Pulaski is credited with saving Washington’s life at the Battle of Brandywine. As the British closed in on the Americans, Pulaski gathered a small group and led a charge that disrupted the British enough to enable the safe retreat of Washington’s forces.

Kazimierz Pulaski

George Washington established his preeminence among the Founding Fathers as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Following his two terms as the first President of the United States, he was rightfully known as “Father of His Country”.

George Washington

At the Battle of Saratoga, Kosciuszko established artillery batteries on a ridge with overlapping circles of fire that pounded the British below. The defeat of the British at Saratoga convinced the French to join the Americans, which became a turning point in the war.

Tadeusz Kosciuszko

About PASI EDU

Polish American Strategic Initiative Educational Organization

PASI EDU is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating the American public and others by providing accurate information about Polish and Polish-American history, culture, and relevant current events.

Our Vision

Our nonprofit education organization exists so that Americans and others have an accurate knowledge of key aspects of Polish and Polish-American history, culture, and relevant current events.

Our Mission

To educate Americans and others accurately on key aspects of Polish and Polish-American history, culture, and relevant current events with our educational products and services and in partnership with Polish-American and other organizations.

Our Core Values

  1. Integrity. PASI EDU presents educational information honestly and impartially.
  2. Accuracy. PASI EDU presents educational information accurately and corrects the inaccuracies of other sources.
  3. Partnership. PASI EDU partners with Polish Americans and others to achieve shared education goals.
  4. Community Service. PASI EDU empowers the Polish-American community and other groups by delivering factual information on Polish history, culture, and relevant current events.

Leadership

Our Board of Directors is committed to providing sound governance, judicious fiduciary oversight, and competent strategic direction. We are dedicated to carrying out our educational mission, upholding the public's trust, and informing our community with information that is factual, relevant, compelling, and often absent in public school curricula and popular historical literature.

Gene Sokolowski

President

Dr. Gene Sokolowski grew up in Connecticut and began his first life as a career Air Force Information Systems Officer. Following military retirement, he worked as a Systems Analyst with Northrop Grumman and then as a Telecommunications Specialist for the Federal Government’s General Services Administration. Now fully retired, Gene is committed to addressing misinformation about Poland and its people that recurrently appears in various public sources.

David Blatt

Vice President

David L. Blatt, is a staunch Polish patriot and very passionate about the work of PASI EDU in helping to make Poland and its historical experience known in the world. A holder of advanced degrees in History and Organizational Leadership, David makes his home in Chicago where he works in healthcare and shares a home with his wife, a college age son, and a brand-new puppy named Walter.

Margaret Niznikiewicz

Secretary

Margaret Niznikiewicz, native of Poland, emigrated to the US where she resides. She taught English and was a translator in Poland, in the US trained as a psychologist and neuroscientist. Hobbies include cooking and sampling dishes from different culinary traditions, as well as history.

Suzanne Mazurczyk

Treasurer

Suzanne Mazurczyk brings her background in Sociology/Anthropology as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration to PASI EDU. She studied at the Jagiellonian University in Poland where Krakow felt like her second home.

Susan Gorga

Cultural Coordinator


Susan Gorga started her teaching career at the University at Albany thirty years ago after having been in the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Poland. She has an advanced degrees in Applied Linguistics and Political Science and is actively involved in several organizations trying to strengthen and unite Polonia.  She lives in upstate New York and is always looking for the next adventure.

Accomplishments

PASI EDU continues to carry out its mission of educating Americans accurately on key aspects of Polish and Polish-American history, culture, and relevant current events. In addition to presenting educational information accurately, we correct the inaccuracies that other sources present about Poland and the Polish people. Outlined below are some of the actions that PASI EDU has accomplished in carrying out our mission.

Corrected untrue and inflammatory content on the website of the North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction that falsely portrayed Poles under German occupation in World War II.

Formally identified and submitted to the Virginia Board of Education, Virginia Secretary of Education, Virginia State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Virginia Department of Education the inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and material omissions about Poland in the 2015 and 2023 Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science.

Together with our partner organization, the Polish American Strategic Initiative (PASI), initiated a campaign that formally explained to Congress by letter with over 200 signatures of Polish American organizations and individuals why the comic book MAUS was indisputably inappropriate for public-school classrooms.

Together with PASI, educated Members of the House of Representatives by formally presenting to them a House Resolution requiring Germany to provide comprehensive compensation to Poland for the unprecedented death and destruction inflicted on Poland and its people during World War II, 1939-1945.

Educated Polish American community members on the lawsuit filed by PASI EDU and PASI to preserve the Katyn Monument in Jersey City, New Jersey. The lawsuit seeks redress from commercial developers who seized public land on which the Monument stands and completed construction that severely obstructs the space surrounding the Monument and drastically limits the number of participants in Katyn commemorations.

Educated the Polish American community on how the Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act unjustly reduced the Social Security pensions of Polish Americans who earned a Polish pension. Led the Polish American community in successfully repealing this penalty by helping get HR 82, Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, signed into law.

Continually educating viewers through our PASI EDU website on Polish and Polish American history, scientific successes, arts and culture, Polish-Jewish relations, distortions and falsehoods, recommended reading, recommended videos, and lesson plan educational content.