Thanks to the cooperation of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation with the Trade and Investment Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, eight students who are currently serving their internships in the USA under the Polish-American Internship Initiative (PAII), were invited to participate in the series of meetings and conferences that were held in New York on September 24-25.
The interns had the opportunity to listen to the address delivered by President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski at the opening of the “Polish-American Investment Dialogue” conference”.
On September 24, the students were invited to the meeting of the Polish government administration with American investors in fuel and energy, and chemical sectors. They also participated in the conference on innovation potential in the countries of Visegrad Group, that was held in the New York Google seat. During the conference, examples of innovative companies from our region, such as Polish Brand24, Hungarian Prezi, Slovak Aeromobil and Czech Socialbakers were presented. The participants of the panel discussion on innovation in Visegrad countries were President of Hungary Janos Ader, President of Slovakia Andrej Kiska, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Lubomir Zaoralek and Polish Vice Minister of Economy Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik.
On the same day the interns participated in the presentations of Polish start-ups during the “Polish Tech Boom” event organized by the Trade and Investment Section.
The interns were also invited to participate in the “Polish-American Investment Dialogue” conference held by the Trade and Investment Section at the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in New York on September 25. The opening address at the conference was given by President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski, who emphasized the qualities of Polish food and encouraged American partners to import Polish products and invest in our country.
The participants of the “Polish-American Investment Dialogue” also had an opportunity to watch the film on the previous rounds of the Polish-American Internship Initiative and listen to Oksana Marczak, the present-year PAII intern at Boeing and a volunteer of the “Projector – Student Volunteers” Program, speaking about the PAII. She emphasized that PAII is a great initiative which gives students wide opportunities to develop and learn and also benefits companies participating in the program.
The Polish-American Internship Initiative is a joint undertaking of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the US Embassy in Poland, supported by the Trade and Investment Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington. It is implemented by the Educational Enterprise Foundation in cooperation with the companies offering the internships and Polish universities.
The Initiative is addressed primarily to participants of the two programs of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation – the scholarship holders of the “Bridge Scholarships” program and the students-volunteers of the “Projector – Student Volunteers” program. Eligible to apply for internships are fulltime students of at least second year of study at the Polish universities, fluent in English, who perform very well at the university and are active in social work. The internship lasts from 2 to 3 months and interns are paid for their work. In the years 2011-2014, a total of 73 students served their internships in the following eight corporations: Chevron North America, Boeing, Citi, General Electric Hitachi, Pittsburgh Glass Works LLC, Raytheon BBN Technologies, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, and Westinghouse Electric Company.
Photos: Trade and Investment Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington; PAFF
