Ewa Konczal

Ashoka Representative in Poland and Central & Eastern Europe. Prior joining Ashoka Ewa worked in Egypt, where she has established Egyptian Polish Businessman Association. She had also volunteered with a Global March Against Child Labor in Delhi, India. Pursuing her passions – mountaineering - in 2004 Ewa has found her own organization Magic Mountain Foundation that creates opportunities for various disadvantaged youth and adults to climb their own Everest. Ewa is a Ford Motor Company Fellow and a member of the Remarque Forum, at the New York City University. In 2006 Ewa had received the AIESEC International Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship Award and entered the AIESEC Alumni Hall of Fame.

Anna Obem

Anna started her engagement with Ashoka since high school. She engaged in some minor projects and continued occasionally throughout her university years. Improving her skills in organizing university and sports events, she finally got back to source and contributed herself full time to developing Ashoka program in Poland.
Anna studied African Languages and Cultures at Warsaw University and Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. She moved to Nigeria for some time to experience the real world she heard about from her professors.
In Ashoka she coordinated the BUS (school for social entrepreneurs) program in Poland and is engaged in the search and selection process as well as Fellowship activities. Anna is also responsible for the global Fellows’ collaboration initiated by Ashoka Fellows from Poland: (Dis)Ability Initiative. She is the editor of multilingual Ashoka News.

Ryszard Praszkier, Ph.D.

Dr. Ryszard Praszkier is the Professional Development and Training Director for International Staff in Ashoka and is the Director for Bridge for Universities and Society (BUS), Global Initiative of Ashoka. Joined Ashoka as the Poland Country Director in 1994, launching the Ashoka program from scratch.
Prior to working at Ashoka, Ryszard was a practicing family psychotherapist, Founding Director of the Community Mental Health Center for Children and Youth in Warsaw, and the Polish national supervisor for psychotherapy. He has authored over 20 books and articles on the emotional dimension of children and families, and has presented at international conferences on family psychotherapy in England, Finland, Germany, Austria, and the U.S.
During the 1980s, Ryszard participated in the underground Polish Solidarity movement, e.g. publicized under a false name an illegal manual for Solidarity activists “How to survive police interrogation”. Was a consultant for Solidarity candidates for the first free elections in 1989. In the early 1990’s was a co-founder of several grassroots NGO’s.
In the 90s he has coordinated Ashoka's expansion to the Baltics and helped building nominators network in the US; also participated in launching Ashoka in Ireland and Great Britain.
Along with staff and Ashoka Fellows in Poland, Ryszard launched Ashoka's School for Social Entrepreneurship (BUS,) an initiative designed to link business students and social entrepreneurs in productive, hands-on internships. He has been involved in designing Ashoka's staff training programs and has facilitated training events for staff.
Collaborates with the University of Warsaw researching social entrepreneurship; has completed a research “Social Entrepreneurs and Social Activists: A Comparative Analysis,” also authored and co-authored several articles on this issue. His Ph.D. dissertation was on the specific personality traits and specific methods used by social entrepreneurs.
Has been chairing the Ashoka selection panels in Canada (4 times,) Uganda (3 times,) Nepal (3 times,) Pakistan (5 times,) Bangladesh, India, Nigeria (twice) and Indonesia, also doing 2nd opinion reviews in USA, Hungary and Germany.

Tereza Sojková

Volunteer Ashoka Czech Coordinator. Tereza was born in Prague where she lives too. She gained her B.A. degree in International Area Studies on the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University, and currently she is completing the Master program, specializing in Western Europe. She spent one semester studying international relations at Sciences Po. in Paris. She works part time for Letohrádek Vendula - Handicraft Manufacture of  People with Special Needs, an Ashoka Fellow´s organisation, as a project manager. She speaks English and French fluently and is advaced in Spanish and Russian. She volunteers for Ashoka Poland and Central & Eastern Europe as czech-English translator, communication with Ashoka Fellows and translating Ashoka News. She did the Ashoka pre-selection process research. Her interests are travelling, history and meeting interesting people.