Natalia Etten is the deputy director of the Millennium Leadership Program. She provides operational management, leads program design, and advances business development for the Millennium Fellowship, the Young Global Professionals Program, the Climate Leadership Program, the Executive Leadership Program, and alumni engagement. 

Throughout her career, Etten has supported hundreds of emerging leaders from Eastern Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, and the Caucasus via various US government-funded initiatives. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Etten led implementation of a number of US Department of State flagship programs at a DC-based nonprofit, including Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Seeds for the Future and Regional Workshops and the Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program. During her tenure, she oversaw grassroots community projects across Southeast Asia, orchestrated internship placements across the United States for Foreign Fulbright Scholarship recipients, and designed experiential international, domestic, and virtual events spanning from Astana, Kazakhstan to Jakarta, Indonesia.  

Beyond her professional focus, Etten is immersed in supporting ongoing aid efforts to her native Ukraine. Her learning interests revolve around intellectual humility, civic engagement, and international development education.  

Etten is a Fulbright Scholar and holds two master’s degrees, one in Ukrainian language and literature from Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University and the other in comparative and international development education from the University of Minnesota. She is committed to connecting people, ideas, and cultures and providing leadership development opportunities for the brightest minds of the world.