Staff Spotlight | Svetlana Akulicheva

Svetlana Akulicheva is an employment counselor with CRIS Employment Program.

“I met my future husband in Moscow in the mid-1990s. He was working as an engineer for Telecom at the time. With changes in political leaders, it was a dangerous time in Russia–bombings, tanks, and more. We married and moved back to the U.S. in 1997. We moved to New York. I spoke no English; it was a horrible experience. I took classes at a community college and this helped me significantly. After five years in New York, we relocated to Columbus. I worked in retail as a team leader then department manager for some time before discovering my passion for the beauty industry. I later worked in cosmetology for 12 years. 

After the war broke out in Ukraine in 2022, I received a call from a childhood friend. She told me, ‘My entire city was destroyed. I have lost contact with all of my family and friends there. I am in the middle of Bulgaria and I don’t know what to do.’ It was around this time that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced its ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ (U4U) program, allowing Ukrainians fleeing from the war to enter the U.S. as humanitarian parolees. I knew I had to do something to help my friend. I began to research private sponsorship and within weeks I had completed all of the paperwork necessary to sponsor my friend and she arrived in the U.S. In this process, I came to know of CRIS. When a position came open on the CRIS staff, I applied and was hired in March of 2023. I feel like I am in the right place at the right time to be here in Columbus, working for CRIS, providing real help and caring for others’ needs. I only wish I could’ve started [this work] earlier.”