Investment banker, infrastructure expert, and professor of finance Ramon de Oliveira says that the Polish-American Freedom Foundation plays a more important role in the development of Europe now than ever before. After more than three decades of providing a level playing field of educational opportunities for young people in Poland, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation is expanding its programs to support Ukrainian refugees and to inspire similar work around the world.
The Polish-American Enterprise Fund founded the Polish-American Freedom Fund in 1989 to support the emerging market economy in Poland. For over 30 years, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation has supported initiatives in education, programs for community development in small towns and rural areas, and programs to share the Polish experience of societal transformation.
The foundation works to secure equal opportunities for education for all the children and young people of Poland, while improving the quality of education, so place of residence and family income do not limit educational achievement. The foundation has funded over 40,000 educational projects since its inception.
The Polish-American Freedom Foundation has funded and provided guidance for over 18,700 community development projects across Poland. The foundation seeks to train leaders and facilitate their sharing of experiences, while supporting programs with educational, cultural, social welfare, and entrepreneurship objectives. The foundation also helps existing local organizations to operate more efficiently as they solve local problems.
The Polish-American Freedom Foundation has sponsored over 10,300 individual study tours of Poland. The foundation provides post-graduate education in Poland for young leaders from other countries, underwrites study tours of Poland for representatives of agencies in neighboring countries, and provides expert consulting for other similar initiatives internationally.
For seven years, from 2007 to 2015, a $28 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation funded improvements to over 4,000 Polish public libraries, mostly in rural areas, enabling them to become centers of education, culture, and civic activity with free access to the Internet. In 2014, the Foundation received the Freedom Award from the Atlantic Council for 25 years of service supporting civil society and democracy in Poland and throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
Over 3.5 million refugees from Ukraine entered Poland in just the first three months after the invasion of their country in 2022. Ramon de Oliveira wants all NGOs to know the foundation is open to applications for assistance in support of all organizations that support Poland’s Ukrainian guests.
Ramon de Oliveira is founder and partner of international strategy advisor RdeO Consulting LLC. Formerly Chairman of Alliance Bernstein and Equitable, director of the Hartford Insurance Company and The Kaufmaan, adjunct professor at the business schools of NYU and Columbia, Ramon de Oliveira is a member of the Investment Committee of the Polish American Freedom Foundation.