Oleksandra Kalashnikova is an expert in the field of local self-government and participatory democracy.

As a co-founder of the NGO "Join Ukraine", she coordinates projects of organization.

Since 2007, she has worked as an analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, where she was responsible for preparing analytical materials for executive authorities on topics such as civil society development, local self-government reform, and strategic regional development planning.

From 2015 to 2022, she led the analytical work at the All-Ukrainian NGO “Association for the Promotion of Self-Organization of the Population”.  As part of the Association’s team, she worked directly with municipalities on implementing decentralization reform, engaging residents in decision-making processes, and developing tools for participatory democracy.