Mr Chevtchenko, who grew up in New Zealand, is completing a commerce degree at the University of Otago with a double major in marketing and English.
He is one of the inaugural recipients of the Manawanui leadership scholarship which builds on the success of the award-winning Mana Rangatahi programme in collaboration with INNOV8HQ and the Transition to Work Trust.
The trust is providing $50,000 to support five promising leaders in Otago, providing each with a $10,000 scholarship to advance their educational and leadership aspirations.
The scholarship is valued at $10,000, with $5000 towards customised industry leadership mentoring programmes, in addition to a $5000 financial grant to support recipients in their desired educational or leadership pathways.
The $5000 financial grant would be paid upon completion of meeting all programme key performance indicators and timelines.
Each of the three recently named recipients were graduates of the Mana Rangatahi programme. Two further scholarships were available in Central Otago and those recipients would be announced later this year.
Mr Chevtchenko described it as an “amazing opportunity” for investment in his future and to grow himself as a person.
Ultimately, he wanted to be an entrepreneur, working in the business sector, and he hoped the scholarship would help “fast-forward” him to being a professional leader.
From Cromwell, Isabella Miscisco is a first-year university student with a dream of working in the fashion industry with a brand that promoted wool, or in the neurodiversity space.
She applied for the scholarship to be part of the community that Mana Rangatahi brought — it was bringing amazing youth together and bringing out the best in them — alongside the personal growth and programmes, while the money aspect was “a great cherry on top”.
Ebony Miles-Wilson, a second-year university student, was born and raised in Dunedin and had been pushing herself to do more.
She felt like she did not always take opportunities and was “definitely inspired” to grasp this one. From Mana Rangatahi, she got a sense of community and also personal development.
She went into the programme quite anxious but came out in a better place. She felt her growth was very evident from being involved and that involvement helped her to come out of her shell.
“Everyone was so kind and pushed you to do your best in a very nurturing way. I feel it definitely put me on the right track”, she said.
Ultimately, she wanted a career which involved helping with injustices in society but she also wanted her work to be creative as well.
The Manawanui scholarship is in memory of Charles Manawanui Renata and his daughter Heidi Renata was “incredibly proud” of its first three recipients.
The scholarship was for “everybody” — it was open to applicants from any background, aged between 18 and 24 — and it was about encouraging and inspiring young people and giving them a hand up to help them realise their dreams.
The next stage was upskilling around governance, networking and relationship building, mentoring, research — especially in the world of AI — and public speaking confidence.
AI was infiltrating the landscape and so the aim was to teach and encourage the recipients to be ethical leaders in that environment.
“It’s a new stratosphere for learning”, Ms Renata said.
Transition to Work Trust chairman John Guthrie said the trust was in a position to offer opportunities for people to help themselves.
