Leopolis for Future is an initiative resulting from an unconditional desire to help the country facing the challenges that Poland had to face in the early 90s. After a successful political and economic transformation, Polish business, entrepreneurs and managers are ready to support Ukraine, which is at the beginning of structural reforms.

The positive experience of the aid provided to Poland by the West in the early 1990s – which benefited many of today’s top managers and entrepreneurs – has resulted in the fact that they are now carrying out such activities.

By supporting Leopolis for Future, representatives of Polish business would like to share with Ukrainian students the know-how gained from 25 years of experience on the free market and such milestone events as Poland’s accession to the European Union and to help Ukrainian students in the education process, acquiring professional competences and expanding knowledge about the world. We also want to contribute to strengthening ties and getting to know young Poles and Ukrainians better. We believe that our countries and societies should live in friendship and understanding, taking advantage of security and the opportunity to implement their own plans and intentions.

Leopolis for Future is a unique project that allows students of Lviv universities to gain international professional experience. The author of the project and the founder of the foundation under name Leopolis for Future is Grzegorz Waluszewski, the entrepreneur and founder of many successful companies. Members of the Foundation’s Council: Beata Krzyżagórska-Żurek, Andrii Deshchytsia and Paweł Gieryński are deeply involved in the Foundation’s activities. A key role in the development of the foundation was also played by Artur Gabor – the first President of the Management Board of the foundation and the next President of the Management Board – Michał Kobosko. Currently, the function of the President of the Management Board of the foundation is held by Marcin Bielski, with the support of the other Members of the Management Board – Bartosz Chytła and Karolina Erwin.

Despite the fact that the Leopolis for Future foundation was established relatively recently (in 2014), significant successes can already be seen on its account. We started assuming that every year the Foundation will organize attractive monthly internships for small groups of students who during their stay in Poland will become familiar with the activities of the best Polish enterprises and public institutions. When selecting candidates to participate in the program, we are guided by the topic of internships being similar to the field of studies. It took less than three months to prepare the first edition of the program, from the idea to the end of its implementation. So far, over 170 of the most talented students of Lviv universities have already benefited from the internship, and the hardest working have been rewarded with the option of extending their stay in companies. Although several months have passed since the end of the last edition of the program, some Alumni still enjoy the privilege of extended internships.

Thanks to the activities of the Leopolis for Future foundation, students from Ukraine have the chance to undertake attractive internships in the best Polish companies. In each of the completed editions of the program, 20-25 students from the whole Ukraine visited Poland, the next edition is already in process of preparation. The Foundation’s Alumni Club, which was created after the first edition, includes both economists, humanists, engineers and artists.

In the first years of operation, our program received strong support of the late President of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz, whose work is currently being continued by President of Gdańsk Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, and Professor Leszek Pawłowicz, the founder of the annual European Financial Congress in Sopot. Currently we cooperate closely with the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv and the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland under the leadership of Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych. We also implement joint projects with the European College (Campus in Natolin) under the management of Vice-Rector Ewa Ośniecka-Tamecka. We receive expressions of support and sympathy for our activity from the American think-tank Atlantic Council and the former US Ambassador to Poland- Daniel Fried. The law firm Krzyżagórska Łoboda & Partners, represented by Managing Partner- Beata Krzyżagórska, has been providing pro bono legal services for our project since the beginning of our operation.

We cooperate with the following Universities:

  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,
  • Lviv Polytechnic National University,
  • Lviv National Academy of Arts,
  • Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv,
  • National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,
  • National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”,
  • Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

The undisputed success of Leopolis for Future is confirmed by the fact that many key enterprises and institutions operating on the Polish and international market have engaged in the project:

The basic statutory goal of Leopolis for Future is to enable Ukrainian students to gain experience in leading Polish and international companies and to get to know the largest Polish cities. We want to help shape the modern elite in Ukraine. We believe that what we do, will stimulate the development of students’ personal careers. We hope that the Foundation’s alumni will maintain close contact with each other and people met in Poland, and that in the future they will play an important role in shaping the modern economy and civil society in Ukraine. We truly believe that Leopolis for Future internship program can change the fate of its participants.During the program, the interns had contact with outstanding figures of the Polish transformation, including President Lech Wałęsa.

In the next editions of the program we want to focus on expanding the base of partner enterprises and acquiring the most talented students. In addition to increasing the reach of the initiative, we would like to aggregate the experience of our interns. We have encouraged our alumni to establish the Alumni Club, thanks to which it is possible to exchange information between students, which will certainly contribute to improving the Foundation’s activities.

Below is detailed information about the Foundation’s statutory goals:

  • Support education, including higher education, and education institutions;
  • Support the vocational development of young people studying at higher education institutions, including in post-graduate studies, in the Republic of Poland and outside of it;
  • Develop cooperation between higher education institutions, including foreign higher education institutions, and potential employers;
  • Carry out the interests of the Republic of Poland in terms of good neighbour policy, including the development of integration and cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in terms of vocational education of students;
  • Support social, scientific, and educational activities in order to ensure economic development of the Republic of Poland, including in terms of entrepreneurship, and cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The Foundation carries out its purposes by means of:
  • Organising and coordinating internships, traineeships, workshops, seminars, conferences, and other forms of improving professional qualifications and expanding the knowledge of the students from higher education institutions of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;
  • Cooperating with local governments, higher education institutions, public administration authorities, and entrepreneurs in terms of scientific and educational undertakings;
  • Administering projects in terms of education and culture development;
  • Establishing cooperation with higher education institutions of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;
  • Scholarship and internship programmes for students;
  • Organising and coordinating workshops, seminars, conferences, and meetings for interns and trainees and former interns and trainees.