A word from the founder for the 10th Anniversary of Leopolis for Future
Instead of pacing forward, our modern world is now running. Sprinting through changes, vaulting through obstacle courses with increasing ease and jogging through marathons of phenomena that shape our civilization.
This new pace has made our world smaller. The distance between London and Hong Kong no longer scares anyone, and communication with the furthest corners of the Earth using a small handheld device only takes seconds for most people.
This new pace has also made our world more demanding. It now requires from us increased perseverance, consistency, fitness and the ability to keep the pace, but above all, good preparation and training.
Ten years is an epoch in this fast-paced world. An inventory of all the changes that occurred during the last decade in geopolitics, science, culture and technology would take up the memory of a great computer, although our computers are getting better every day.
I am proud and happy to say that over these ten years, Leopolis For Future has not been left behind, keeping pace with the challenges of today and even anticipating them.
Our initiative sprang from the drama on the Kiev Maidan, over a hundred of young people sacrificed their lives for the vision of integrating Ukraine into the Western world, which values the individual human as the highest good. A good nurtured by freedom, democracy, free market economy, education, culture and personal development. Ukraine has paid a huge price for its aspirations, simultaneously setting an example of unprecedented determination and consistency.
That is why our foundation, dedicated to the Ukrainian student elites, decided to support Ukraine’s civilizational heroism in a way that we consider the most effective: by shaping its leaders. By carefully selecting university students and organizing for them internships in Polish companies and institutions whose reputation and business culture place them at the forefront of the continent. I say continent, because our program has already gone beyond Poland, found its advocates in Geneva and I am sure that it will not stop there.
Thanks to our partners, the LFF project quickly began training, darted off and today is one of the leaders in the European race, the finish line of which is perfection, professionalism, the ability to cooperate internationally and bring priceless benefits to the motherland. Each of our graduates who today holds an important position in business, government and the local government administration of Ukraine, as well as its legal and cultural institutions, is a reason for us to be proud. As of today, Leopolis For Future has 170 alumni. We follow their career progress and accept the excellent opinions of their mentors with the greatest satisfaction. Our program would not enjoy such a good reputation were it not for our partners and, above all, the wise and responsible people on their management boards who created the right conditions for our students, for which we remain deeply grateful. It is impossible not to mention several outstanding figures owing to whom Leopolis for Future gained its strength and splendor. These include the tragically deceased Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, but also Paweł Gieryński, Michał Kobosko, Marcin Bielski, Karolina Erwin and many others. We also very much value our special relationship with the College of Europe its Rector, Ewa Ośniecka – Tamecka.
We remember how important the aid received after the political transformation in 1989 was for Poland. It included not only financing, the opening of markets and the trust expressed in the investments flowing into our country, but above all, in broadly understood know-how. We have learned not only to manufacture previously unavailable material goods, but also to travel, make friends, cooperate, educate, build democracy and assimilate into a civilization based on humanist values. We have learned to choose our leaders, entrusting them with social responsibility and receiving in return economic development, improved living conditions, ahealthier, safer and wiser country. That is why we do not treat Leopolis For Future only as a program, but as a mission whose goal is a friendly, understanding and well-connected world.
LFF is one stage in the relay of passing these values to our friends who need them. You can count on us.
Grzegorz Waluszewski