AJC Announces Associate Director of Warsaw-based Central Europe Office

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Agnieszka Markiewicz has been named associate director of the newly-established Shapiro-Silverberg AJC Central Europe Office.

AJC Central Europe, the global advocacy organization's fifth post in Europe, will be based in Warsaw, Poland, and will focus on seven countries – the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia. It was made possible by the generosity of John Shapiro, AJC's President, and his wife, Dr. Shonni Silverberg. Earlier this month, AJC announced the appointment of Ambassador Elena Poptodorova as director of AJC Central Europe.

"By establishing its Central Europe office, AJC is making an important statement about its strong commitment to building relations with governments, civil society and local communities in a region rich in Jewish heritage," said Markiewicz. "The history of overthrowing communism and rebuilding democracy provides important opportunities for engaging Central European countries and fostering greater understanding of and relationships with Jewish communities and Israel."

Markiewicz, a native of Poland, comes to AJC after a career focused on deepening understanding and expanding relations between Poles and American Jews and Israel.

For the last eight years, Markiewicz served as Director of External Relations at Forum for Dialogue, a Warsaw-based NGO focusing on Polish-Jewish dialogue and reconciliation. AJC, together with the Forum, have partnered in a pioneering exchange program, launched in 1995, between Poles and American Jews.

"I am delighted that Agnieszka is joining with Ambassador Poptodorova in leading our newest initiative in Europe," said AJC Chief Executive Officer David Harris. "Our Warsaw-based team has the experience to deepen our longstanding engagement with a region that offers so much hope and promise in the world today."

Before the Forum she worked at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a Polish governmental institution for promoting Polish culture around the world. She led the institute's "Polish Year in Israel" initiative.  She also has co-organized the Gniezno Convention, the largest multi-religious conference on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Poland.  

A graduate of the University of Warsaw, she speaks Polish, English, and French.

"Becoming part of AJC is also very emotional for me on a personal level, as my family history - and that's not unusual for Poland - is so intertwined with the whole complexity of the history that we all share," Markiewicz said.

AJC's other European offices are in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, and Rome. AJC Europe, based in Paris, is directed by Simone Rodan-Benzaquen. The global Jewish advocacy organization has five additional international posts in South America, Asia, and the Middle East, and maintains 22 Regional Offices across the U.S., as well as 32 partnership agreements with Jewish communities around the globe.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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