4 Sep 2024
10th anniversary of the Leopolis for Future foundation

On June 24, at the College of Europe in Natolin, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Leopolis for Future foundation. The anniversary was a great opportunity for us to gather in one place all our Alumni, Friends and this year’s participants of our internship program.

The ceremony began with an official part, during which we had the honor of hosting the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Mr. Dmytro Kuleba, Member of the European Parliament, Ms. Magdalena Adamowicz and Professor Jędrzej Morawiecki.
Later in the program, we moved to the Natolin Palace for the less official part of the evening.

We would like to thank all the Guests for a wonderful meeting.

24 Jun 2024
A word from the founder for the 10th Anniversary of Leopolis for Future

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, Artur Gabor, Andrii Deshchytsia, 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

3 Dec 2023
Leopolis for Future for SEMA Ukraine

Dear Friends of Leopolis for Future,

 

I would like to present you a small report from the event and charity auction we organized recently.

 

The event was organised on 2nd December 2023 by Leopolis for Future foundation together with H.E. Ms. Yevheniia Filipenko, the Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

 

The main purpose of the event was to engage friends of Leopolis for Future foundation and the local community in the fundraiser. Our goal was to raise the money for the support od SEMA Ukraine organisation.  The event was a real success. We reached our goal and we were excited about welcoming over 70 guests, representatives of Swiss businesses as well as diplomatic missions. Of course, this would not have been possible without the beautiful paintings donated to the auction by Mrs. Małgorzata Waluszewska.

 

The musical setting for the evening was provided the Lviv Virtuosos Quartet: Oksana Potapova (Violin),  Khrystyna Yusypovych – Burko (Violin),  Iryna Polova (Viola), Lyubov Holovata (Violoncello). You can visit the facebook profile of the Quartet by klicking here.  

 

SEMA Ukraine, or also known as the Ukrainian Network of Women Affected by Violence, was formed in 2019 to raise awareness of conflict-related sexual violence amongst survivors and government decision-makers, to establish a viable peace, and to gain support for survivors, from both the Eastern Ukrainian conflict from 2014 and following the full-scale invasion in 2022.  SEMA Ukraine is working in Ukraine since 2019, actively raising visibility on the use of sexual violence by Russian and pro-Russian forces, including past violence that occurred since 2014. They conduct interviews with national and international media outlets and participate in advocacy during in-person and online events, in national and international fora. SEMA Ukraine members have also documented crimes that took place in formerly occupied territories, and assisted survivors of sexual violence with peer-to-peer support as well as referrals. 

 

SEMA Ukraine will use the funds raised for the rapid response fund created by SEMA Ukraine for provision of an emergency individual support for victims of Conflict Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine.

 

SEMA Ukraine agreed to use the funds raised during the abovementioned fundraising event exclusively for provision of emergency individual support for victims of Conflict Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine, in particular for:

  • most and foremost a psychological support of survivors of CRSV;
  • medical care that is not funded by the state or other (private insurance, public, CSO or international humanitarian organizations).
  • socioeconomic support to meet the immediate needs of survivors of CRSV (shelter, food, hygiene kits).
  • transport or accommodation for survivors of CRSV that enables them to access care.
24 Nov 2023
HEROINES SILENCIEUSES  
DE L’UKRAINE

 

Dear Friends of Leopolis for Future,

 

On 2nd December 2023, together with Ambassador of Ukraine to UN, H.E. Yevheniia Filipenko, we’re organizing an auction of paintings of Mrs Małgorzata Waluszewska. The event will be hosted at at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva.

 

The total profit from the auction will be donated to the SEMA Ukraine foundation to support the Silent Heroines of Ukraine.

 

Today, we would like to share a silent auction with you. You can start bidding now. 

 

To access the auction click here: AUCTION

 

To check the current status of the auction for each painting click on its picture in the gallery below.

 

30 Jul 2023
Leopolis for Future trainees visit the Emigration Museum in Gdynia

The Emigration Museum is located in the heart of the port of Gdynia, at the address “Polska 1”. It is here that the historic Maritime Station, built in the interwar period, is located. Due to its fascinating history, the building is not only the seat of the museum, but also an important part of the story presented in the Museum.

It was in the Marine Station that the central place of pre-war passenger traffic was located. The legendary Polish transatlantic liners with the MS “Batory” moored here. The building was the main part of the extensive emigration infrastructure and also had a very important representative function – it was the last image of Poland remembered by emigrants, and the first one for those coming from abroad. Its architecture – monumental and elegant on the one hand, avant-garde and functional on the other – combined the most important features of Gdynia – the pride of the Polish state, but also a city open to the world and modernity.

Źródło fotografii: Strona internetowa Muzeum Emigracji w Gdyni www.polska1.pl 

30 Jul 2023
Leopolis for Future breakfast

We value the time spent together and celebrate every possible opportunity to meet. On Sunday morning we had breakfast together with the President of the Leopolis for Future Council – Grzegorz Waluszewski.

29 Jul 2023
Leopolis for Future trainees visit the European Solidarity Centre

A permanent point on the map of the Tri-City and a place that we visit with our interns every year is the European Solidarity Centre. As every year, a visit to ESC aroused a lot of emotions among our trainees.

*The European Solidarity Center is a modern cultural institution that perpetuates the memory of our greatest civic success – the victory of Solidarity. It is a museum commemorating the Solidarity revolution and the fall of communism in Europe, but also an educational center, research and science center, archive, library and media library.

28 Jul 2023
Shakespeare Festival and a visit to the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre

After visiting Blue Media, we rushed to the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, where, as part of the 27th Shakespeare Festival, we watched a flamenco show entitled “Hamlet. The dance of the melancholic” directed by Jesus Herrera. After the show, we visited the library of the Professor Jerzy Limon, where we met with the Vice-President of the Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, Mrs. Justyna Limon.