ITMO Staff Awarded St. Tatiana Badges of Honor

Evgeny Raskin was awarded the St. Tatiana badge of honor in the category Mentor of Youth. Mentorship is an indelible part of the work of the Department of Youth Policy, which helps students find their calling, realize their potential, and become well-rounded and successful professionals. Students at ITMO organize their own extracurricular activities – they launch events and student clubs, while ITMO staff act as mentors, sharing their experience.

This isn’t Mr. Raskin’s first such award: in 2015, as an ITMO student, he received the St. Tatiana badge of honor for his educational and social work. Since its foundation in 2012, the team of the Department of Youth Policy has created a student club system with related services (grants and rankings), launched the best students and clubs competition Shining at ITMO, the Best Graduate competition, the ITMO Universe freshmen adaptation program, and the KronBars student sports club.

“For me, this award is first and foremost an acknowledgment of our team. It celebrates our collective daily efforts to foster youth, to create the right conditions for and provide assistance to students at every stage, so that everyone at ITMO can find their growth trajectory,” says Evgeny Raskin.

A certificate of honor was awarded to Natalia Levchenkova for her educational and social activities at ITMO. She curates volunteering initiatives at the university: the Paws of Help club, which volunteers at animal shelters, blood donation days, and the Smartphone Cafe project, which helps the elderly navigate the digital world; she also participated in various popular science events at the university.

Natalia pays special attention to the development of the “People Need You” social center, which attracts young volunteers to events. For instance, the club’s members assist at the White Nights marathon, ITMO Family Day, IT CONF x Career Center Forum, and others. Active since 2017, the club is part of the Association of Volunteering Centers of Russia, with its membership now counting 350 active participants.

“I believe that volunteering is a mindful way of building connections between people and supporting the community. Through various initiatives, I have the opportunity to solve specific social tasks and form an environment of empathy, mutual help, and involvement. It’s particularly important that within university walls, this is a chance for students to experience responsibility: students can see that their actions can have an impact on the lives of others,” shares Natalia Levchenkova.

The St. Tatiana Badge of Honor was established in 1997 by the St. Petersburg Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Council of St. Petersburg Rectors, and the Association for Assistance to Spiritual and Moral Education “Pokrov.” The award is given for accomplishments in educational and social activities among youth. In 2026, 47 specialists received the Mentor of the Youth awards and 19 were awarded certificates of honor for educational and social activities. The awards ceremony began with a religious mass at Smolny Cathedral, which was consecrated as the Cathedral of All Educational Institutions in 1835.