A training course, held cyclically as part of the “Act Locally” Program, was held on May 12 and 13, 2022 in Warsaw. For the first time in over two years, 150 representatives of Act Locally Centers and PAFF Local Partnerships had an opportunity to meet face to face and discuss future challenges for their local communities.
The meeting was opened by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation’s Program Director Joanna Lempart and President of Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland Paweł Łukasiak. Joanna Lempart thanked the participants in the Foundation’s programs for their ceaseless engagement and impressive activity during the crisis time. Referring to challenges of the future, that is the main topic of the meeting, she mentioned the “Support for Ukraine” Program launched by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation with the budget of PLN 4 million, and at the same time she pointed to the importance of long-term thinking about the refugees from Ukraine. President Paweł Łukasiak started his address by saying that: “While developing the ‘Act Locally’ Program we are bound by the same values: support for the growth of NGOs, civic activity and the courage to act.”
The special guest of the event was Professor Ryszard Praszkier, a social sciences expert of the Institute for Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw, a member of Ashoka international Social Innovators Association. In his lecture on creative leadership he compared the leader’s creativity to “a blow of change”, that is to giving impetus from a micro scale to the macro scale, illustrating his theory with the stories of social change leaders in Bangladesh, Canada and Latin America.
Joanna Sadzik, the President of Management Board of the Spring Association spoke about building partnerships, soliciting donors and organizing charity collections in her conversation with Dorota Kostowska. She also mentioned the importance of personal relations, the strategy of operation and transparent, convincing communication.
Next there were workshop sessions, held simultaneously, which gave the opportunity to share experiences and have interesting discussions. There was the “Modern Challenges for Local NGOs” workshop moderated by Joanna Konczanin and Przemysław Dziewitek of the TROP Group, and the “Refugees Locally – How to Start” session conducted by President of the Rescue Foundation Piotr Bystrianin; Legal Frames of NGO Operation in Poland were presented by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland social expert Tomasz Schimanek, while coach and speech facilitator Dorota Kostowska conducted the session on telling about organizations’ activities. Katarzyna Kunert of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland spoke about effective communication using LinkedIn and Instagram.
On the second day of the training session the organizers also secured variety of topics. There was a workshop session on social marketing for NGOs conducted by Zuzanna Komornicka, a coach and specialist in communication and promotion representing the Federation of Local Funds in Poland. Dominik Dobrowolski, an ecologist and traveler, the initiator of “Cycling Recycling” action awarded with the “Civic Leader of the Year 2021” title spoke about effective ecological education, while Maciej Sopyło, a media and digital education coach gave a lecture on disinformation. Tomasz Schimanek presented the report “New Faces of Volunteering, Employee Volunteering”.
At the same time, the “Shipyard” Foundation representatives held group interviews on the future of “Act Locally” Program.
The training course was organized by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.
The “Act Locally” Program of Polish-American Freedom Foundation is managed by Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland in cooperation with a network of 78 Act Locally Centers. It supports and activates local communities in villages and small towns through implementation of civic projects which are important to residents, raise developmental aspirations and improve the quality of life as well as contribute to building social capital. Since 2000, almost 13,500 local projects have been supported; implemented by 4.5 million participants, including ca. 234,000 volunteers.
The objective of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program is to initiate and develop cooperation among participants of various PAFF programs to promote setting up partnerships capable of implementing social projects important to entire local communities. The program uses the local community civic activation method to build common good on the basis of a social needs diagnosis. To date 61 multi-sector partnerships operating in the area of 107 communes have been established. As many as 1,000 various partners, over 8,000 volunteers and 16,000 residents have participated in their activities.
Photo courtesy of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.
