EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Artur Orkisz
President
Artur serves as the Congressional Affairs and Public Diplomacy Liaison Officer at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C. In his role, he assists in the drafting of and execution of the Polish Government’s legislative agenda through outreach to Members of Congress and their staff.
Prior to working for the Embassy, Artur spent three years as Manager of Regulatory Affairs at the Government Relations office at AAA. He began his professional career in Washington, D.C. at Accenture’s Government Relations/Strategy practice.
Artur received his B.A. in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in History from Northwestern University. He also studied at the London School of Economics in 2000 where he pursued a General Course degree in International Law and Central and Eastern European Politics. In 2008 he was named a Fellow at The Fund for American Studies. It was through the Fund that he also participated in the American Institute for Political and Economic Systems at Charles University in Prague in 1999.
aorkisz@americanpolishforum.org
Paula Louise Olearnik
Poland Office Director
Paula completed her undergraduate studies with a B.A. in Philosophy from Trinity College, University of Cambridge. She continued her studies with a specialization in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein at The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from which she graduated in 2004 with an M.A. in Philosophy. She is currently completing her doctorate in Political Theory with a minor in International Relations at Georgetown University. She also works as a research assistant at the Berkeley Center in Washington.
Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Paula worked for a year as a research assistant at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In the summer of 2007 she was awarded a DAAD Fellowship to study German at the Ludwig-Maksimilian University of Munich.
polearnik@americanpolishforum.org
Filip Mielczak
Finance Director
Filip is currently an attorney with the United States Small Business Administration. Prior to joining the SBA, he completed internships at the Polish Embassy’s Trade and Investment Section in Washington, D.C. and at the Global Indian Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also taught Environmental Science at a high school in Philadelphia.
Filip received his B.A. in Anthropology and Comparative Literature with a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Washington College of Law at American University in 2006.
fmielczak@americanpolishforum.org
Margaret Lawrynowicz
External Relations Director
Margaret is currently a member of the legislative staff of a U.S. Senator. She was previously an attorney and a lobbyist handling Congressional relations for a trade association. Margaret has also served on the legislative staff of Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (NY), where she focused on foreign affairs and immigration issues, and spent time working at a law firm in Washington, D.C., as well as for The Atlantic Council of the United States.
Margaret earned a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She went on to earn a Juris Doctorate with a Certificate in International Law from the College of Law at Michigan State University. Margaret also spent time studying international and European Union law at several European institutions, including Oxford University, the University of Vienna, and the University of Florence.
mlawrynowicz@americanpolishforum.org
Mark Pituch
Programs Director
As Academic Programs Officer, Mark is responsible for the management of grant programs at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. He previously served as Program Manager for the United States Civilian Research and Development Foundation, an international development NGO, where he focused on the management of grant programs in Russia and Moldova.
Mark holds a degree in International Relations from Grinnell College, and studied abroad in Spain at the Universidad de Sevilla. He subsequently interned at the Warsaw offices of the Spanish news agency EFE. He speaks Polish, Spanish, and Russian.
