Ostap Hrebeniuk ’27 and Valentín Montenegro Albornoz ’28 earn Projects for Peace awards
Hrebeniuk will facilitate an art therapy event in Italy for Ukrainians traumatized by war, while Montenegro Albornoz will bring a civics education program to adolescents in Argentina.
Ostap Hrebeniuk ’27 and Valentín Montenegro Albornoz ’28 are among 125 students worldwide to earn Projects for Peace awards to carry out projects during Summer 2026.
Hrebeniuk, a psychology major, will facilitate art therapy intervention for Ukrainians by co-leading an art therapy program with prominent Ukrainian artist Tetiana Mialkovska. The project, “Angel on the Doors,” is a five-week Plein Air event at an art therapy residency in Italy. There, 20-25 Ukrainian artists will participate in art therapy events and create images on old doors that portray healing, peace, and hope.
“The project that I propose treats healing itself as an act of peace,” Hrebeniuk said, “one that allows people to regain agency, stability, and dignity in circumstances defined by loss and fear.”
Montenegro Albornoz, a political science and international relations major, will work with the organization Voces de la Ciudadania to bring civics education, media literacy training, and critical thinking skills to adolescents in secondary schools in the Argentinian province of Santiago del Estero. Years of political and economic instability in the country have led to students having low civic understanding and distrust in institutions, as they also receive political information primarily through social media, which is increasingly AI-generated.
“There is a clear fear among students that has led to a disinterest in politics, and this is where the peace in our community suffers,” Montenegro Albornoz said. “Politics provides structured, nonviolent mechanisms to manage issues that affect everyone, but when people disengage at an early age, their capacity to participate meaningfully later on is diminished.”
Projects for Peace is a global program that partners with educational institutions around the country to identify and support young peacebuilders. They grant $1.25 million each year to 125 student leaders worldwide to develop innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues.