Oleksandr Romanko

Vyshyvanka Association is honoured to nominate Dr. Oleksandr Romanko for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Ontario Provincial Council's Lifetime Leadership Achievement Trillium Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Ukrainian Canadian community, education, innovation, advocacy, and Canada–Ukraine relations.

Oleksandr Romanko moved to Canada from Ukraine in 2002 after being accepted for graduate studies in Computer Science at McMaster University. At McMaster, he was involved with the Ukrainian Student Club. After defending his PhD in Artificial Intelligence in 2010, Oleksandr started building his career in the field, working in various technical and managerial roles for Algorithmics Inc. (2010-2012), IBM Canada (2012-2019), and SS&C Technologies Canada (2019-present). In 2013, Oleksandr became an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.

As an industry practitioner and academic, Oleksandr builds ties between Canadian and Ukrainian universities and companies. He organized and participated in hundreds of events (conferences, workshops, meetups, presentations, panel discussions), popularizing Data Science and AI in Canada and Ukraine. After consulting with Canadian universities (University of Toronto, Queen’s University, York University, UBC), he started building master's programs at the intersection of business and AI in Ukraine (Ukrainian Catholic University, American University Kyiv, Kyiv School of Economics). Oleksandr published more than 25 research papers and book chapters, got a number of industrial and academic awards, teaches at the University of Toronto, and was teaching at McMaster University. At the University of Toronto, more than 3000 graduate students have taken his courses. He also supervises projects of master's and PhD students.

Oleksandr actively advocates for students at the provincial and national levels. He works with UCC-Ontario, SUSK and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto to advocate for international tuition exemption for Ukrainian CUAET students. Oleksandr advocated for Ukraine to become a partner of Mitacs research internship program, which allowed Ukrainian students to do internships at Canadian universities and Canadian companies. By now, more than 1000 Ukrainian interns have done internships in Canada, which is $10M+ funding from the Government of Canada and provincial governments. The Mitacs program is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development of Canada, as it drives innovation forward in Canada and in partner countries.

Starting from 2022, Oleksandr is a board of directors’ member of UCC-National, leading the UCC Innovation, Education, and Science Support Committee. Oleksandr and his team works with MPs and Ministers on Canada-Ukraine defense technology partnerships. In June 2025 he wrote “Proposal to partner with Ukraine’s advanced defence technology industry to help strengthen Canada’s security” policy document. As a result of advocacy for the proposal, on 24 August 2025, in Kyiv, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $220M funding for joint defence tech ventures between Canada and Ukraine. Oleksandr advises Dignitas Ukraine Fund on facilitating defence tech collaborations between Ukrainian and Canadian companies, and some of those joint ventures already received funding from the Government of Canada.

Oleksandr served as a board member of UCC-Toronto (2015-2017), Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Toronto (2017-2020), Shevchenko Scientific Society of Canada (2018-present), and UCC-National (2022-present). He is a member of Euromaidan Toronto Committee (now Stand with Ukraine Committee) of UCC-Toronto from late 2013 till now. Over the years, Oleksandr collaborated with many Ukrainian Canadian organizations, including UCC-Ontario, Vyshyvanka Association, UNF, Liga, BCU Foundation, Canada-Ukraine Foundation, Shevchenko Foundation, Myhal Family Foundation, CUIAS, Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, SUSK, Maple Hope Foundation, and Ukrainians on Bay Street. He is actively involved in projects with the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada.