Embassy Events 2007

Ambassador Ashe Honors Polish Women in Business

12 March 2007

Panel members Daria Golebiowska-Tataj, Anna Karaszewska, Agnieszka Dydycz, and Jolanta Jaworska address the guests (more photos)

U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Victor Ashe, celebrated International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month on March 9 with a panel discussion and reception at his Residence in honor of Polish women in business. Approximately 200 women attended the event, which included business executives, high-level governmental officials, uniformed military officers, and several notable business owners. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Ashe introduced the panel saying, “By honoring women in business today, we are hoping to recognize the significant success that Polish women have achieved – in not only owning their own businesses but rising to leading management positions within companies. I hope that the discussion today can focus on issues that are important to you – women’s leadership, labor and employment policies, diversity in the workplace, and professional mentoring.”

The panel, organized in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce, lasted about 45 minutes and was moderated by Daria Golebiowska-Tataj, a professor at the Warsaw University of Technology, who participated in the U.S. State Department/Fortune International Women Leaders Mentoring Program last year. Other panel members included: Anna Karaszewska, Director of Strategic Development Department, Lewiatan; Agnieszka Dydycz, Director of Citigroup Business Services, Citibank; and Jolanta Jaworska, Governmental Programs Executive, IBM Poland. Golebiowska-Tataj briefly spoke about what an extraordinary experience she had and what she learned during her State Department/Fortune Mentoring Program. Karaszewska talked about how Lewiatan, which provides consultative business advice, uses research performed in Poland to show businesses that when they care about diversity their productivity improves.  Jaworka focused on how IBM Poland deals with gender equality and how they recognize the needs of women employees in order to retain talent. The last panelist, Dydycz, presented the CityWomen initiative which works to assist the self-development of female employees through a variety of different programs. In her closing remarks, Golebiowska-Tataj spoke about a new professional development association that is being launched this spring which will welcome the participation of women from all professions.  

In the past two years, U.S. Embassy Warsaw has hosted three events specifically focused on women. In September 2005, Ambassador Ashe moderated a panel which discussed the hidden role of women during the Solidarity movement. In honor of International Women’s Day last year, Ashe hosted a lunch during which presentations were made on the role of women in democratic development, the legal rights of women, and the importance of women holding public office.