European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

Beata Bublewicz is a former member of the Polish parliament, during which time she served as a member of the International Affairs Committee and focused on Polish relations with Argentina, India and Israel. Before devoting herself to politics, she worked as an entrepreneur for eight years and held the post of manager at General Motors Poland and Opel Polska. She is the co-author of “Bestie Behind The Steering Wheel” and author of “The 6th Gear. Biography of The Best 80’s & 90’s Polish Rally Driver”, written about her father, the late Marian Bublewicz. Founded in his honour, Beata also chairs the Marian Bublewicz Foundation, which advocates for the improvement of access to education.

Blazej is Managing Director of EC1 Lodz, a cultural hub which hosts cultural, educational and business events in Poland’s third largest city. It also houses three museums dedicated to science, the heritage of motion pictures and the phenomenon of comics and video games art. Blazej is an expert in project management, with over a decade’s worth of experience in project development, implementation and operation. He is the former managing director of the New Center of Lodz, a large urban redevelopment programme aimed at revitalising the area around the Lodz railway station to create a new multifunction city centre. He has also previously served in a number of key executive roles in various regional and local public utilities companies and business environment institutions. Blazej currently serves as an advisor to the Board for International Affairs of the Civil Development Forum.

Michał Olszewski is a Board Member in charge of investments at PGNiG TERMIKA, Poland’s leading natural gas company. He previously served as deputy mayor of Warsaw, and has spent the entirety of his professional life in public service. Olszewski began his career working as a senior expert in the Office of the Committee for European Integration, while studying at Warsaw University. He rapidly rose to become Head of the EU Funds Department for the City of Warsaw and simultaneously became Chairman of the European Policy Commission in the Association of Polish Cities. Olszewski is also responsible for metropolitan cooperation in the Warsaw Functional Area and currently is Chairman of the Warsaw Metropole Association.

Michał Szczerba currently serves as member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee, the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee.  He also holds the position of President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. An experienced Polish politician, Szczerba served as an elected member of the Polish Sejm for several legislatures since 2007. Prior to this, he worked as an expert on EU funding for restructuring and modernising agriculture and was on the Wola District Council of Warsaw. Szczerba notably received the Order of Honour from the President of the Republic of Georgia, and has been part of numerous leadership training programmes.

Currently serving as the State Secretary at the Polish Ministry of National Defence, Cezary Tomczyk’s political career spans more than two decades. He previously held the position of secretary of state and spokesperson in the government of Eva Kopacz and was also nominated as shadow deputy minister for the Civic Platform. After being elected as member of the Polish Parliament at the age of 23, Tomczyk sat in the Committee on National Defence and the Committee on EU Affairs, in addition to chairing the Permanent Subcommittee on the Multiannual Financial Framework. He was notably awarded the Medal of Merit for National Defence by the Polish Ministry of National Defense in recognition for his services to the development and strengthening of the defence of his country.

Małgorzata is one of the first members of the Green Party to be elected to the Polish parliament. In her role as Co-Chair of the Green Party, she has successfully promoted a stronger climate agenda, most notably through her actions for cleaner air and the reduction of smog in Polish cities, as well as raising citizen awareness about environmental issues. A strong advocate of equality, democracy and the rule of law, Małgorzata is a vocal activist for the rights of women and minorities. She is a member of the women’s rights movement, Committee Ratujmy Kobiety (“Let’s save women”), which led the first against the national abortion ban from 2016 through 2018. She is also a member of the Polish Women’s Congress and Ecological Association EKO-UNIA.