Dordt University’s Dooyema Center to host Vladimir Snurenco lecture on empowering poverty solutions

Dordt University’s Dooyema Center will host Vladimir Snurenco, research fellow at the Acton Institute’s Center for Social Flourishing and economics lecturer at Calvin University, as part of the Formed for Work lecture series. The event will be held Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. in the Overlook at Dordt University.

Snurenco’s lecture, “From Aid to Empowerment: Rethinking Poverty Solutions Near and Far,” will focus on shifting mindsets around poverty solutions from dependency to empowerment. Drawing on three documentary projects produced over the years by the Acton Institute: Poverty Cure and Poverty Inc. (both directed by Michael Matheson Miller and focused on poverty in the developing world) and the newest film, Poverty Trap (focused on domestic poverty in the United States), the talk will compare “far” and “near” poverty, highlighting both important overlaps and distinct features of global and domestic poverty. In this lecture, Snurenco will bring insights from all three films into conversation to explore how communities can move from well-intended aid toward approaches that strengthen agency, work, and long-term flourishing—both overseas and here in the United States.

“Vladimir’s passion and work has been in the arena of poverty alleviation and creating conditions for human and social flourishing,” says Dale Zevenbergen, director of K&K Dooyema Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Dordt.

Snurenco was born in the Soviet Union and experienced living under socialism as well as transitional economies. He is passionate about alleviating poverty and creating conditions for human and social flourishing. He completed his doctorate at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, where he also taught Economics for a number of years. Vladimir has an MA in Sociology from the University of Warwick in the UK and a BA in Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova. Snurenco also studied at the Lutheran School of Theology in Gothenburg (Sweden), Central European University in Budapest (Hungary), and Istanbul Bilgi University (Turkey).

As an extension of Dordt’s commitment to equipping students, alumni, and the broader community with a Christ-centered vision for their work in the world, the Dooyema Center’s Formed for Work lecture series aims to promote a deeper understanding of work, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship as a form of faithful service.

For more information or to register for the event, please visit https://hello.dordt.edu/register/FormedForWork2026.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.