About

Wawrzyniec Smoczyński is President of the New Community Foundation (Fundacja Nowej Wspólnoty), an innovative non-profit working to reduce social polarisation in Poland. He advises corporates on political risk, strategic change and organizational development. He is a member at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the founder of Polityka Insight, Poland’s leading political and business intelligence service. Wawrzyniec is fluent in English, German and French.

Short bio

Professional experience

As Head of Strategy and Plenipotentiary to the President of USWPS, Poland’s largest private university (2019-2024), Wawrzyniec designed and delivered an inclusive strategy process engaging 123 employees across 6 campuses — building agreement between the university board and its workforce on long-term strategic direction. He also led the development of a modern social sciences curriculum and an internal leadership programme for academic managers.

In 2019 Wawrzyniec has initiated the New Community Foundation, an innovative non-profit tasked with reducing social polarization and increasing democratic consensus in Poland.

As President of the Foundation (2020-present), he has led the development and launch of the nationwide dialogue platform, while also raising funds from major donors and grant-makers.

The Foundation brings together citizens holding opposing views for guided dialogues. It also offers skills training on how to handle politically charged conversations and workshops on communication in socially diverse teams.

In 2013 Wawrzyniec has founded Polityka Insight, Poland’s premier source for political and economic analysis. He led the company’s development from the initial concept to a profitable business model, with a client base spanning global banks and corporates, government ministries, embassies and international institutions. He left the company in 2019.

Background

Wawrzyniec studied Egyptology at the Warsaw University and General Linguistics at the University of Göttingen. What followed was less unlikely than it sounds: a career in journalism and two national press awards, then the founding of Polityka Insight — which he built from a start-up into Poland's premier political intelligence service — and earning recognition among decision-makers across banks, corporations, governments and the non-profit sector as a trusted outside voice.

Wawrzyniec is currently completing a post-graduate program for independent non-executive board members at the Warsaw University of Technology Business School, deepening his engagement with corporate governance and the responsibilities of board-level oversight.

Honors

  • Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations

  • Alumnus of the Leadership Academy for Poland

  • German Marshall Memorial Fellow

  • International Monetary Fund Fellow

  • Open Society Fellow

  • Munich Young Leader

  • Grand Press Award for Journalism

  • Woyciechowski Award for Outstanding Journalism

  • Kwiatkowski Award for Economic Journalism