International Women's Day Celebration 2024 

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Our recent event at the Palo Alto Event Center featured keynote speaker Nyna Caputi, aligning with this year's PPWSV theme, 'Invest in You'—emphasizing personal growth, skills development, and community support.

Attendees engaged with inspiring speeches, participated in the Business Owners Free Drawing, and networked with like-minded professionals. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all Polish-led businesses for their generous contributions, making the event a resounding success."

"Invest in You" Webinar 

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Following a successful webinar in early March, PPWSV is grateful for the exceptional turnout and engagement from our esteemed attendees. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Kasia Sitkiewicz for sharing her invaluable insights from her investing journey, enriching our community with wisdom and inspiration.

Throughout the session, Kasia emphasized the importance of embracing diverse investment strategies, prioritizing personal well-being and knowledge, and actively seeking opportunities for continuous growth and development.

As we reflect on the key takeaways from this event, let us remain committed to applying these insights in our journey toward personal and professional advancement.

PPWSV Holidays Happy Hour

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December 2023 brought a heartwarming gathering as the PPWSV team and our closest collaborators came together. In the festive spirit, we enjoyed a delightful pre-holiday dinner, creating cherished memories while summarizing the year that was. It was a delightful evening of camaraderie and reflection, setting the tone for a bright future together.

Science: Polish Perspectives Meetup Berkeley

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Berkeley welcomed an enlightening gathering, the Science: Polish Perspectives Meetup 2023, co-organized by the Polonium Foundation and the Polish Club of Berkeley. As a pioneering in-person SPP Meetup in the USA, its mission was to foster meaningful connections between Polish professionals and the diverse research community in Northern California.

We were thrilled to have our very own Magdalena Jaworowicz as a featured speaker, sharing her insights on the topic of engagement communication within non-profit organizations. It was a Saturday filled with enriching discussions and valuable networking, shedding light on the remarkable work of Polish scientists in Northern California.​

Group coaching for women leaders

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Inga Bielińska teaming up with Magda Jaworowicz, conducted group coaching for women leaders in Silicon Valley. Tailored for mid and senior-level professionals contemplating life changes, the program featured both group coaching sessions and collaborative work in small 1:1 teams within breakout rooms.

The sessions began with a brief meditation, providing a serene transition from hectic workdays. Unlike just another meeting, it became an opportunity for open sharing in what we affectionately termed a 'breve space.' Here, participants felt free to express thoughts openly, fostering vulnerability, decompression, and catalyzing personal growth. The magic unfolded practically as everyone, supported by the group's energy, experienced varying degrees of change, navigated transitions, and overcame challenges. This shared journey created a unique and transformative experience for all.

Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit 2023

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Another remarkable year at the Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit 2023 in Warsaw, Poland! This event, the largest of its kind in Europe, brought together 11,000 participants and featured 500 inspiring speakers from science, business, and technology.

With 200 tech topics across 4 stages, 85 tech companies at the career fairs, 300 mentoring sessions, 50 specialized workshops, and 20 side events, it was two days of non-stop inspiration and endless opportunities for growth. 

Women Impact Tech San Francisco 2023

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Together, we make an impact! Thanks to Women Impact Tech for hosting Accelerate in San Francisco. Our PPWSV delegation had the pleasure of participating in this empowering event.

It's inspiring to see women shaping the tech industry, and our highlights include connecting with tech professionals, sharing insights, and engaging with companies actively recruiting women in tech. 

International Women's Day Networking Event

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The International Women's Day celebration was one of our largest events to date hosted at the International Hotel Manilatown in San Francisco. We gathered during Women's History Month to celebrate womanhood, entrepreneurship, and community. All this in the spirit of collaboration and giving back. 

During the event we allocated a great chunk of time for networking through fun activities. We also hosted a Silent Auction aimed at promoting the talent within our organization. The auction included various items and skills donated by our exceptional Members. 

Project Management - Profession, Art... Passion 

Our opening event of the year was a very successful Interactive Webinar with Piotr Plewiński: "Project Management - Profession, Art... Passion." Piotr is a project, program, and portfolio manager with over twenty years of experience in cross-cultural project environments. 

In his presentation, Piotr outlined the evolution of the PM profession, the broad spectrum of tools and management styles typical of the PM role, as well as the necessary skill set to excel as a PM. He helped us deepen your understanding of the program manager role, encouraged participation, and opened the floor to questions. All these contributed to a very fruitful learning environment.

Sip’n Learn Self-Discovery Session

At the beginning of November PPWSV hosted an inspiring Self-Discovery workshop with a Certified Coach Inga Bielińska. With her expertise and guidance, our members were able to pause and reflect on new directions they want to take, while simultaneously building deeper connections with each other.
This event was a great opportunity to network, set new goals in a relaxed atmosphere, and last but not least, enjoy local wine in the beautiful setting of a Milpitas winery.

Get together

October was a time to reconnect in person after an extended Covid break. Sanborn County Park provided a perfect setting for our first PPWSV picnic, which was an opportunity to mingle, network, and get to know each other a little better in a casual atmosphere. It was a great way to ease into all the events we have planned for our members.

Meeting with the Polish Ambassador in the U.S.

On October 7th, PPWSV representatives were thrilled and honored to be invited to a meeting with the Polish Ambassador in the U.S., Marek Magierowski and his wife. We had the pleasure to have a conversation about various women empowerment initiatives around the world, the status of women in different patterns of culture, and prospects for women’s organizations. It was insightful and very interesting.

Job Aid: My Journey

The idea of the My Journey meeting format is to share lessons learned and experience gained during the job search process. In June 2022, our Member Magda Jaworowicz shared her job transition story with the Job Aid program attendees. During the meeting Magda talked about her career development strategy, mindset changes, and tools that helped her achieve the goal and land her dream job. The presentation was full of practical tips, inspiration, and ideas that are easy to implement during any recruitment process.

Virtual conference of the Embassy of Poland in Washington, D.C.

On May 24th PPWSV had an honor to participate in a virtual conference held by the Embassy of Poland in Washington, D.C. The topic of the Conference included “Women in STEM: Bringing together American and Polish perspectives”. Two of our members, Magda Gacyk and Marta Zucker were panelists representing Silicon Valley’s perspective on the subjects.

PPWSV Academy: Hartmann Color Code Personality Workshop

Within the PPWSV Academy we offer self development and personal growth training, workshops and coaching programs to help to be more productive, confident, and self-aware. This time, in June, the PPWSV Academy initiator and trainer, Magda Jaworowicz conducted a workshop about the Hartmann Color Code Personality.
The attendees were able to define their Hartman Personality Profile and their driving "core motives". Based on that assessment, we talked about the potential use of the Color Code finding communication in both our private and professional lives.

The first “Coffee Hour” meetup

On April 2022 PPWSV launched a new program called „Coffee Hour” - series of meetups, where we share and collaborate to enrich and expand your knowledge in different subjects, in a casual environment.

The first meeting in the series was devoted to the topic of ecology, which is of interest to many of our members. Participants had the opportunity to continue the discussion on our closed facebook group „We are Polish Professional Women Silicon Valley”.

"Connecting to opportunities on LinkedIn"

At the end of March we kicked off our newest program called "Job Aid". During the inaugural online event we enjoyed a timely refresher on using LinkedIn to connect to opportunities hosted by our resident LinkedIn specialist, Monika Evje. A lot of our members felt motivated to update their profile and learn about new ways to engage on the platform and build their networks. Monika not only shared the latest and greatest from the professional network but also drew from her own experiences and specialist knowledge.

“Human Centric Leading: Reclaiming your inner power” - International Women's Day with Eleni Pallas

As In 2022 we celebrated International Women's Day with our special guest, Eleni Pallas. For the last 14 years, Eleni has been coaching and educating leaders and team players who want to learn Human-Centric Leading and cultivate team cultures that shift people out of survival and into thriving.

This event was addressed to those of us who are wondering how to use leadership skills to boost hope in these difficult times and turn fear into action.

Ignite - STEAM for girls

As a part of the collaboration among PPWSV, Ignite and Maciejko Foundation, we had the first virtual meeting with girls from Radom on 2/17. The guest speaker was Magdalena Jaworowicz, the PPWSV co-lead. The theme for the meeting was: IGNITE - STEAM for girls.

During the meeting Magda shared her career journey including lessons learned, best practices and pearls of wisdom. It was an amazing way of giving back. After the meeting the attendees shared very positive feedback. To view the report summarizing this event, click here. 

PPWSV is going to continue this inspiring collaboration and is looking forward to the next meetings.

#BeCyberSmart: How to Protect Your Family Online

McAfee Cyber Security Researcher, Joanna Negrete, a PPWSV member,  helped us understand online safety and what actions we can take to protect those we care for. With October being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Joanna focused on what parents can do to keep their kids safe online. Her action plan for parents is: 
-  Create strong passwords with numbers and symbols. 
-  Disable geotagging on photos and videos to keep your family’s physical location private. 
-  Parents and kids should think twice before posting. Could it become risky or embarrassing for the child later in life? If yes, or in doubt, then it’s better not to share.
-  Review and update your privacy settings. 
-  Use security software to protect your devices.

Lawrence Livermore National Lab - National Ignition Facility - Virtual Tour

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory invited our organization for a virtual tour of the world's largest and highest-energy laser system. We learned about NIF’s 192 powerful laser beams that are housed in a 10-story building the size of 3 football fields. The facility can deliver nearly 2 million joules of ultraviolet laser energy in billionth-of-a-second pulses onto a target about the size of a pencil eraser.

The virtual tour was unique presenting parts and views of the facility that wouldn’t be possible to view in person. Visit the NIF website to learn more: https://lasers.llnl.gov/about

Startup Mixer

On 05/14/2021 Polish Professional Women hosted a second meeting in the series “Startup Mixer”.
All attendees shared their experiences, successes, challenges and plans for the upcoming year.

Read more > 

Celebrating International Women’s Day with Filmocracy

PPWSV organized an online networking event to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year we partnered with Filmocracy, a film and film festival streaming platform to gather in a casual format. Our event and discussion focused on:

• This year's #InternationalWomensDay "Choose to Challenge" theme

• Unconscious bias 

• Actions we can take to create a more equitable world

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Read more >

"My journey to becoming a CEO" an Interview with Ania Smith, the CEO of TaskRabbit

PPWSV presented an exclusive interview event with Ania Smith, the CEO of TaskRabbit. Ania is a seasoned leader with deep expertise across a variety of multi-sided marketplaces. She has more than 20 years of experience in global business operations and strategic planning in the eCommerce, transportation, travel, and retail industries. Ania joined TaskRabbit as CEO in August 2020 and is passionate about helping other women break the glass ceiling.

Ania moved to the US from Poland as a child and witnessed how hard her parents worked to provide for her family. It has become her second nature to excel in everything she was doing to provide a happy life to her own family.

Monika Burzyńska-Evje, a PPWSV member facilitated the interview. 

Women in Tech Summit 2020

Polish Professional Women of Silicon Valley has the pleasure to be a Partner of The Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit for the second year in a row. The Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit is the most popular event for women in the Tech and IT fields in Europe. The 2019 edition brought together over 6300 participants from 52 countries. This year the Summit will take place online with two days filled with new ideas, meetings with great people, job opportunities and deep networking. Read more here: womenintechsummit.pl. 

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"Startup Mixer"

On 10/15/2020 Polish Professional Women hosted a first meeting in the new series “Startup Mixer”. “Startup Mixer” is a program that provides a safe space for polish professionals to connect and share their knowledge, experience and challenges while developing and forming their startups. This series is for members only.

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Webinar "How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results"

PPWSV was honored to sponsor a special webinar discussion with Esther Wojcicki hosted on 8/18/20 by San Francisco - Krakow Sister Cities Association. Esther Wojcicki is an author of "How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results," journalist, and founder of renowned Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program in Palo Alto, CA. She is also a mother of three highly successful daughters: Susan Wojcicki (CEO of YouTube), Anne Wojcicki (CEO and co-founder of 23andMe) and Janet Wojcicki (a Fulbright-winning anthropologist, UCSF doctor and researcher). Esther elaborated on her book and shared her secret to raising successful children. 

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Online event "Career advancement and remote work, is it possible?"

On 6/27/2020, PPWSV organized online event with Mag Boron, Founder and CEO of Pangian. 

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We heard about:

• Mag's successful remote career

• Ways to get a promotion during working remotely 

• Opportunities of remote career (travel the world, build your own startup)

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Read more >>

Interactive online class "Speak for Your Self."

On 4/25/2020, PPWSV organized the first virtual event: the public speaking online class "Speak for Your Self" with Lisa Betts-Lacroix. 

As online public speaking is one of the most important skills nowadays, it was very useful to learn about articulation and pronunciation skills, connection on cameras, vocal modulation, speed, and pacing. 

Celebrating Women’s Day with Charitable Hearts 

On 3/7/2020 PPWSV celebrated International Women's Day by hosting an event in Cupertino. This meeting was about giving back through charitable work. During the first part speakers - Debbie Adams and Adriana Veres - shared their personal stories and explained how volunteering developed their professional careers. During the second part of the meeting, we had a networking session and a clothing swap. The profit from the clothing swap was donated to Hospice in Poland.

PPWSV Annual Meeting 

On 1/18/2020 PPWSV was celebrating its 1st year of activity. The Co-Founders, Joanna Lorincz and Magdalena Jaworowicz, presented a summary of all activities in 2019 and kicked off 2020 plan! The special part of the meeting were two talks given by the PPWSV members. Magda Gacyk a journalist, foreign news correspondent, and sociologist presented one of her books: "Ścigając Steve’a Jobsa. Historie Polaków w Dolinie Krzemowej". Natalia Kubik-Maćkowiak, a Co-founder and CEO at Chayn, shared her entrepreneurial experience and present her project.

Women in Tech Summit 2019 

Polish Professional Women, Silicon Valley were invited to participate in Perspektywy, Women in Tech Summit in Warsaw 2019.
This summit gathered over 6300 participants from all over the world inspiring women to pursue their careers in Tech industry. From summit: Summit is about the people we meet, about the conversations we have and about the inspiration that stays in our hearts!

Navigating Challenging Dialogue® 
at Google Developers Launchpad 

On 10/22/2019 PPWSV organized the workshop with guest speakers: Beth Wonson & Sasha Mobley from Beth Wonson & Company at Google Developers Launchpad, San Francisco. The guests presented their solution for communication-related drama and conflict: Navigating Challenging Dialogue®. During the workshop our members got a vast portion of knowledge about conflict management methods, illustrated with real life examples. The attendees could share their own cases, talk about challenges they need to overcome, and ask for advice.

“Find your way” with Sophie Alcorn

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On 09/26 PPWSV organized a workshop “Find your way”. The special guest and co-host of this meeting was Sophie Alcorn. Sophie is recognized as a Certified Specialist Attorney in Immigration and National Law, by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. The event was held at Sophie Alcorn’s Law Firm. During the meeting Sophie shared her story, telling the attendees how she overcame challenges on her career path. The meeting was a mix of individual speech, group discussion, exercises in small groups, creative games and a networking session.

CafeKind Career Coaching and Networking event

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On 8/26/2019 PPWSV took part in the CafeKind Career Coaching and Networking event.

The event was addressed to anyone who is going to change his or her career path. There was an opportunity to talk with professional recruiters, coaches, and trainers who will helped to translate current skills, knowledge and experiences into a business environment. During the workshop part, attendees worked in small groups and helped each other to craft their unique edge and personal story by identifying their strengths.

“Team Roles” workshop

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On 6/29/2019 PPWSV in conjunction with Projektantki Sukcesu hosted a “Team Roles” workshop in Walnut Creek, CA. The workshop was lead by international guest speaker Marta Osuch. Marta is a business coach, HR specialist, and psychologist amongst many other skills. During the workshop our members were introduced to the Belbin Team Role theory. They took the Belbin Team Inventory behavioral test to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to understand the value they bring to their teams and workplace. 

Polish Investment and Innovation Summit in Menlo Park 2019

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On June 17, 2019 in Menlo Park, California PPWSV took part in a meeting „Polish – US Investment and Innovation Summit”.

The event was held by Polish Investment and Trade Agency PFR Group.

How to Build Your Network

& Advance Your Career on LinkedIn

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On 5/30/2019 PPWSV attended a private career advancement workshop titled “How to Build Your Network & Advance Your Career on LinkedIn”. The workshop took place at the LinkedIn headquarters in San Francisco, CA. It was hosted by one of our members Monika Burzyńska-Evje. 

Workshop with Tatiana Mindewicz-Puacz

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On 5/23/2019 PPWSV hosted a personal growth workshop
with a guest speaker Tatiana Mindewicz-Puacz. Tatiana is
a certified coach, psychotherapist and a mentor on the TV show “Projekt Lady” in Poland. The main focus of the workshop was
on how to believe in yourself and unleash your potential. Attendees learned how to analyze key events from their past
in order to understand their unconscious behaviors and develop confidence moving forward. 

Women Impact Tech Conference 

On 3/5/2019 PPWSV joined an exclusive networking event Women Impact Tech (WIT) that aligned top 500 women Engineers with 

Top Tech Companies who are committed to inclusion and innovation such as Oracle, Lyft, StubHub, Uber, Pinterest and more. 

MEETING with a Guest Speaker: Bianka Siwinska

On 3/3/2019 PPWSV had the pleasure to host guest speaker Dr Bianka Siwinska.

Our main topic of the meeting concentrated on Mentorship. Dr. Bianka Siwinska is a journalist, scientist, initiator of public campaigns, executive director of Educational Foundation “Perspektywy.” She is editor-in-chief of educational magazine Perspektywy, correspondent of University World News. She is also an initiator of a public campaign „Girls to Technical Schools” and Start-up Academy for female students of technical and exact sciences studies, as well as projects: “Lean in STEM,”, “IT for SHE,” “Girls Learn!”, and „New technologies for girls” scholarships (in cooperation with Intel). She is a coordinator of the program “Study in Poland” conducted by the Conference of Polish Academic Rectors and the Educational Foundation “Perspektywy” and expert of World Bank in Tajikistan.

1st PPWSV KICK OFF MEETING

at Studio Roeper

MEETING WITH ANNA BUREK at Palace

GIRLS GEEK X Dinner

at Grand Rounds
 

STUDY VISIT: ANOVA CULINARY

THE FIRST MEETING OF PPWSV