Ukrainian American Society of Texas
The Ukrainian American Society of Texas Is A Non-Profit 501(C)(3) Organization in the North Texas Area. Established in 1983 to Preserve and Celebrate the Ukrainian Culture, Language, Traditions, History, Food and Music!
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE !!!
Donations to UAST:
Ukraine Is Defending Democracy & Freedom for All!
Consider Offering Your Time And Talent For The Benefit Of Our Ukrainian Community In North Texas.
UAST Board Members
UAST Board Members are elected by its members in good standing and by majority vote. General Elections are held usually in the fall of every year.
Five Board Positions are elected and then elect among themselves a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.
Duties, qualifications for voting, and board position responsibilities are outlined in UAST Bylaws.
The 2021 Board meets on the third Thursday of each month. UAST Members are welcome to attend with notification to the Board President.
Board Meetings:
3rd Thursday of Each Month
NEW 2020 UAST BOARD:
Please welcome the newly elected Board of Directors of UAST: Chrystya Geremesz, Roma Giordano, Liz Moroz Harper, Yulia Lukyanchenko.
Liz Moroz-Harper, President
Born in Bayonne, NJ to first generation Ukrainian-American parents, Liz grew up in the north-central mountains of Pennsylvania and moved to Dallas, Texas in August, 1982. An active supporter of the Ukrainian American Community in the Dallas / Ft. Worth Metroplex, she has served on the UAST Board as an at-large Director, Secretary, and First Vice President before assuming the Presidency in 2020, and continues to perform with the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.
Over the years, she has had the pleasure of educating and entertaining the Metroplex through Ukrainian dance along with her sister Dee Dee Allen, former Director of the Ukrainian Dancers of Dallas, nephew Matt Allen, niece Nicki Allen, current Artistic Director of the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, son Michael Harper, and son Daniel Harper, who performs with the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.
Liz earned her B.A. in History, Summa Cum Laude, from The Pennsylvania State University, and her J.D. from The Southern Methodist University School of Law. She attended Harvard Summer School for Ukrainian Studies and has taken Ukrainian Language Courses at Manor College, Philadelphia, PA. A member of the State Bar of Texas since 1987, Liz practices corporate law and is employed by Shamoun and Norman handling litigation matters.
Chrystya Geremesz, Treasurer
Born to Ukrainian Immigrants, Chrystya was raised in a small Ukrainian community near Philadelphia, PA. She moved to Texas in 1980 to attend Southern Methodist University studying Business Administration. Her love of her heritage spurred her vision for a Ukrainian community in North Texas and she pursued developing the foundations for the Ukrainian American Society of Texas which informally began in 1981 and became a non profit in 1983. In 1999, she assisted Father Andrij Dwulit to form St. Sophia’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in The Colony. For over 37 years, she has been very instrumental in the growth of the Ukrainian Community in North Texas.
As a founding member of UAST, she has held every board position and the Presidency numerous times. Chrystya received charitable awards from both the UAST Community and other organizations for her endless commitment to educating others about Ukraine. She organized numerous events, danced with the Ukrainian Dancers of Dallas and sang with Veselka Ukrainian Folk Singers. She has performed on the Bandura and has given presentations on Ukraine to schools and private organizations.
Chrystya continues to serve on UAST's Board, teaches Pysanky Class, promotes Ukrainian education and is a local public spokesperson for newspaper and TV coverage of Ukrainian events. In 2018, she launched the North Texas Holodomor Committee to bring public awareness to The Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-33, (The Holodomor). Her committee successfully presented the Holodomor through a display at the Dallas Public Library for 4 weeks. Professionally, Chrystya is a full time Realtor with Ebby Halliday in Prosper.
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Linda Fielder, First Vice President
Born in Bayonne, NJ to second generation Polish/Ukrainian parents, I grew up and attended college in Central Jersey, Graduate School in Maryland, and Post-Doctored at GI of Tech. I moved to Texas in the early 80s and became active in the Ukrainian community.
In the early days of UAST as Second Vice President, I handled membership and joined the Zorya dance group with my 3 children, Alexandra, Catherine, and Gregory. I am an avid environmentalist, member of many environmental, humane, and wildlife groups, an active gardener, and member of the Community Monarch group. I obtained my teaching certificate over 20 years ago and currently teach math and science at the secondary level at the alternative school in Coppell. I look forward to retiring from teaching in May and becoming more active politically for environmental justice and animal rights as well as revisiting my previous board position at the City of Carrollton. And, of course, I look forward to teaching our community about Ukrainian culture in 2021 as a member of the UAST Board!
Marta Petrash, 2nd VP - Membership Director
Marta was born and brought up in Ukraine at the time when the country was hidden behind the Iron
Curtain and controlled by the Russian Soviet regime. Her parents, Ukrainian intelligentsia
representatives, instilled her with the strong sense of national identity and appreciation of Ukrainian
culture, literary heritage and people’s unwavering desire for self-determination. From her school years
she was noted for having a gift for acting and during Gorbachov’s “perestroika” took an active part in
Ukraine’s struggle for independence. She performed at high-profile political and cultural events reciting
Ukrainian patriotic poetry to convey aspirations and vision for free democratic Ukraine. She was invited
to Kyiv, Moscow and travelled to Canada as a member of the Ukrainian Peace Committee delegation.
Marta moved to the United States in 1991, after Ukraine gained its independence. As a member of
American Translators Association, she participated in international conferences and US government
projects aimed to aid Ukraine. As a foreign liaison officer and bi-lingual geoscience interpreter and
translator she worked for Mobil Oil’s New Exploration Ventures and Duke Engineering & Systems to help
Ukraine and other former USSR countries develop their oil and gas sector. She served as a Senior
Managing Editor for Albion Woods Publisher and co-authored five bi-lingual reference books for the
petroleum industry.
As a parishioner of St. Sophia Ukrainian Church and a member of North Texas Holodomor Committee,
Marta also serves the local community by giving multi-media presentations on Ukraine’s history, cultural
heritage and political challenges.
She holds Master’s degrees in both Biology and English from Lviv University, Ukraine, and
undergraduate studies in Geology. She attended UNT at Denton and earned M. Ed. in Counseling, magna
cum laude. In recent years she worked as a science instructor and counselor for Dallas ISD and currently
is a co-founder and CEO of Dnipro Valley Transport LLC.
Cathy Teinert, Secretary
Here we go again! I have been involved in UAST since 1994 and served several years on the board into the early 2000s until I became a bit busy raising my 2 children, Julia and Sam.
I am the second generation born in America of Ukrainian born grandparents. I was raised in Upstate New York near the Binghamton/Scranton area. My Dad was one of eight children born to my Ukrainian grandparents and my mom was not Ukrainian, but you would have never known! She embraced all the Ukrainian traditions and raised us dancing, singing, cooking, making pysanky and learning everything Ukrainian! I have continued these traditions in my family and Julia also joined Zorya when she was about 6 years old.
My goals remain as they did when I first heard about this wonderful group from Texas- embrace, share and teach the communities around us about Ukraine and its wonderful beautiful traditions, history and culture. I am happy to do my part and look forward to the New Year ahead!