Franak Viacorka

Chief Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
About Franak Viačorka
Franak Viačorka is a Chief Advisor (Chief of Staff) to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarusian President-Elect. He is Vice President of the Digital Communication Network and a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.

As a Chief Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, he organizes the work of her office, and her international and diplomatic work. He accompanied Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at her high-level meeting with international leaders.

He previously worked as a research media analyst for the US Agency for Global Media. Also, he has served as a creative director for the Belarus service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), consultant for Freedom House, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Viačorka is a frequent speaker and advocates for democracy and personal freedom. For his activism and journalism work in Belarus, he was jailed multiple times by the Belarusian government.

He graduated with an MA from American University in Washington DC and a BA from Warsaw University in Poland.


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Chief of Staff,
- leading strategic planning and international outreach efforts.
- coordinating initiatives that promote democratic reforms in Belarus,
- engaging with global policymakers, and overseeing communications to ensure the voice of free Belarus is heard worldwide.

U.S. Agency for Global Media, Office of Policy and Research:
Digital Media Strategist, full-time contractor:
- Led the team developing the "Impact Tracker", tracking impact stories from USAGM networks;
- Conducted analysis and co-authored strategy for Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian and Polish media markets;
- Participated in working groups (SWAT) on Russian disinfo, digital metrics, future of distribution,
- Edited the weekly newsletter "USAGM Digital Trends";
- Organized the panel on disinformation at "Media For Democracy Forum" in Washington D.C.

• Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Policy and Research:
Consultant, June-December 2018:
- Conducted digital media workshops for RFE/RL bureaus in Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Kyiv;
- Worked on the dashboard for tracking digital analytics for VOA, RFERL, etc.
- Developed the new model of Language Service Review based on digital performance.

Intern, Washington D.C., January-June 2018
- Worked on teams broadcasting in Mandarin, Persian, Russian, and English
- Analyzed international audience data, made statistical analysis;
- Wrote policy papers and recommendations for management;

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc., Belarus Service

Acting Creative Director, Minsk bureau, freelance, 2016-2019:
● Supervised brand integrity on digital platforms;
● Developed a digital strategy for the service;
● Closely worked with senior editors on content and distribution;
● Trained the team of video producers and social media producers

Editor at Belarus Service, Prague, 2015-2016:
● Created and managed a digital media team which reaches 10 million people per month on social networks. Its pages rated #1 in Belarus for a third year in a row.
● Produced number of award-winning projects and video programs including: Life After Cancer,Chernobyl 30th Anniversary; Developed the strategy of reaching the youth audience and expanding presence in Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki;
● Produced several TV shows focusing young audiences on digital platforms the most successful "Circus Behind Bars"

Other RFE/RL positions:
Editor of New Media, Minsk, 2014-2015,
Manager of Social Media team, 2013-2014,
Journalist and News Host, 2012-2013,
Vaclav Havel Fellow, fellowship at RFE/RL Headquarters, 2012

Digital Communication Network, non-for-profit registered in Estonia,
Vice-President, present
• Managed the association of journalists and digital specialists with 5500+ active members from Post-Soviet space and Central Europe;
• Developed the outreach strategy and fundraised more than $500K for large events and day-to-day activities;
•Organized international Media Literacy Forum in Bratislava, Digital Influencers in Action Forum in Budva; Digital Storytelling Forum in Sofia;
•Spoke at events and conferences on digital media and disinformation in Vilnius, Bratislava, Bucharest, Gdansk, Warsaw, Prague, Johannesburg, Thessaloniki, Yerevan etc.
•Coordinated the research project on digital influencers in CEE countries, Caucasus and Central Asia;
●Trained media managers and journalists of Central-Eastern Europe and Central Asia;

Polish Television (TVP), PR-Manager for Belsat TV, 2008-2012;
● Led the external communication team in Belarus;
● Successfully introduced the brand new and the only pro-democratic TV-channel to state-monopolized Belarus market;
● Established the community pages of Belsat TV on digital platforms, set up marketing campaigns.


I also worked with Radio Racyja (2001-2002), Belapan News Agency (2005-2007), founded and led news websites UDFB.org (United Democratic Forces of Belarus) and UFF-by.org, managed presidential candidate website milinkevich org. Besides that, served as the Communication Director for Belarusian Institute of America (USA, 2016-2017), president for Svaboda Institute (Poland, 2013-2016), Vice President for Art Siadziba (Belarus, 2011-2012), manager for "Civil Journalist" campaign (Belarus, 2011-2012)

Education
American University, Washington D.C., USA
M.A. in Intercultural and International Communication, 2018

Georgetown University (consortium), Washington D.C., USA
Capstone project: How can the U.S. (DoD) leverage the information instrument of national power to better compete with China. Client: U.S. Department of Defense.

University of Warsaw, Poland
B.A. in Journalism and Social Communication, 2014
Thesis: Foreign broadcasting in authoritarian states. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and Belsat TV in Belarus

Information and Communication, 2008
Belarusan State University, Minsk, Belarus

Belarusian Lyceum for Humanaties named After Jakub Kolas (in underground, 2005)

SPEAKING EXPERIENCE AND TEACHING
Most of my talks are about mass media, government transparency, digital and emerging technology and social platforms, and my focus regions are post-soviet space, China, and periphery:

· European journalism institute, Adjunct Faculty Member, Prague, 2019
· The Institute of World Politics, Guest lecturer, Washington D.C., 2018-2019
· ONA Conference, New Orleans, 2019
· Milton Wolf Seminar, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, 2019
· Media for Democracy Forum, Washington, 2019
· Humor and Games for Social Good, Yerevan, 2019
· GLOBSEC Forum, 2019
· Misinfocon, London, 2018
· Digital Transformation Forum, Bucharest, Romania, 2018

I also spoke at Forum 2000, Personal Democracy Forum, Atlantic Council and Freedom House Events, MediaBarCamp, Wroclaw Global Forum, American Institute on Political and Economic Systems (AIPES), Megaphone 2019 in Budapest, Point 8.0 Conference in Sarajevo, Digital Storytelling for Impact in Sofia.
CONSULTING
U.S. Department of Defense
Worked on the American University research project related to China and information operations;
Freedom House
Peer Reviewer of the "Nations in Transit" report in 2016 and 2017
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Research and data analysis;
Ukraine Public Television (UA:TV)
INTERNSHIPS AND TRAINING:
● Warsaw Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy, College of Europe, Warsaw, 2017

● Digital Communication Network Exchange program (U.S. State Department), 2016

● Internship in the New York Public Radio, WNYC ("The Takeaway show"), 2016

● Summer University of Democracy of Council of Europe (Strasbourg), 2011

● East European School of Political Studies of the Council of Europe (Ukraine, Poland, France), 2010-2011
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Advertising and communications festival «Adnak», 2016;

• «The best media project for a single channel of communication: TV, print media, radio, Internet, outdoor advertising, of Indoor». Project for 30th Anniversary of Chernobyl disaster;

• «The Best Social project or campaign». Campaign to promote national symbols of Belarus;

Graduate Student Award «For Outstanding Service or Activism Off-Campus», 2018. School of International Service, American University;

Civil Society Leadership Award, 2016: by Open Society Foundations;

«30 under 30», 2013: National Endowment for Democracy. Featured among «promising young leaders, all age 30 or younger, who are working for a democratic future in 24 countries». https://www.ned30under30.org/franak-viachorka-belarus/

The Best Screenplay, 2013, Brussels Film Festival, for the movie «Viva Belarus!» https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2723138/

«Prix Europa» for the best documentary of Europe (Berlin, 2007) and 19 other prizes for Lesson of Belarusian https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920739/
PROJECTS
● Award-winning project "Life after Cancer", 2015, in collaboration with Hanna Sous and Alaksandra Dynko, http://pierakmozam.by

● Award-winning project "Chernobyl, 30 years after", 2016, in collaboration with A. Znatkevich, https://www.svaboda.org/a/27695076.html

● "Black-White Maidan", Photo Gallery, 2014, https://www.svaboda.org/a/black-white-maidan-photos/25247128.html

Horrible/Awesome: The Top 7 Songs About Europe's Last Dictator, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/horrible-awesome-the-top-7-songs-about-europes-last-dictator/264285/
Feel free to write and call me. I really love to communicate.
Phone: +375 29 6685821
E-mail: franak.viacorka@gmail.com
Whatsapp: +375 29 6685821