Inspiring Young Leaders (2011)
Krystyna Szurlej (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Anna V. Barycka (Windsor, Ontario)
In 2008, Ania co-founded the Polish Canadian Students’ Association of Windsor, co-authored the script for the “100 Years of Polish Settlement in Windsor 1908-2008” documentary, and began her political science studies at the University of Ottawa. She volunteered at the Ministry of International Trade and the Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism during her studies. In 2009 she helped organize the first Quo Vadis conference in Canada, and in 2010 became the co-chair of the North American edition. In 2010, she completed an internship with the Polish Senate in Warsaw and opened up her own translating firm. Recently, she worked as a project assistant in the School for Polish Leaders program for Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine in Warsaw, interned at a French-Polish consulting firm in Toulouse, and worked at the European Parliament in Brussels. Currently, Ania is completing an internship at the European Academy of Diplomacy in Warsaw and will be working at Warsaw’s National Stadium during UEFA EURO 2012.
Marysia Kwapiszewska (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Exceptional Mentors (2011)
Jerzy Barycki, P.Eng.
Jerzy Barycki is a professional engineer and has been the Vice-President for Polish Affairs in the Canadian Polish Congress since 2006. He was the co-founder and Chairman for “Polish Week in Windsor” in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008, a series linked to the celebration of 100 years of Polish settlement in Windsor. Pan Barycki is also the current president of the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, and he was a delegate of the Canadian Polish Congress on the 3rd World Congress of Polonia in 2007.
Wojciech Dzięgiel
Pan Dzięgiel has been the vice-consul at the Polish Consulate in Toronto since 2006. He served three years as the head of its legal section and took up responibility for Polonia affairs in 2009. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of Nicolas Copernicus University in Toruń, with a specialization in public international law. As an undergraduate student in 2002 and 2003, he took part in the Socrates/ERASMUS program at the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He also took several human rights and international law courses in Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, including at the Hague Academy of International Law. In 2004, he joined the civil service and began working for federal offices in Warsaw and during 2005-06 he was a student at the National School of Public Administration in Warsaw.
Professor Walter Perchał, PhD, CD
Professor Perchał teaches at York University in Toronto, where he has appointments in both the faculties of Graduate Studies and of Liberal and Professional Studies, and where his area of focus is Disaster and Emergency Management. Professor Perchał is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Forces where he holds various regimental appointments. He concluded his regimental duties as Commanding Officer of the Royal Regiment of Canada and currently serves as Special Advisor to the Canadian Army Commander. Finally, Professor Perchał has held various senior appointments over the years in a number of firms. Most recently, he has been the principal in a transdisciplinary consulting group that advises governments and other entities on various transformation issues.