Meet the Experts

Brian Mefford is the Director and Founder of Wooden Horse Strategies LLC, a boutique governmental relations and strategic communications firm based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Named by the Kyiv Post Newspaper as one of the 20 "Most Influential Expats in Ukraine," Mefford has lived and worked in Eastern Europe continuously for more than 25 years. He is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank based in Washington, DC. In 2023 Mefford was named "Philanthropist of the Year" by the Association of Charities of Ukraine for his humanitarian aid efforts to help Ukrainians during the war.

Born in Barstow, California, he is a graduate of Southern Arkansas University with a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Finance, and holds a Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies from the Harry Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. In the spring of 1999, Brian joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) as Resident Program Officer in Kyiv, Ukraine, where for over a decade he trained, advised, and consulted political activists and government officials across Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Belarus, and beyond. He served as IRI's Ukraine Country Director and, from 2016–2019, advised Dr. Ulana Suprun at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on healthcare legislation.

In 2016, Mefford incorporated his consulting practice into Wooden Horse Strategies LLC. He speaks English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Greek.

Ivan joined the team of Wooden Horse Strategies LLC as a representative in the winter of 2016. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, he graduated from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with a Master's degree in Political Science. During his university days, he interned in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukraine's parliament) in the Committee of National Security and Defense.

After university, Ivan started his career at the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine in the communications team. He then spent two years on an international technical support project implemented by Pact Inc. and funded by USAID as the communications lead for the whole project. Ivan also has experience as a PR coordinator at a PR firm, as well as internal communications and PR work for Ukraine's largest producer of mine-safety equipment.

Ivan is currently Communications Director at Wooden Horse Strategies LLC.

Taras is from the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where he studied International Relations at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He also spent an academic year at Queen Mary University of London studying International, EU, and Human Rights Law. In Lviv, Taras trained at the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, then worked as a journalist and head of the World News department at the Lvivska Gazeta newspaper.

In 2006, he moved to Kyiv, where he spent 3.5 years at the Secretariat of President Viktor Yushchenko, followed by a six-month internship at the European Commission in Brussels and 8.5 years with the International Republican Institute developing democratic practices across Ukraine.

Taras joined Wooden Horse Strategies in 2019 as a political and business consultant, and served as Head of the Advisory Board to the Mayor of Rivne in 2021. Since Russia's full-scale invasion, Taras has stayed in Kyiv, supporting Territorial Defense and the Armed Forces as a volunteer, and now directs the NGO "COD Help Ukraine — Operation Palianytsia" and serves on the board of the NGO "Agency for Recovery and Development," supporting municipalities near the frontline.

Originally born and raised in Uzhhorod, Vitalii is currently living in Kyiv and is a Ph.D. scholar who graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University, specializing in German language and literature. He received a Master's degree with honors from the same university in 2020 and a Bachelor's degree in Germanistics from Kyiv National Linguistic University in 2018.

Having studied in the USA, Germany, and Poland, and completed a seminar in Sweden on the Fundamentals of Democratic Society, Vitalii brings experience in intercultural communication, research, copywriting, copyediting, translation, and interpreting, as well as teaching English. On the technical side, he manages social media, edits video content, and creates short animation videos for clients on demand.

After working at the humanitarian response NGO Help Ukraine Operation Palyanytsia, Vitalii has managed grants and humanitarian aid since 2022, and continues to do so today, alongside helping with the company's logistics and partner communications. Vitalii joined Wooden Horse Strategies in March 2018.