Co-founder, Center for Youth Information and Development/Website Coordinator, Lublin.ngo.pl, Sempre a Frente Foundation

Mateusz co-founded the Center for Youth Information and Development in 2012. Through Meridian Social Innovation Fellowship, he would like to replicate its success across Poland, which he credits to strong working relationships with the Polish public sector, and identify new support in the private sector. He discusses his vision for the project here.

Project Summary

Serving over one thousand young people between 15 and 25 years old, the Lublin Center for Youth Education and Development (CYID) is one of few youth centers in Poland, and the only center of its kind in Lublin. Each year CYID offers free workshops and seminars, individual advising, and youth conferences with politicians and public officials. It also coordinates volunteer and exchange opportunities abroad for over 60 community members per year. Many of CYID’s successes have pivoted around the development of collaborative relationships with the municipality and the private sector. CYID seeks to develop its internal structure, widen the scale of its activities, and build stronger alliances both around Lublin and nationally.

Goals

CYID looks forward to contributing to the growth of international mobility to and from Poland, the elaboration of youth information collection and the improvement of structured dialogue between young people and decision makers. Since completing the Meridian Social Innovation Fellowship, Mateusz has evolved the scope of his project to promote greater inclusion of youth from rural communities. A “Youth Center in every village!” is his newest goal.

Achievements

In November 2015, Mateusz successfully convened 100 youth leaders with local government, NGO and higher education-reps from the region. He estimates 75% of the youth came from small rural villages outside Lublin, which parallels and reinforces the high level of interest he has seen on the ground. To date, Mat has opened two new youth information centers, one based in Lublin and the second in Niemce, a nearby village of approximately 5,000 residents. Programs at Mat’s center here are regularly seeing 40 youth for training and counseling and on occasion cannot meet all of the demand. Mat also co-authored a manual – Youth Social Competencies – which will be distributed through the centers.