Bartek Szymański, Vice-President for Administrative Affairs of PSM will be awarded the "Outstanding Pole" statuette by the "Teraz Polska" Foundation in the category of a young Pole for his acting activity and involvement in the Polish community. In the same category, Daniel Kurzyna, who is simultaneously involved in American politics and social activities and acting as the head of the office of Councilor Robert Holden, will be distinguished.
Bartek Szymański is a Polish-American actor and young Polish community activist, born and raised in Connecticut, USA. He began his Polish education at the age of 6 at the Polish Saturday School in Stamford, CT, where he attended for 9 years. There, thanks to the commitment and help of teachers, he discovered his acting talent, willingly giving monologues and reciting poems. In high school, Bartek discovered leadership qualities in himself. He very quickly acquired knowledge useful for exercising power, which resulted in winning the school presidential elections in the next four years. As an acting student at Pace University, NY, he ran for student elections four times, winning each time. The culmination of Bartek's activity in this area was the fact that that he became the chairman of the student government and was the first Pole in the history of the university to achieve such success. It was a historic event, because for the first time a student from the acting department took up such an important function. Bartek's tasks included primarily dealing with administrative matters and cooperation with the student community. In addition, he was the originator and pioneer of the creation of two new positions for the school of the arts, the School of the Performing Arts, in the student government - including all schools of the university.
In 2017, Bartek participated in the 9th School for Polish Leaders in Warsaw, organized in cooperation with the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Due to the fact that Bartek stood out from the other participants of the program with his attitude, he was invited to an interview for TVP Polonia, where he presented the activities of Polish-American organizations in New York and talked about his own Polish community activity. In the same year, Bartek became a member of the Pulaski Parade Committee, where he was soon appointed the correspondence secretary. Accepting the position, Bartek committed himself to actively involve young people in work for the Pulaski Parade. He is the youngest member of the organizing committee of the parade.
In 2019, Bartek was appointed Vice President for Administrative Affairs at the Polish Youth Association. As part of his duties, he provides support in the field of formal, administrative and organizational activities to the president of the management board. He coordinates effective cooperation with Polish youth and ensures the effective flow of information within the structure.
As the first Polish actor, Bartek appeared in the well-known American series "Chicago PD" on NBC as a "guest star". Before Bartek made his debut on the small screen, he appeared in many different productions and plays. Not so long ago, you could watch Bartek in the film "The Farthest Apple from the Tree", which in 2017 was nominated at the Cannes Film Festival. He is a member of the Polish Theater Institute. In January, together with Helena Englert, he took part in the "Cała Polonia Reads to Children" campaign. In his free time, he likes to play volleyball and read history books.
"Outstanding Pole" Award
The "Outstanding Pole Abroad" award is one of the most prestigious civic awards (non-governmental) awarded to Poles living outside Poland. The competition takes place in the United States, France, Austria, Norway and the United Kingdom. The New York committee of 26 leaders of the media and Polish diaspora organizations has been awarding outstanding achievements in the field of Business, Culture, Personality, Science and Young Poles since 2010. After winning the USA statuettes, the winners will automatically enter the "Outstanding Pole World" competition, where they will compete against other candidates from other parts of the world and Poland. The World Committee consists of high government figures and the most outstanding business and organization leaders who cooperate with the "Teraz Polska" foundation in Warsaw. Previous winners of the world edition include: President Lech Walesa,
Gala awards ceremony
The awards will be presented to all the distinguished persons during a gala ceremony that will take place on Friday, May 13, at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Manhattan. It will be the main part of the ceremony organized as part of the Polish Heritage Days. There will be many distinguished guests among the participants of the event. Krzysztof Przybył, president of the Polish Promotional Emblem Foundation "Teraz Polska", also confirmed his presence, which, together with the Pangea Network USA association, is the organizer of the American edition of the Outstanding Pole in the USA competition.
Source: Polish Youth Association
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