Director of Legal and Organizational Department, City of Lodz Office. Lawyer specialising in the European Law. In 2006 received his Ph.D. at the Jean Monnet Chair Of European Constitutional Law of the University of Lodz. Assistant Professor at the Department of the European Constitutional Law at the University of Lodz, lecturer at the National School of Public Administration in Warsaw and at the European Institute in Lodz.
Polish journalist, writer, poet, co-owner of the Piękny Pies club based in Cracow. Author of two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, a novel and a book Wyznania właściciela klubu Piękny Pies (2009, Eng: Confessions of the owner of the Piękny Pies club). Former Editor-in-Chief of the Max monthly and of the Przkerój magazine (2000-2001).
Polish press and tv journalist, since July 2011 acting Director of TVP Kultura. Former director of nTalk channel and Editor-in-Chief of Przekrój magazine.
Editor-in-Chief of the “Pressje” quarterly, member of the Jagiellonian Club. Student of law and MISH at the Jagiellonian University. Interested in history of ideas, politics and literature.
Expert of the Centre for Analysis of the Jagiellonian Club on politics and civic matters, President of the Board of the Jagiellonian Club. Graduate of political science at the Jagiellonian University and philosophy with sociology (MISH, Jagiellonian University). Participated in the Phoenix Institute Summer Seminar at the University of Notre Dame (United States). PhD in political science, works at the Jagiellonian University. Coordinator of many projects realized by the Tertio Millennio Institute Foundation and the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk.
Polish poet, literary critic, editor at Arterie quarterly magazine and Poezja Polska (ENG. Polish Poetry) webportal. Author of Przymiarki (2009) and Wycieczki osobiste/Code of Change (2011) published also in English. His articles were published in Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Odra, Opcje, Kresy, Fraza, among others. Based in Lodz.
Polish politician and economist. He is a former deputy minister of economy, former minister for foreign economic relations as well as a former mayor of Warsaw. Święcicki was the secretary general of the Consultative Economic Council from 1982 to 1989. He served as deputy minister of economy and then minister for foreign economic relations from 1989 to 1991 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki. In 1989, he was also elected to the Parliament and served for two terms from 1989 to 1991 and from 1993 to 1996. He was the mayor of Warsaw from 1994 to 1999. Then he served as an advisor to the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamku on economic reforms from 1999 to 2000. From February 2002 to 2005 he was the director of economic and environmental affairs at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In 2011, he was again elected to the Parliament.
Microsoft Government Affairs Manager. Responsible in Poland for the engagement with government officials and influentials, regulators and policy makers as well as with industry groups and NGOs. In addition, he plays also a co-ordination and supportive role focusing on government affairs and policy expertise in Zone I countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Greece, Cyprus, Malta).
Polish historian and columnist, cooperates with Liberté! quarterly magazine and the Forum of Polish Jews.
Graduate of Geneva University, with a Bachelor degree in Economic History and International Relations and has obtained a MSc from University of Birmingham in Development Management – Public Economic Management and Finance. She has gained experience through working with, among others, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, European Parliament and Samek International (Petrolium Max). She has international experience in social entrepreneurship and has been member of associations supporting local communities and initiatives for young people like SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise), STAR (Student Action for Refugees) and VENA association in her hometown Lodz. She was a delegate for the Harvard National Model UN. Holding official language certifications she is proficient in English, French and Spanish (DELE) and has advanced certifications in Russian (TRKI) and Italian (CELI).
Russian human rights defender, Freedom Files, Civic Solidarity Platform. Active member of the Russian and international civil society and an expert in human rights, democracy, civil society development, public relations for social movements, and the environmental work.
Researcher and civic activist based in Lodz. Cooperates with various organisations and civic networks. He was involved in the introduction of the first edition civic budgeting in the city of Lodz back in 2013. Sometimes writes about consultations but he prefers to work on them instead. Associate of Pole Dialogu Foundation.
Vice President – First Deputy of the President of the Management Board of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. In 1991 he started work at the Ministry of Ownership Transformation in Lodz. Later he became the head of the strategy department of Łódź City Hall. From 1999 until 2003 he was the vice-president of the board and the head of the corporate insurance department in a brokerage group. In 2003 he became the head of the marketing and international cooperation department at the Lodz Voivodship Marshall Office. He also held a number of managerial positions in commercial companies. In November 2007 Cezary Grabarczyk, the then Minister of Infrastructure, appointed him as the head of his political cabinet. Radoslaw Stepien later became the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, and in November 2011 he was appointed as the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Sea Economy. Since March 2012 he has been the vice-president of the City of Lodz and since 2009 he has been a member of BGK's supervisory board.
Deputy Mayor of the City of Lodz. Specialist in the area of strategic and operational management, building, restructuring, and directing large business and public organizations. For more than 15 years associated with the financial services sector, followed by the energy sector and currently with strategic consulting. In 1994-1997 Mayor of Łowicz; member of the Council by the President of the Republic of Poland for local government policy; in 1997. Łowicz received the title of the best managed city in the category of 30-50 thousand. residents, based on the European Cities Charter. Since 2002 he served as the Vice President of Bank Częstochowa SA, overseeing the restructurisation of the Bank and serving as a Project Manager in mBank - built from scratch, first in the country electronic bank. In 2003 as Vice President of Postbank he prepared and carried out the bank´s restructuring program and, along with the team´s of closest collaborators, has developed an innovative program to implement a wide range of financial services for post-services institutions. In years 2005-2008 as the Director of the BRE Bank SA in Warsaw he was responsible, inter alia, for strategy and governance over the bank holding company; conducted a comprehensive restructuring (under the BREactivation) of the bank Since 2003 he is associated with the Adam Smith Centre and since 2004 he has been a Member of the Board of the Centre and strategic advisory team leader.
Assistant professor at the Department of International Politics, Warsaw University of Social Sciences and Humanities, expert in Indian and Pakistani matters in the Poland Asia Research Center. Her research focuses on the political, social and economic issues that occur in South Asia, importance of India and Pakistan in the contemporary international affairs, international conflicts, security, human rights – especially in the context of the Kashmir conflict. Author of numerous publications on the abovementioned topics. Member of the Polish Association for International Studies and the European Association for South Asian Studies.
Corporate Affairs & Public Policy Director in UPC Polska, Vice-President of PIKE, member of the management, responsible for the external relations, public policy and regulations. 15 years of work experience in the media and telecommunications, especially in the telecommunication infrastructure, pay television and digital services development. Board member of the the Union of Private Media Employers of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan and a Co-President of the Digital Economy Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland.
Journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza daily since 1991, author of numerous reportages and interviews (dealing mostly with history). In 2005, he served as a foreign correspondent in Iraq. His articles were also published in Młoda Polska, Courrier International, Slovo or Znak. Cooperated with the TOK FM radio. In 2014, he was honoured by the then President Bronisław Komorowski with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Expert at the Centre of Analyses of the Jagiellonian Club and Fundacja Republikańska, cooperates with the Nowa Konfederacja magazine. Architect and urban planning historian, specializing in the history of building code, urban regulations as well as revitalisation and landmarks restoration. Member of the National Chamber of Polish Architects (IARP) , Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers, Polish National Committee of ICOMOS UNESCO and the Congress for the New Urbanism. Author of numerous urbanist , acrhitectural and restoratory projects. Co-author of the revitalisation projects in Lodz and Zgierz. Since 1997 lecturer at the Lodz Unjiversity of Technology at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning and International Faculty of Engineering. Fulbright fellow at the School of Architecture, University of Miami (2013-2014).
Polish thinker, philosopher and essayist, lecturer at the Cracow University of Economics. In the years 2011-2012, Republic of Austria fellow at the University of Vienna. Expert in German philosophy and mysticism. Author of publications on Nietzsche, Heidegger, Luther and Meister Eckhart. Translator of Theologia Germanica. Researcher of Polish identity and its aporious attitude towards modernity. Author of recently published book Homo polacus. Eseje o polskiej duszy (Znak, 2015). Cooperates with Przegląd Polityczny magazine, his works were also published by Kronos and Znak.
Polish politician, Member of Polish Parliament from 2013 to 2015. Member of numerous commissions dealing with education, economy, energetics, among others. Member of the City Council of Lodz (2006-2013), Vice-president of the Cuncil (2010-2013). Vice-Director of the department of ecudation (1992-1999) responsible for a take-over of schools by the City of Lodz from the state adnimistration and organization and coordination of schools and pre-schools in Lodz. Co-founder and the President (2006) of the European Initiative Association (2000) – a non-governmental organisation promoting accession of Poland to the EU.
Polish sociologist. Expert and adviser in the development of local government units with application of spatial, economic and social potential. His work is based on the strategies of communications and consultations. In the past, he was actively involved in building civic society.
President of the Moscow-based Centre for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, which he founded in 1998. The Center is a Russian public policy and advocacy NGO, focusing on a wide range of human rights and democracy issues, including freedom of association and assembly, protection of human rights defenders, torture and enforced disappearances, combating xenophobia and discrimination, among others, in a number of countries, including Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine. Working with partners, the Centre has a particular interest in making analysis and developing recommendations on strategies of the international community to promote positive change in human rights and democracy in the post-Soviet region. The Centre actively works with inter-governmental organisations such as the OSCE, the UN, and the Council of Europe. Yuri Dzhibladze is an author and editor of books, research papers and articles on human rights and democracy, and regularly speaks at conferences.
Polish economist, since 2002 the President of the board of the Association of Employers-Producers of Materials for the Construction Industry - advisory body by the General Office of Building Control. President of the executive committee of the Investors Conference (until 2010), co-author of the amendment to the “VAT tax refund” act . Expert at the Parliamentary Infrastructure Commission (2001-2010). In the years 1986-2001 cooperated with the Polish banking sector – he was a member of the team working on the Banking System Reform as an adviser to the President of the National Bank of Poland (NBP). Expert in housing, author of numerous publications and lectures on the construction materials, spatial and housing policy, including types of financing. Member of the Council of the Foundation for Banking Education and Research, member of the State Certifying Board for property management. Social adviser for housing to the former deputy Prime Minister prof. Leszek Balcerowicz.
President and co-founder of demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy, an independent, Warsaw-based think-tank. Blusz is political analyst and policy consultant covering EU’sforeign policy, political economy of European integration andEU’s policies on energy and climate, trade and ICT. He comments widely on EU’s affairs and foreign policy in media. A social scientist and a graduate of the University of Lodz and King’s College University of London. In years 2011-15 Blusz served as a member of Scientific Council of Institute for Western Affairs (Poznan) affiliated with the Polish MFA.
Polish philosopher, historian of ideas, editor. Fellow at Politische Akademie der ÖVP, University of Vienna, IWM - Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, University of Siegen and the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg. Her research stems from the philosophy of war, applied ethics, issues in social and political life. As a publicist, she deals mainly with the V4 states, as well as art and science. In the years 2007-2010 she held the post of the Editor-in-Chief of Res Publica Nowa magazine. Cooperates with Liberté! quarterly and Kultura Liberalna weekly. Academically, she is associated with the History of Ideas Research Centre at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. And the Czech EUROPEUM.
Member of the board, Chief Economist at Civil Developemtn Forum (FOR). He graduated from Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). Aleksander is an author of numerous FOR analyses as well as Polish receipt for the state and estimations of the hidden public debt in Poland. He is also an author and co-author of articles and analyses for the Polish Ministry of Regional Development, Lisbon Council, Institute for Research in Economics and Fiscal Issues (IREF) and the World Bank.
In Newsweek he is responsible mostly for foreign politics. He has conducted a few hundreds interviews with the most influential intellectuals of the world. In the years 2004-2010 he was the editor of the Europe Magazine of Ideas – an extra added to Fakt, Dziennik and Newsweek.
Russian democratic opposition activist. Until 2015 – Member of Federal Board of People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS). Several times have been arrested for participation in peaceful protests, twice (in 2005 and 2011) named a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International. Left Russia facing imprisonment on the Bolotnaya square case, granted political asylum in Portugal. Currently residing in Lisbon and coordinating online opposition projects.
Polish journalist and project consultant. As a Fulbright and International Peace Scholarship recipient, in 2013 she completed her master's degree in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego, California, and was trained as a mediator in a local Small Claims Court. She also holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Wroclaw, Poland. Zamejc has worked as a correspondent with the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and contributed to various other media outlets. As a freelance journalist, she concentrates on Azerbaijan and conflict reporting. Until recently, Zamejc held a position as a Social Media Manager with the world's largest newspaper syndicate - Project Syndicate.
Director for Ashoka Poland. Ashoka is best-known as the leading global network of social entrepreneurs. We supported build networks of pattern-changing social innovators and find high-impact entrepreneurs who creatively solve some of the world’s biggest social challenges, among people Ashoka supported is Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Carlo Petrini (Slow Food), Casey Fenton (Couch Surfing), and Muhammad Yunus and Kailash Satyarthi who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as well as 3000 extraordinary innovators in more than 80 countries. Before Agata worked in business, in consulting company PwC and for Danone, where she consulted and launched strategic programs connected with corporate responsibility, sustainable development and social engaged marketing. Agata co-founded Social Communication Foundation, Social Communication Factory, ASB Consulting and Smart Kolektiv Association in Serbia. She is member of council at School for Leaders and Styki Foundation. Agata is also juror at European Social Innovation Competition, Seniors in Action competition of Towarzystwo Ę and competition of Responsible Business Forum “People who changed business”.
President of the board of the Res Publica Foundation and editor-in-chief of Eurozine. He is also editor-in-chief of Res Publica Nowa and Visegrad Insight, and a political commentator and social entrepreneur. He has initiated and led several public campaigns such as City DNA – promoting democratic participation through urban communities, Free Speech Partnership – networking editors of culture and opinion journals in cooperation with Eurozine, and most recently, New Europe 100, a list of Digital Age challengers prepared by Res Publica together with Financial Times, Google and Visegrad Fund. His interests involve intellectual history and political philosophy with focus on political and religious ideas in 19th and 20th century as well as the political and culture revolution of the Digital Age. Previously he has worked as a research assistant at the Erasmus Chair at Warsaw University, where he has organized the Tischner Debates in cooperation with IWM in Vienna, Politische Akademie in Vienna, and CEFRES in Prague. He has written on Polish and European affairs for Eurozine, Gazeta Wyborcza, Polska The Times, Hospodarske Noviny, New Eastern Europe, Reporter magazine, Rigas Laiks and other media.
Art historian, critic and curator. Since 2006 director of the Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz. Previously: deputy director and chief curator of the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw (2002-2006), director of the Bunkier Sztuki Gallery in Cracow (1999-2002) and curator in the Starmach Gallery, Cracow (1991-1998). Curator and co-curator of many exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, to mention but a few: “Performer. Grotowski and Performance Art” (Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw 2009), “Katarzyna Kobro / Lygia Clark” (Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz 2008) “So ist es und anders” (Museum Abteiberg, Moenchengladbach 2008), “Delusive Orders” (Muzeum Sztuki Lodz 2007), “At The Very Center of Attention” (lead curator of the year-long multiple-exhibition program, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw 2005-2006), “Tadeusz Kantor. Interior of Imagination” (Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw 2005), “4 rooms – gallery as a discursive space” (Bunkier Sztuki, Cracow 2002), “Tadeusz Kantor. Impossible” (Bunkier Sztuki Cracow 2000, CCA Ujazdowski Castle Warsaw 2001, Ludwig Museum Budapest 2001). Director of the 1st Festival of Young Polish Art “novart.pl” (Cracow 2002). Author of many texts about modern and contemporary art, editor of the book “Tadeusz Kantor. Impossible” (Cracow 2000).
Sociologist, political scientist, assistant professor at the Aleksander Gieysztor Academy of Humanities. One of the founders of the ZARS Foundation (Social Movements Research Team Foundation) based in Warsaw. In 2008, he was a consultant for the Open Society Institute Europe Foundation. He participated in a research on Muslim populations in EU cities, aimed at making recommendations for public policies concerning large Muslim populated neighbourhoods. In 2009, he took part in an international research on the process of social deficiency of urban working class: Russia, France, Italy and Turkey. He has conducted participative observations and surveys in Kondopoga in the Republic of Karelia (Russia) and he is the author of a forthcoming chapter on “The efforts of working class in contemporary Russia” to be published in October 2010.
President of the board of Projekt: Polska Foundation. Polish sociologist, a graduate of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Warsaw. In 1990, he was one of the founders and co-owner of the SMG/KRC Institute Poland. His main interests involve: brand strategy and communications.
Executive Board member and economist at the Civil Development Forum (FOR Foundation) in Warsaw, Poland. He received his BSc in Economics and Politics from the University of Bristol in England and MA in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. During his studies he served as the Vice-President of the Law and Economics Students’ Association (Warsaw) and President of the Polish Society (Bristol). In 2013 he completed the CPPR-ACE Winter School in Public Policy Research Methods in India and the Think Tank MBA program organized by the Atlas Network. He is graduate of the Atlas Leadership Academy.
Polish entrepreneur, publicist, deputy Editor-in-Chief of “Liberté!” magazine. Civic and municipial activist, former Councillor to the city of Lublin and a member of the Lubelskie voivodeship government assembly.
Polish journalist, TV news anchor at Polsat TV and Polsat News.A diplomat, who served as Ambassador to Uruguay between 1999 and 2003. Since October 2007, is one of the main presenters of release events on weekdays.Director of Channel One of the Polish TV and of the Television Information Agency in the 1990s. Since 2003 journalist of the private TV POLSAT. Anchorman on TV POLSAT’s main news programme Wydarzenia, commentator and publicist on POLSAT NEWS. Former head of News and the Publicist News and Information Division. Co-operates with numerous press titles and radio stations. Tutor of journalism at the Warsaw University and the Melchior Wańkowicz College of Journalism in Warsaw; recently joined the teaching staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw. Graduate of the Iberian Studies Department at the Warsaw University (M.A. studies) and of Economics at the Collegium of Socio-Economics of the Warsaw School of Economics (Ph.D. studies).
Polish journalist. A graduate of international relations at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). Head of the Foreign Desk of Radio TOK FM and host of the station's Światopodgląd program. As a correspondent Agnieszka reported elections around the world, political conflicts as well as international summits. She is particularly interested in issues related to changes and developments in political systems, transformation, resistance movements and human rights (among other countries she travelled to Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia, North Africa and Myanmar). She is the laureate of the R. Kapuściński award of the Polish Press Agency as well as other prices.
Polish publicist, writer, journalist at “Polityka” magazine. He is mainly interested in topics concerning processes of modernization and postmodernization, social networks, social communication and influence of media (especially New Media) on social and political actions. Since 1999 he has been working for “Polityka”, a major Polish weekly magazine. Bendyk teaches at Warsaw School of Social Psychology and Center for Social Studies at PolishAcademy of Sciences topics concerning social networks, knowledge management and digital culture. At Collegium Civitas he has a lecture on modern ideas. He wrote two books, “Zatruta studnia” (“The Poisoned Well”, 2002), which won several prizes and was nominated to the Nike 2003 Prize, the most important Polish literary award and “Antymatrix. Czlowiek w labiryncie sieci” (“Anti-Matrix. A Man in a Labyrinth of Networks”, 2004). He is writing a blog: bendyk.blog.polityka.pl.
Polish academic lecturer, politician and blogger. She is running in the forthcoming parliamentary elections as a candidate of Ryszard Petru's .Nowoczesna. Former councillor to the City of Lodz. Member of the last national authorities of the Polish political party Freedom Union (Unia Wolności). Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Lodz.
Polish economist and sociologist (PhD) by background, coordinated the programmatic works of Twój Ruch (socioliberal) party. Currently on the electoral ballot of United Left coalition in Warsaw-II district.
Project manager of the Hungarian Republikon Foundation. She graduated at the Corvinus University of Budapest and has a master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy with a minor in Marketing Communication. She has been working as a communication and international project officer in several public bodies. At Republikon she is responsible for the fundraising, management and communication of Hungarian and international research and civil society projects. She is also active in liberal youth and civil organizations contributing to a more open, tolerant and successful society.
Research fellow at Republikon Foundation. He graduated as political scientist at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He writes his doctoral thesis on the Hungarian global justice movement. Since 2013 he is also a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. From 2010 he holds various courses at the Eötvös Loránd University on protest movements and political participation.
Belarusian youth leader and New Media editor for Radio Free Europe. He was a first and the only one Vaclav Havel Fellow personally nominated by Vaclav Havel. President of Svaboda Institute. He has also served as a leader of the youth wing of the Belarusian Popular Front (BNF). Franak has been jailed 4 times and was tortured while serving under forced conscription in the Belarusian army. Ran in the local elections (2010). Since 2008, Franak has worked with the independent satellite TV channel Belsat, currently working with RFE/RL’s Belarus service and focusing on New Media and Social Networks. Co-screen writer and second director of a feature film “Viva Belarus!” about democratic movement in Belarus. Recently he has organised a successful nation-wide campaign promoting Belarus language and culture.
Polish economist, academic lecturer and manager, former President of the Polish competition authority, partner in COMPER Fornalczyk and Partners. Graduate of University of Łódź, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (1968), partner at consulting agency COMPER Fornalczyk i Wspólnicy Sp. J. which area of practice is competition protection (anticompetitive practices, mergers and acquisitions) and public aid for entrepreneurs. Scholar at University of Łódź (1968-2002), WSB in Nowy Sącz (2003-2008) and Łódź University of Technology (2008-2013). Former lecturer at Central European University in Budapest. Academic interests of Mrs. Fornalczyk are focused on applied microeconomics, economy of the competition law related to restructuring, demonopolization, privatization and public aid in Poland as well as in the European Union. Mrs. Fornalczyk was the president of the Antimonopoly Authority between 1990 and 1995. In 1991 Mrs. Fornalczyk participated in association negotiations between Poland and the European Union and after the association she helmed the harmonization process of the Polish competition law and the public aid system. Between 2005 and 2014 Mrs. Fornalczyk was a member of the Supervisory Board of ING Bank Śląski. Since 2004 Mrs. Fornalczyk has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Laboratorium Kosmetyczne „Dr Irena Eris” and since 2001 a member of the Board of Directors of Polish – American Freedom Foundation. Mrs. Fornalczyk is also a consultant of the Center for Antimonopoly and Regulation Studies of Faculty of Management Studies, University of Warsaw and an author of numerous publications including articles on politics and the law of competition as well as an author of Biznes a ochrona konkurencji (“Business and the competition protection”; 2007).
Polish philosopher, journalist at “Gazeta Polska Codziennie”, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at “Fronda”, spokesperson of the Forum of Polish Jews. Wildstein has initiated the project “Warsaw – A City of Two Uprisings” .
Journalist and executive director of Meydan TV, Emin Milli was imprisoned in 2009 for two and a half years for his critical views of the government. He was conditionally released after 16 months of his sentence due to strong international pressure. From 2002–2004, Milli served as the director of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and also advised the Council of Europe on more than 40 cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Prior to that, Milli was a coordinator for the International Republican Institute in Azerbaijan. He is currently managing director of the independent online media platform www.meydan.tv that has been launched in 2013.
Italian journalist, specialising in Middle Eastern affairs. She has written books on Kosovo, and on Israel and Paestine. She is currently covering the war in Syria.
In Forbes since 2007. Previously Cydejko was a reporter for The Warsaw Voice, a secretary of the daily newspapers Życie Warszawy and Życie, journalist at the weekly Życie Gospodarcze and Gazeta Bankowa, deputy Editor-in-Chief of Gazeta Bankowa and Editor-in-Chief of the Businessman Magazine. He is also a tv producer and screenwriter, publicist, online political and economic commentator.
Professor of Politics at Princeton University since 2005. He has been a Member of the School of Historical Studies, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, and a visiting fellow at the Collegium Budapest Institute of Advanced Study, Collegium Helsinki, Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, the Remarque Institute, NYU, the Center for European Studies, Harvard, as well as the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence. He has also taught as a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, the Ludwig Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, the Humboldt Universitaet in Berlin, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris. Professor Müller is a co-founder of the European College of Liberal Arts (ECLA), Berlin, Germany’s first private, English-speaking liberal arts college. He is the author of Another Country: German Intellectuals, Unification and National Identity (2000), A Dangerous Mind: Carl Schmitt in Post-War European Thought (2003), among others.
Polish historian and publicist, member of the Institute of East-Central Europe in Lublin, Poland (2004-2006). He graduated from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Member of the board at Collegium Invisibile (2004-2006). He writes for “Kultura Liberalna”. Jasina also cooperates with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He specializes in the history of British and Soviet cinema and modern cultural processes taking place on the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Polish editor and social entrepreneur. He studied Political Science at the University of Warsaw and currently serves as a Board Member of Res Publica Foundation, a publisher behind three rigorous magazines of ideas. His previous professional activities include managing democracy assistance programs of the Lech Wałęsa Institute as well as speechwriting and advising to senior government officials. Maciej invented and leads a series of documentary filmmaking workshops in Burma as a way of promoting social change. After vacations, he will pursue a postgraduate degree in public policy at the University of Oxford.
Director of the Revitalisation and Development Office in the Łódź City Office, responsible for realization of the “Mia100 Kamienic” programme and also the preparation and coordination of the City Center of Łódź Revitalizations projects 2014-2022. Expert in evaluation of European projects. Previously, among others, Project Manager for entrepreneurship support and social development.
Vice-President of the Higher School of Pedagogy of the Society of Public Knowledge in Warsaw, expert at THINKTANK magazine. Board Member at Polish Association of Social Policy, member of the Central Examination Board for Professional Degrees of Social Workers by the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Polish Association for the Club of Rome and Polish Association of the ESPAnet.
Polish diplomat and culture manager, music producer and publisher, Paweł Potoroczyn is the Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute since 2008. He began his career in public service in 1992 as President of the Polish Information Agency and started his diplomatic service as Cultural Consul at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles. He was the Founder and first Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, and Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London from 2005.
British journalist, film director, producer of Russian heritage. Born in the UK to Russian émigré parents, spent almost a decade in Moscow working as a TV producer, making documentaries and reality shows for Russian audiences. After graduation he moved back to Moscow where he lived for nine years. He moved back to London in 2010. He cooperates with the London Review of Books. His works have been published in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Daily Beast, Newsweek and Atlantic Monthly, as well as on the NewYorker.com. website.
Lecturer at the Department of East Asia Studies, University of Lodz. Member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies. For over ten years he was coordinating and consulting EU projects. His main area of interest covers EU internal policy, EU-China relations and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). He has recently published a book on the EU-China relations.
Russian economist, director and founder of the Center for Post-Industrial Studies in Moscow, a non-profit institution that specializes in organizing conferences on global economic issues and publishing books. He is a professor and the chair at the Department of World Economy, Faculty of Public Governance, Moscow State Lomonosov University and previously resided in Vienna as a senior visiting fellow at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM). He has also taught at various universities, including MGIMO (the University of International Relations) and at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. From 2002 to 2009, he was head of the Scientific Advisory Board of the journal Russia in Global Affairs. In 2011, he was managing director of the Global Political Forum, organized in Yaroslavl under the authority of then-President Dmitry Medvedev. Dr. Inozemtsev is the author of over 600 printed works published in Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, including 15 monographs, 4 of which have been translated into English.
Lecturer at the Department of the Theory of Culture at the Institute of Literary Theory, Theatre and Audiovisual Arts of the University of Lodz. The editor of the book Rekonfiguracje modernizmu. Nowoczesność i kultura popularna (“Reconfigurations of Modernism. Modernity and Popular Culture”) and Pamięć Shoah: kulturowe reprezentacje i praktyki upamiętnienia (“The Memory of Shoah: Cultural Representations and the Practices of Commemoration”) co-edited by Anna Zeidler-Janiszewska.
Polish prose writer, screenwriter and journalist writing for several Polish magazines – Playboy, Elle, Wprost and Tygodnik Powszechny. He debuted in 2006 with the novel Zrób mi jakąś krzywdę (“Harm me Somehow”), in 2008 he published Radio Armageddon which in 2015 was adapted for the stage of the Wroclawski Teatr Współczesny. Żulczyk is also the author of the novels Instytut (2010), Zmorojewo and Świątynia (“The Temple”, 2011). For the most recent book Ślepnąc od świateł (“Blinded by the Lights”, 2014) he was nominated to Polityka Passports Award and Gwarancje Kultury Prize. He is one of the most popular writers of the young generations.
Polish columnist and commentator, Editor-in-Chief of “Liberté!”. Expert on international relations, co-founder of a community centre 6. Dzielnica in Lodz, Poland. Columnist of such publications as Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Polityka, Wprost; commentator for TOK FM radio station and TVP television channel. Marshall Memorial Fellow. He was chosen as a leader in a project carried out by Teraz Polska magazine nominating 25 leaders for the next 25 years. He is the co-author of two books Liberal reflections on life chances and social mobility in Europe and Democracy in Europe Of the People, by the People, for the People?.
Polish literary critic and professor of contemporary literature at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. He is a jury member of many important literary awards, and one of the most important Polish researchers in the field of literary sociology. He is the author of Ślady przełomu. O prozie polskiej 1976-1996 (Eng. Traces of a Breakthrough. 1976-1996 Polish Prose; 1997), Efekt bierności. Literatura w czasie normalnym (Eng. The Passivity Effect. Literature in the Normal Time; 2004), Polska do wymiany. Późna nowoczesność i nasze wielkie narracje (Eng. Revisiting Poland. Late Modernity and Our Great Narratives; 2009), and Resztki nowoczesności (Eng. Remnants of Modernity; 2011).
Polish political scientist, Chair of the Center for the Study of Democracy at the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities. Professor Markowski specializes in comparative politics and electoral studies, he has been Director of the Polish National Election Study since 1995 and a member of the Planning Committee of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems since 1997. Markowski has been a visiting professor at Duke, Wisconsin-Madison, Rutgers and the Central European University. He is the author or editor of six books and numerous articles, including Post-Communist Party Systems: Competition, Representation and Inter-party Cooperation (Cambridge University Press, 1999), and is on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Political Research, European Union Politics, Perspectives on European Politics and Society and the Journal of Political Science Education.
Polish philosopher, theologian and commentator, former director of The Civic Institute, a Warsaw-based political think-tank. In 1999-2004 he worked at the Tygodnik Powszechny (Eng. The Catholic Weekly) – a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, then up to 2007 he was a member of the team of Krytyka Polityczna (Eng. The Political Critique) – a circle of Polish left-wing intellectuals gathered around a journal of the same title. His articles are published also by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Rzeczpospolita, Więź, W drodze and Newsweek.
Polish economist, Member of the Economic Council. Jakub Borowski participates in sessions of the Economic Council. He provides opinions on drafts of legal regulations and assesses the implementation of the government’s economic and social objectives. Chief Economist and Director of Macroeconomic Analysis Department at Credit Agricole Bank Polska and tutor at the Warsaw School of Economics Previously employed as: Chief Economist at Kredyt Bank S.A. and at Invest-Bank S.A. and in the Macroeconomic and Structural Analysis Department of the National Bank of Poland Graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), holder of a DAAD scholarship (Humboldt-Universität in Berlin) and graduate of PhD studies at the Warsaw School of Economics.
Co-founder and rector of the Postsecondary School of Lower Silesia. He defended his PhD and habilitation thesis at the University of Wroclaw. Prof. Kwaśnica is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the editorial council of the Pedagogical Quarterly. He worked at Wroclaw University of Technology, University of Wroclaw (where he was the head of the Department of General Pedagogy at the Institute of General Pedagogy, and a Vice Deam of the Faculty of Historical and Pedagogic Sciences), and a lecturer at the University of Zielona Gora. He specializes in the issues related to didactics, philosophy of education and general pedagogy. In 2011 he was honoured with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
In order to support the development of the Internet and digital solutions in Poland, Jakub is responsible for building relationships between Facebook and the policymakers, regulators, NGOs and other communities interested in a broad spectrum of topics related to the Internet. Jakub has an over 10 years experience of work related to regulations and digital economy. Prior to joining Facebook, Jakub was responsible for the development and management of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Department at the cable operator UPC Polska. There, he had the opportunity to work with key stakeholders and decision-makers in Poland, thus promoting the added value that the Internet and digital economy provide for the Polish society. Jakub gained international experience in the field of digital economy in Brussels while working during four years for Belgacom on the digital agenda and European regulations. Jakub also worked in PwC and is a graduate of icHEC Brussels Management School.
The Director of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland. He is a sociologist, historian, author and former politician. Paweł Śpiewak is a Professor of Sociology at Warsaw University. He was elected to the Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 18,403 votes in 19 Warsaw district, running as a candidate with the Civic Platform list. He did not seek reelection in 2007. He is a Fellow of Collegium Invisibile. In 2011, he was nominated as the Director of the Jewish Historical Institute by Bogdan Zdrojewski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
Polish lawyer specialised in human rights and technology. She is a graduate of the University of Warsaw's Law and Administration Department, and the University of London's Development Studies program in the School of Oriental and African Studies. Katarzyna Szymielewicz is the Co-founder and President of the Panoptykon Foundation, that deals with human rights protection in the context of new technology development. She is also Vice-President of European Digital Rights, a coalition of over 30 organisations. Katarzyna serves as an advisor to the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative and to the Minister for Administration and Digitalisation in Poland. She is also a member of the International Commission of Jurists (Polish section) and the Internet Society.
Editorial director of Le Monde. She was editor in chief from 2010 to 2011, before which she led the newspaper’s in-depth reporting section. From 1996 to 2001 Kauffmann was the newspaper’s New York bureau chief, moving from her post as correspondent in Washington, DC. She reported on the collapse of the Soviet Union as eastern and central Europe correspondent from 1988 to 1993, having joined Le Monde in 1987 as Moscow correspondent. Before joining the newspaper Kauffmann worked for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, London, Warsaw and Moscow.
Belarusian politician, diplomat and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed the Belarusian delegation on Nuclear and Conventional Weapons Armament Negotiations, also serving as the Belarusian diplomat to Switzerland. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, resigning as a form of political protest. He co-founded the civil action Charter 97, and was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize in 2005. Sannikov was a candidate at the 2010 presidential election in Belarus, and had the second highest percentage of the popular votes after incumbent Alexander Lukashenko. He was incarcerated in a Minsk KGB facility for peacefully protesting at a demonstration after the elections, and faced up to a 15-year imprisonment. Amnesty International labeled him a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release on the grounds that he may be facing torture and medical neglect while in custody. On 14 May 2011, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on charges of organizing mass disturbances. According to his wife, noted journalist Iryna Khalip, as of September 2011 Sannikov was in grave danger of murder and injury while incarcerated, and was being pressured by authorities to leave politics. He was released and pardoned by Lukashenko on 14 April 2012.
Facebook’s Politics and Government Specialist and brand ambassador for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. As the founder and head of her division in EMEA, Elizabeth trains and advises politicians, government officials, civil society leaders, and diplomats on using Facebook to effectively communicate with citizens. Before that, Elizabeth spent three years on Facebook’s International Communications team, where she opened Facebook’s offices in Hyderabad, India; and on Google/YouTube’s Global Communications and Public Policy team based in California. A native Californian,
Associate professor of State and Legal Theory at the Department of Political Science and History of the Panteion University of Athens where he teaches since 2000. Since 2013, he is Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights after having chaired the board of the Hellenic League for Human Rights from 2003 until 2011. He has published in Greek, English, French, Portuguese, Hebrew, Albanian and Serbo-Croatian in scientific reviews or journals in the field of legal and political theory focusing on issues related to human rights, minorities, migrants and citizenship. Christopoulos is frequently interviewed by international or Greek media and writes regularly in the Greek press and certain web portals. His latest publications in Greek include an essay on the status of Greek citizenship: Who is a Greek citizen? Status of the Greek nationality (Ποιος είναι έλληνας πολίτης; Καθεστώς ιθαγένειας). The book is currently translated to English.
Photojournalist and reportage writer, based in Warsaw, Poland. An expert on things architectural and a collector of visual absurdities, Filip Springer is a reporter skilled in conveying the gist of the Polish landscape – writing of the city that never was, buildings that have long stood in spite of the general public's disdain, and of marriage that was united in the love of architecture. He has published four reportage collections on socialist architecture and the Polish landscape, and on the accomplishments of the renowned team Zofia and Oskar Hansen: Miedzianka. Historia znikania (Miedzianka: A History of Disappearance); Źle urodzone. Reportaże o architekturze PRL-u (Ill-Born. A Reportage on the Architecture of the Polish People's Republic); Zaczyn. O Zofii i Oskarze Hansenach, (Blueprints. On Zofia and Oskar Hansen); and, most recently, Wanna z kolumnadą. Reportaże o polskiej przestrzeni / A Bathtub with a Colonnade. Reports on the Space that Is Poland (Czarne, 2013). Springer's photographic works have been exhibited widely throughout Poland, and he is a regular contributor to the leading Polish weekly Polityka. His book of reportage, Miedzianka. The History of a Disappearance (pub. Czarne 2011), was short-listed for both of Poland's leading literary awards, the Nike Literary Prize and the Gdynia Literary Prize, as well as for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Prize, the Historical Book of the Year Award, the Angelus Central-European Literary Award and the Polish Press Union Award. Springer currently works with the Reportage Institute in Warsaw.
Chinese author, reporter, musician, and poet. He is a critic of China's Communist regime, for which he has been imprisoned. His books, several of which are collections of interviews with ordinary people from the lower rungs of Chinese society, were published in Taiwan and Hong Kong but are banned in mainland China; some have been translated into English, French, German, Polish and Czech. In 2003, he was awarded a Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammett Grant. In 2007, he received a Freedom to Write Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Center. Authorities prevented him from attending the award ceremony in Beijing. In 2011 he was awarded the German Geschwister-Scholl-Preis and in 2012 the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. In his address at the price ceremony in the Paulskirche, Liao Yiwu described China as “the source of global disasters” and an “ever-expanding garbage dump”. He concluded his speech with the wish that “for the peaceful well-being of all humanity, this empire (China) must break apart”.
Partner at Portland – a strategic communications consultancy working with governments, businesses, foundations, and nongovernmental organisations to shape their stories and communicate them effectively to global audiences. Mclory leads the company’s place branding practice. He is a specialist in soft power, place branding, and cultural relations. Jonathan has advised senior government clients in the UK, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East on strategy, policy, and strengthening global reputation. Jonathan has led a number of place branding projects including the creation and launch of an over-arching nation brand and global advertising campaign for Thailand, commissioned by the Prime Minister. He also worked as a consultant in the London office of the Boston Consulting Group. Before working in the private sector, he was Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government, where he remains an Associate. While at the IfG, Jonathan developed the world’s first composite index for measuring the soft power of countries.
Urbanist at the Estonian Urban Lab, competence centre of urban thought and action created in 2006. For five years Teele was leading the Estonian Urban Lab and ran several projects on raising citizen enthusiasm, educating about urban living environment, participatory planning and community development. Currently she runs the public call for ideas to shape Tallinn's central seaside. She is also the CEO of the Estonian Cooperation Assembly, a state foundation working on such democratic processes as the public sector reform and platform for collective petitions. Teele has been educated at Tartu University in economics and at Tampere University in human geography. She is one of the 100 innovators in the list of New Europe 100, initiated by the Polish foundation Res Publica.
Co-Editor of „THINKTANK Magazine”. Małgorzata Bonikowska has a PhD in the humanities and she specializes in the issues of foreign relations (with particular emphasis on the European Union) and communication in public institutions. A graduate of the University of Warsaw (Italian studies), the Paris-Sorbonne University (history and political studies) and PWST (State Collage of Theatre, culture history), she also finished two PhD programs – in Poland (Polish Academy of Science) and abroad. She attended specialization studies at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at the Columbia University in New York within the Fulbright Scholarship. Between the years 1995-1998, she worked as an editor in TVP, a Polish public broadcasting corporation. From 1998, she was in charge of the Centre of the European Information in the Office of the Committee of European Integration. She prepared and executed the government program regarding informing the society about the Polish integration with the EU and created a network of Regional Centres of European Information. In the years 2001-2008, she was an expert for the European Commission and Chair of the EC's Information and Communication Program in Poland and later in Bulgaria. Since 1997, she has been active in didactic and research activities, and is an academic lecturer and government advisor. Author of over 80 publications and several books, she promoted over 100 bachelor's and master's degrees graduates as well as graduate students.
Polish award-winning science fiction writer, philosopher by education. Winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010), Śląkfa (2000, 2007, 2009), Żuławski Award (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), Kościelski Award (2008) and the European Union Prize for Literature (2009). In 2013 Dukaj received Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. Winner of the Kościelski Prize 2008 for his novel Ice. He made his debut very early, at sixteen years old, in the journal Fantastyka, and quickly gained recognition as one of the most promising writers of literature of the fantastic (some consider him a successor to Stanisław Lem). He has been many times given the Janusz A. Zajdel Award, which has a great deal of prestige in fantasy circles. Tomasz Bagiński made an animated film called Cathedral based on motifs from a Dukaj short story, garnering an Oscar nomination in the process.
Ukrainian media-manager, journalist, television host, Chief of the Ukrainian Independent Media Union, Founder of Hromadske.TV. Skrypin is the co-author of the Channel 5 so-called “true news”. In 2009, he became the author and the host of television program “Truth of Roman Skrypin” at TVi television channel. In 2012 Skrypin decided to start an internet television channel. This idea eventually became Hromadske.TV. After the April 2013 ownership dispute at TVi 31 journalists resigned from TVi, as they believed that they could no longer “guarantee our audience to provide objective and unbiased information”. Many of them eventually joined Hromadske.TV.
Italian journalist, writer, essayist, former Secretary General of the Italian Radical Party, Member of the boards of Directors of ELF and European Humanist Federation , Co-founder of LibMov. Author of “Europe towards Suicide? Without a Federal Union the Fate of Europeans is Inescapable” (2009), among others. In 2012 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the European Liberal Forum (ELF). He was re-elected for a second two-year term in 2014. In 2013 he was also elected to the Board of Directors of the European Humanist Federation (EHF), the largest umbrella organisation of European secularist associations, advocating separation between religion and public institutions. In 2013, he took part in the foundation of LibMov, an association aimed at helping reunite the Italian liberals linked to the ALDE party, and became a member of its Executive Committee.
Spanish economist, focused in Sovereign Wealth Funds both from economics and international business perspectives. He is Researcher at the ESADEgeo-Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics. He had been intern for Deloitte (2006) where he audited Santander Asset Management, Credit Suisse, and Société Générale. He is coordinating Start Up Spain series (with more than 4,000 attendees). His research on entrepreneurship and SWFs have been featured in El Mundo, El País, Expansión and Cinco Días.
Founder and Director of the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism Re: Baltica. Springe was an investigative journalist at the daily newspaper Diena. Her investigations have focused on organized crime, corruption and smuggling in Latvia and the Balkans, work that led to changes in Latvian law and action against public officials. Springe was a Fulbright/Humphrey program fellow studying journalism at the University of Maryland, through which she completed affiliations at the Washington Post, Mother Jones magazine and The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
PhD, she is a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Łódź. Since October 2014, she has been the director of the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw. From 2004 to 2006 she worked as a journalist in the Łódź edition of Gazeta Wyborcza. In 2006, she was appointed director of the 2006 Łódź Biennale (the second edition of the International Biennial of Art), and a year later she launched and became head of the first festival of design and architecture in Poland – Łódź Design. She also lectured on art history and marketing in the culture sector at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź (2007-10). She has authored many critical texts published in specialized magazines about art and culture: Obieg, Arteon and Kresy. From 2008, she was the deputy director of the largest institution dedicated to modern art in Poland – the Museum of Art in Łódź. In 2014, she became the director of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw.
Czech journalist and musician, working as a commentator and analyst for the daily newspaper Lidove noviny. Before, he worked for Hospodarske noviny and weekly Respekt, the latter of which he co-founded after the velvet revolution (1989) as the country‘s first independent media outlet. His main field of interest is economic politics, namely Eurozone crisis or European integration. He writes his daily blog Monitor on internet and provides analysis for Czech Radio and Television. With his lectures he visits international conferences and universities. He teaches journalism at New York University in Prague. During the Communist era he was a member of Czechoslovak dissent and signed the human rights petition Charta 77. He was involved in samizdat publishing and underground music culture. Chaiman of the board of trustees of Institute for Politics and Society, former chairman of the board of trustees of Vaclav Havel Library. Repeatedly awarded the best journalist in the country (Ferdinand Peroutka Award, 2010).
Belarusian linguist, politician and former leader (1999–2007) of the Belarusian National Front (BNF), a Belarusian opposition party. In 1988, he was one of the founders of the Belarusian National Front. Viačorka was head of programme documents commission and a member of the party's central board. In 1995-1999 he was deputy head of the BNF. He is the founder and head of an educational non-governmental organization, the Supolnaść Centre and was head of the working group of the NGO Assembly of Belarus (1999–2000).
British political economist and writer. He specializes in global and European economic issues, notably globalisation, migration, the post-crisis world and the euro. A visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics' European Institute, he is a former adviser to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso from 2011 to 2014. A commentator for BBC TV and radio, he has written for various newspapers and magazines, including the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, the Wall Street Journal Europe and the New Statesman. Legrain is the author of four books: Open World: The Truth about Globalisation, which is a counter-argument to Naomi Klein's No Logo; Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them was shortlisted for the 2007 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award; Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis; and European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess - and How to Put Them Right, which the Financial Times calls “essential reading”.
Before Hanna Zdanowska became the Mayor of the City of Lodz, she served six years as the Director of the Office of Lodz Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2006, Hanna Zdanowska became the Councilor of the Lodz City Council, and later the Vice-Mayor of Lodz in charge of education, sport and EU funds. In autumn 2007, she was elected a Member of the Polish Parliament from the Civic Platform list. She served as the Deputy Chairman of the Special Commission “Friendly State” for matters related to the reduction of bureaucracy. On December 13, 2010 Hanna Zdanowska, after the victory in the elections for the local government was sworn for the position of the Mayor of the City of Lodz. She was elected for a second term by the Lodz inhabitants already in the first round of the elections in 2014.
Polish lawyer, social activist, Human Rights Defender. In 2004–20015 he was working with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights – first, as a co-founder, hen as the coordinator of Litigation Program, finally as the head of the legal department and President of the board. Expert in the Agency for Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In 2013-2014 Bodnar was a member of the board of directors of the United Nations Fund for Victims of Torture. In 2001-2004 he worked as a lawyer in Weil, Gotshal & Mangers law firm. Since 2006 he has been giving lectures at the law and administration department of the University of Warsaw. Until the time of assuming the post of Ombudsman, Adam Bodnar, PhD cooperated with various non-governmental organizations, including Panaptykon Fund (chairman of the Foundation Council), ClientEarth Polska (member of the Programme Council), Prof. Zbigniew Hołda Association (co-founder and the member of the Management Board). He was also a member of the Civic Legislation Forum operating at Batory Foundation and of the editorial team of kulturaliberalna.pl. In 2011 he was awarded with the Tolerance Prize by the Polish LGBT organizations. In 2013 he received a scholarship within the scope of German Marshall Memorial Fellowship programme. He became the Human Rights Defender in September 2015.
Polish historian, essayist, former dissident, public intellectual, editor-in-chief of Poland's largest newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza”. Brought up in a family of committed communists, Michnik became an opponent of the communist regime at the time of the anti-Jewish purges in the party. He was imprisoned, first, after the 1968 March Events, then, after the imposition of the Martial Law in 1981. Michnik also played a crucial role during the Polish Round Table Talks, as a result of which the communists conceded to call elections, which were subsequently won by Solidarity. Even though he has withdrawn from active politics he has “maintained an influential voice through journalism”. He is a laureate of many awards and honors, including a Knight of the Legion of Honour and European of the Year.
Social entrepreneur, civic activist and political scientist. As the Founder and Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy, in less than a decade she has transformed a “start-up” institution into an international renowned diplomatic academy, with over 5000 Alumni coming from 40 countries. Throughout her career she has inspired and led change within a number of organizations, including the Community of Democracies and the Council of Europe, in cooperation with which she currently runs the Visegrad School of Political Studies. In addition to her leadership and management experience Dr. Pisarska pursues a career in academia.
Polish lawyer, Director of the Polish National Centre for Culture, member of the Independent Students’ Association in the past, acting as Deputy Chairman at the University of Łódź. Between 2006-2010 he was a Council Member of the Łódź Provincial Parliament. Since 2007, Dudek is the Director of the National Centre of Culture. He is also an initiator of social campaigns, including “Katyń 1940. I Remember.”, “The Right to Culture”, “Native – Add to Favourites”.
Russian statesman and politician, Prime Minister of Russia in the years 2000-2004 and minister of finance in 1999-2000. Currently, he is a co-chair of the political party RPR-PARNAS, the leader of movement People's Democratic Union and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Kasyanov was one of the leaders of the opposition coalition The Other Russia and an active participant of Dissenters' Marches. In 2008 he was refused registration as a candidate in the election of President of Russia. In 2010 he co-founded the coalition For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption and was co-chair of the People's Freedom Party. Since 2012 Mikhail Kasyanov is a co-chair of the registered political party, Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party (RPR-PARNAS). He is an active speaker during protest rallies For Fair Elections.
One of the most influential and opinion-forming Polish journalists and columnists, commentator of "Polityka" magazine. He is a well-experienced in public debates liberal-leftist polemist who criticizes Polish political circles for their dismissive attitude to knowledge and their anti-intellectual syndrome. As a regular supporter of culture, he took part in the social campaign “Kultura się liczy”(“Culture Matters”, 2010). In his opinion, treating the reality in a non-integral manner is one of the greatest mistakes of Polish politicians, as the state is an interdependent system. Collaborator of Gazeta Wyborcza (1993-2002) and host – together with Piotr Najsztub –of one of the first Polish television feature programmes ‘Tok-szok’ (1997-1999). Since 2002, he is a political commentator of the weekly Polityka. He also hosts programmes at Radio Tok FM and TVP Info. Another field of his activity is being the Journalism Program Director at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw.
Czech-Japanese architect, program director of reSITE international festival and conference on more livable cities, editorial supervisor and former editor-in-chief of professional architecture magazine ERA21. Lecturer at Architectural Institute in Prague and Visegrad Intercity Seminar in Architecture at STU in Bratislava. External lecturer at Faculty of Philosophy, Masaryk University in Brno, at SU Strasbourg and IISCE DSW in Wroclaw. Independent nominator of European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award – for the Czech Republic. Member of the Board of Experts of the European Prize for Urban Public Space. Expert adviser of Metropolitan Sounding Board of Prague City Council in the issues of urban development. Currently, Okamura lives in Brno and Prague.
Bulgarian political scientist, philosopher, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, co-founder of European Council on Foreign Relations, and permanent fellow at the IWM, Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna. In 2008 he was ranked 85th in the Top 100 Public Intellectuals Poll. He was also the Research Director of Political Consequences of Anti-Americanism, a three-year project carried out at the Center for Policy Studies (2004-2006). Krastev authored many publications, e.g. Shifting Obsessions: Three Essays on the Politics of Anticorruption (2004). Europe's Democracy Paradox, The American Interest (2012), In Mistrust We Trust: Can Democracy Survive When We Don't Trust Our Leaders? (2013), among others.
Polish politician and economist, President of the Economic Council, Member of European Parliament. He was a lecturer at the University of Gdańsk and foreign universities, as well as established the Institute of Research into Market Economy in Gdańsk. In the years 1980-1989, he was an economic adviser to NSZZ “Solidarność”, and in 1988 a co-founder of Liberal Democratic Congress. A Member of Parliament of the 1st, 3rd and 4th term, former minister of privatisation in the governments of Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (1990-1991) and Hanna Suchocka (1992-1993). In the European election of 13 June 2004, he became an MEP from the Civic Platform’s list. For two years and a half, he was in charge of the European Parliament’s Budget Committee, and then he took the position of its deputy chairman. In the years 2010-2014, he was the EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget. In 2014, he was elected to the European Parliament again.
Ukrainian editor and journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Tvi. Since 1989, he works as the analyst of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, specializing in post-Soviet countries, and cooperates with the Russian and Ukrainian services of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. As a freelance journalist he has been publishing articles in various newspapers and magazines such as: Russian Russkij Telegraf, Kommersant, Vedomosti, Vremya MN, Vremya novostej, Moskovskiye Novosti, Obshaja gazeta, Ukrainian Den', Korrespondent, Profil, Delovaja Nedelja, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, Kontrakty, Novynar, Glavred, Latvian Biznes & Baltia, Telegraf, Estonian Estonia, Postimees, Polish Polityka, Gazeta Wyborcza, Belarusian Belgazeta. In 2007, he was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of the Media-Dom holding and the Ukrainian newspaper Gazeta24. Since 2008, he has been the author of the weekly TV-show ”Kyivski pohliad”. Vitaly Portnikov is the winner of the “Zolote Pero 1989”, the award of the Ukrainian Association of Journalists. He has also been nominated for the title of the Journalist of the Year in Ukraine.