Biography

Prof. Katarzyna Pisarska is a Polish civic activist, scholar and an expert in international security. She is the Founder of the European Academy of Diplomacy (2004) and Co-Founder of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation (2005), the Warsaw Security Forum (2014) and the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (2022). Since 2024 she is also the Head of the Advisory Council to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Parliament.

In addition to her social entrepreneur work, Prof. Pisarska pursues a career in academia. She is Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics and a CPD Faculty Fellow at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Previously, Prof. Pisarska was a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (2007), a Visiting Scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (2010), at the Australian National University (2015), at the University of Southern California (2019) and at the University of Malaga (2022/2023).

She specializes in EU foreign policy, Eastern Partnership, EU-Russia relations, and public diplomacy, among others having authored the monograph “The Domestic Dimension of Public Diplomacy – Evaluating Success through Civil Engagement” (Palgrave 2016).

In 2025 Prof. Pisarska was a co-screenwriter and main protagonist of the international documentary series “Dancing with the Russian Bear“.

For her leadership accomplishments, Prof. Pisarska has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (2014) and a Munich Young Leader by the Munich Security Conference (2021). She has also received the Order of Merit from the President of Ukraine (2025).

Privately

Privately, I am a busy mom of two wonderful kids and the wife of Zbigniew Pisarski, President of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation in Warsaw. Together with my husband we work, raise our children and whenever possible back-pack around the world (we have visited more than 70 countries already and counting).

Mountains are our greatest passion. We have travelled through Karakorum, the Himalayas, reached Kilimanjaro and wandered deep into Siberia & Alborz Range in Iran. With our daughter and son we are currently working on reaching the “Crown of Polish Mountains” – 28 peaks- the highest one of each mountain range in Poland.

Mountain trekking reveals a lot about people- it tells a story of our strengths & weaknesses. Mountains have provided me with the best leadership experience & taught me about the consequences of the lack of it. They continue to inspire me to look from a more broad perspective on myself & my mission in life.