Sveta Yefimenko

Informing Public Discourse

With a background in academic scholarship and experience on political campaigns at multiple ballot levels, I specialize in policy and legislative research, policy analysis, and political communication.

I hold a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado Denver and a PhD in Russian Studies from the University of Exeter, where I studied on an International Excellence Scholarship. At Exeter, I taught undergraduate seminars, obtained several Researcher-Led Initiative awards to co-found a scholarly journal dedicated to foreign literature, and was twice awarded the Niklaus-Cartwright grant to first undertake archival research at the College de France in Paris, France and then at the British Library in London, England. Additionally, I served on the editorial board of Ex Historia, Exeter’s postgraduate history journal, and co-organized conferences addressing Brexit, Russia’s political history, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

During my Open Research Laboratory Associateship at the University of Illinois, I began to examine how Russia’s war narratives inform nation-building and memory politics. Regularly presenting my work at academic conferences in England and the United States, I’m a member of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies, and the ASEEES Working Group in Philosophy and Intellectual History.

Drawing on my academic and political expertise, I serve as a research director at the Massachusetts State House of Representatives for the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight while also pursuing a graduate certificate in international security at Harvard University’s Extension School. Prior to joining the State House, I was a political copywriter and opposition researcher, helping to create bold, strategic messaging that won elections.

Let’s speak truly.

Let’s light beacons.

It’s time to talk to the people.