAE, founder and former publisher of the online media for entrepreneurs MC Today and SMEA, licensee of the international event Disrupt HR in Kyiv and Lviv.

Government Activity

In 2019, at age 28, Ionan joined the newly established Ministry of Digital Transformation and became Deputy Minister for European Integration. She was responsible for the national digital literacy program (Diia.Education — aiming to teach millions of Ukrainians basic digital skills), the Diia.Business entrepreneurship support project, regional digitalization, innovation coordination, and the WinWin strategy; led the European integration team and the international relations group, coordinated cooperation with Google, Cisco, and Microsoft. She also took special care of programs for women entrepreneurs and launched the business accelerator "Bold" in 2023. During her five-year tenure, the country introduced the world’s first digital passport and the Diia portal, used by over 20 million citizens.

In January 2026, Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov appointed Ionan as his advisor on international projects; she also remains an advisor to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, focusing on innovation, digitalization, and international partnerships. She hosts the original podcast FORWARD with Valeriya Ionan, where she talks with government officials and defense-tech representatives.

Participant in Vogue Ukraine Leaders (2024), laureate of European Young Leaders (EYL40), Mastercard Legacy, and UP100 Women; in 2025 she entered Sifted 100 Women in Tech in Europe, is an ISF Fellow (2025) and Yale Peace Fellow (2026), and was included in The Government AI 100 ranking by Apolitical (2026).

Personal. A mother; gave birth to a son a few months before the full-scale invasion and decided not to take maternity leave. Athlete — swam across the Bosporus, winner of the Ukrainian Boxing Cup. Among sources of inspiration, she named her own mother and First Lady Olena Zelenska.