Mr. Jaroslaw Rottermund, Mrs. Roza Toroj, Mr. Janusz Kozlowski, Lady Blanka, Mr. Grzegorz Okon, Mr. Chris Garvin, Mr. Jacek Schindler, Dr. Michel Pawlowski
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING The Board of Directors’ meeting was held on April 6, 2017 at The American Institute of Polish Culture offices. Lady Blanka Rosenstiel opened the meeting by welcoming the Board members and thanking them for their presence and ongoing support. Due to time constraints in their professional lives, two of the Board members resigned this year: Mrs. Agnieszka Gray and Mrs. Inga Luksza Senis. However, they plan to stay involved in the activities of the Institute. Lady Blanka thanked them for their service and appealed to everyone to encourage new Board members to join. After the Minutes from the 2016 meeting were approved, Mr. Chris Garvin, a financial advisor for UBS who manages the Institute’s special accounts, discussed the financial status of the Institute. He talked about what UBS has projected and accomplished over the prior six months, and how UBS plans to continue to grow the funds for the organization. Mr. Garvin encouraged Board members to give generously especially since Lady Blanka has now established a special endowment fund for the Institute. He also asked everyone to enroll their friends and family as Institute members. Mr. Garvin emphasized that for the last 45 years, Lady Blanka has been the major financial donor for the Institute, and he stressed the key role members play in supporting a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Polish heritage.
Dr. Michel Pawlowski, AIPC’s Chair for Polish Studies, then took the floor and spoke about his involvement with the University of Virginia (UVA) and the Polish Lecture Series there. He gave an account of his correspondence and meetings with the Foundation Director at UVA. The goal of the Institute is to monitor programming of the Polish Lecture Series and to assist in providing the best lectures, events and collaboration between the two organizations. He suggested more Polish themes for future lectures and events in various educational venues. The Harriet Irsay Scholarship report was presented by Mr. Janusz Kozlowski and Mr. Jaroslaw Rottermund. During the 2016/2017 academic year, 19 complete applications were received and from those, 10 students were selected to receive a $1,000 grant each. Articles placed in Polish newspapers were very helpful in bringing attention to our scholarship. Mr. Kozlowski and Mr. Rottermund commented on the fact that applicants were top-notch contenders for the award and how many of them are involved in Polish communities across the country. They also proposed that the scholarship grant for the coming academic 2017/2018 year be raised to $1,500 per person. The Board voted on it and the change was approved unanimously. Mr. Grzegorz Okon then discussed the newly implemented database for the Institute. His company, SourceCorp IT, designed, testGood News
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