Who We Are
Oksana and Ekaterina are the founders of our community and the driving force behind it. As expats in Munich, they faced similar challenges and quickly realised how much easier adaptation becomes with collective wisdom.
Today, they support fellow international women by creating a safe space for mutual support and professional development - the Women's Career Growth Community.
Our Founders
Dr. Oksana Koval
Dr. Oksana Koval is a data and AI strategy leader with over a decade of experience driving large-scale transformation programs at companies like Audi AG and Estée Lauder. With a PhD in Economics and a career spanning Ukraine, the United States, Czech Republic, and Germany, she brings both deep technical expertise and a lived understanding of what it means to build a career across borders.
She founded the Women's Career Growth Community to create something she found missing along her own journey: a space where ambitious women could grow professionally with the support of peers who truly understand the complexity of international careers, high-stakes transitions, and building influence in environments not always designed for them.
Every move, every new country, new role, new challenge, made me more capable. But it also made me more aware of how much harder the path is when you're navigating it without the right people around you. This community exists to change that. To give women the clarity, the connections, and the confidence to grow.
Ekaterina Chernyavskaya
Ekaterina Chernyavskaya is an industrial marketing and communications expert with a background in international B2B environments. Born in Moscow, she studied economics and German language there and later completed an MBA in Marketing Management in Bavaria.
Her professional experience includes roles in metallurgy, construction, and real estate, working with international corporations and complex, technical products and services.
Beyond her professional work and Community management, Ekaterina is passionate about travel and architecture and enjoys trying new experiences that challenge routines and expand perspectives.
Having moved to new places many times for studies and work taught me a lot: curiosity, resilience, and how to start over. It also showed me how isolating the expat experience can be: new systems, new expectations, new cultural codes, and the quiet pressure to “fit in” quickly.
WCGC was created to make that journey less lonely and more empowering. Through our community, I want to support ambitious women building their lives in a new environment, so they can grow with clarity and confidence, without losing themselves along the way.
