Dr. Jacek Strzemieczny

During the communist era in Poland, Jacek Strzemieczny was involved in a number of underground activities, including the creation of several independent educational institutions. After the collapse of communism in 1989, he took on a leadership position at the Ministry of Education. In 1994, he co-founded the Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej (CEO – Center for Citizenship Education) and became its President. In 1997 he became a Fellow of Ashoka Innovators for the Public. Since 2000 he has been Director of the Szkoła Ucząca Się (Learning Schools Project), a project run by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the Center for Citizenship Education. 

He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum in 2001.  In 2006, he received the first Penn Kemble Award for his accomplishments in civic education. Under Dr. Jacek Strzemieczny’s leadership, the Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej has grown into a reputable NGO, with a capacity to implement projects on a national scale. The CEO cooperates with Poland’s Ministry of Education to implement educational reform, which includes: changes in teaching and assessment methods, a wider use of inquiry and project-based learning, formative assessment, and projects for students’ civic engagement.