Speakers

President of the National Property Resource (Krajowy Zasób Nieruchomości – KZN). 

A native of Gorlice, legal counsel, and graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Former Deputy Mayor of the City of Gorlice. Before joining public administration, he gained professional experience by managing entities operating in the healthcare sector and working in a law firm. 

As of 3 January 2024, Acting President of the National Property Resource; since 25 June 2024, President of the National Property Resource.

Deputy Mayor of Bytom. Magdalena Górak has been involved in local government since 2015. She began her career at Bytomskie Mieszkania (Bytom Housing Authority), where she managed one of the most complex departments, responsible, among other things, for compensation related to the failure to provide social housing following eviction orders, allocation of social housing units for homeless and disabled persons, and the recovery of paid compensation. 

In July 2022, she was appointed Director of Bytomskie Mieszkania, and on 1 July 2024 she became the Third Deputy Mayor of Bytom. She is responsible, among other areas, for social and housing policy, municipal waste management, and heritage protection. 

A lifelong resident of Bytom, Magdalena Górak graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Silesia. She describes herself as a local patriot, a devoted sports fan, and an enthusiast of volleyball and football.

City of Dąbrowa Górnicza, Head of the Housing Policy Department – Dąbrowa Górnicza City Hall. 

Since 2019, he has overseen the implementation of the Municipal Housing Policy of Dąbrowa Górnicza for 2018–2027. He supervises the activities of the municipal budget unit responsible for managing the city’s housing stock. He effectively designs, develops, and implements housing projects aimed at meeting the housing needs of the local community. 

He holds a degree from the Faculty of Social Policy at the University of Silesia in Katowice and an MBA. 

Krzysztof Hołyński has extensive experience in supporting civil society and advisory organizations. He has in-depth knowledge of local NGO challenges gained both as the head of the Non-Governmental Organization Centre in Katowice—home to over 100 NGOs—and as an active member and expert within the sector. 

As a trainer and advisor for NGOs, he has delivered over 220 days of training, primarily in areas such as fundraising, financial management, strategy development, and the use of new technologies. In parallel, he has provided more than 3,000 hours of consulting on legal and organizational issues, cross-sector cooperation, community animation, and funding acquisition. 

He brings over 20 years of experience in civic engagement, NGO support, and intersectoral collaboration. His public roles include membership in numerous dialogue and advisory bodies, such as: County Public Benefit Council of Katowice (2015–2017, 2020–present), National Public Benefit Council, Ministerial Group on Participation and Civic Dialogue, Steering and Monitoring Committee of the Government Program for the Development of Civil Organizations, Monitoring Committee of the “European Funds for Silesia 2021–2027” program (including Vice-Chair of the Partnership Group). 

He is also President of the MOST Association, Vice-President of the National Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations (OFOP), President of the Silesian Forum of NGOs KAFOS, and a Board Member of the Silesian Third Sector Network.

A graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology. Since 2024, he has served as the President of the Polish Gypsum Association. He actively participates in consultations on new legislation, particularly in the areas of building energy efficiency and sustainable construction. He conducts numerous training sessions and frequently appears at conferences as a speaker and panelist. He is an active advocate for promoting sustainable development in Polish architecture and construction. 

He collaborates with several universities in Poland and is a member of multiple Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN) technical committees. He is the author and co-author of over 70 professional guides and publications dedicated to improving the quality of construction in Poland. 

Economist at the Institute for Structural Research (IBS), PhD in economics. Her research focuses on the economic and social aspects of the energy transition, with particular emphasis on energy poverty, support for vulnerable groups, and reducing social inequalities in the shift toward a low-carbon economy. She has carried out research projects funded by the European Commission, the National Science Centre (NCN), the World Bank, the European Climate Foundation, and the European Climate Initiative, as well as initiatives supporting the activities of local governments.

Director of the Department of Infrastructure Programmes at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, which serves as the Managing Authority for the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, and Environment Programme. 

He graduated with distinction from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at the University of Warsaw (2000). His entire professional career has been devoted to working in central public administration. 

Since 2000, he has been involved in the preparation and implementation of strategic and programming documents for regional and cohesion policy across four consecutive EU financial perspectives. From 2006, he served as Deputy Director in the Managing Authority for the Infrastructure and Environment Programme, where he was responsible for programming and the use of EU funds in the fields of energy, culture, healthcare, and higher education. 

Since 2016, he has been the Director of the Department acting as the Managing Authority for the Infrastructure and Environment Programme 2014–2020 and the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, and Environment Programme. He is responsible for the programming and implementation of the entire operational programme, as well as the Connecting Europe Facility and the Social Climate Fund. 

He is the author of numerous articles and publications on structural and Cohesion Fund issues related to transport, energy, and urban regeneration infrastructure.

On 4 January 2024, she was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy of the Republic of Poland. 

From 2019 to 2023, she served as an advisor in the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg, where she worked with the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. In 2022, she was awarded the title of Best Accredited Assistant in the European Parliament. 

In 2017–2018, she worked in the Press Department at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London, and between 2013–2017 she was employed at the consulting firm Landmark Public Affairs in Brussels. 

From 2021 to 2023, she served as a board member of the Institute for Democratic Thought Foundation. 

In 2022–2023, she represented Poland in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a transatlantic leadership development program organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. 

She holds degrees from the London School of Economics, the College of Europe in Bruges, and the Polish Institute of International Affairs’ Postgraduate School of Foreign Policy. 

She speaks English, French, and Spanish, and comes from Katowice.

Co-founder and president of the Polish National Federation for Solving the Problem of Homelessness, representative of Poland and former vice-president of the European Federation of National Organisations Working with Homeless People (FEANTSA), co-chair of the Expert Committee on Combating Homelessness of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, member of the Workgroup for Reform of the Social Assistance System at the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, member of the Council for Public Benefit Activities. For 20 years involved in combating homelessness in Poland, originally as an employee of the St. Brother Albert Aid Society in Zabrze and Wrocław, also a long-standing member of the association's governing bodies. Coordinator of projects aimed at supporting people in crisis in overcoming homelessness and advocating for their rights, as well as promoting the issue of homelessness and good practices in solving it. Animator of cooperation in the non-governmental sector.

Director of the Lena Grochowska Foundation and founder of “toMy” artistic handicraft workshop, which employs people with disabilities. At the Foundation, she also develops a supported housing program for socially excluded individuals. With over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, she has developed and led numerous social and cultural initiatives. She specializes in designing impactful projects and securing both national and EU funding for their implementation. She is actively involved in national policy development as a member of expert teams on Social Inclusion Strategy and the Social Integration Programme at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland.