A New Chapter Begins
For more than two decades, American Friends of POLIN Museum has brought together people in the United States who believe that the thousand-year history of Polish Jews must be preserved, explored, shared, and carried forward. Our mission, to foster dialogue in the spirit of mutual understanding and respect, matters even more in these turbulent times.
Over the past year, we have been asking an important question: How can American Friends best serve POLIN Museum, our donors and supporters, and the growing community in North America that cares deeply about this remarkable heritage?
Our search for an answer led us to develop a comprehensive Growth Strategy for the years ahead. On August 25, 2026, the Board of Directors took a major step forward by approving a new governance and leadership structure that puts that strategy into action. The new model strengthens American Friends of POLIN Museum as a philanthropic organization and our capacity to grow our community, develop academic and cultural partnerships, and raise substantially more support for POLIN Museum in the years ahead.
Honoring those who brought us here
First and foremost, we extend our profound gratitude to Victor Markowicz, one of the founders of American Friends and its longtime co-chair together with the late Sigmund Rolat (z"l). Victor's vision, generosity, leadership, and extraordinary commitment helped build American Friends and sustain its mission for many years. In recognition of his distinguished service, he has been named Honorary Chair of the Board for Life.
We are also grateful to the Board members who are concluding their active Board service: Samantha Asulin, Cantor Joseph Malovany, Stuart Schear and Rabbi Arthur Schneier. Each has contributed greatly to American Friends and to the cause we serve, and each will continue to be part of our community as Directors Emeriti.
Welcoming new leadership and new voices
We are delighted to welcome Ronald S. Lauder, Patron of American Friends, and Tomasz Schellenberg as members of the newly constituted Board of Directors. Together with our continuing Board members, they will help guide American Friends through this transition. The new governance model also creates a professional President position that will lead American Friends' day-to-day operations, fundraising, donor relations, programming, and implementation of the Board's strategy.
Investing in our capacity to serve POLIN Museum
Governance alone does not create transformation. Capacity does. That is why American Friends is developing a $600,000 Capacity Building Fund to provide the resources needed to recruit professional leadership and strengthen our fundraising and communications capacity. Our goal is to build an organization capable of doing substantially more for POLIN Museum and for the people in North America who care about its mission.
We invite those who believe in this next chapter to become part of it. Contributions to the Capacity Building Fund can be made online , or you may contact Rebecca Schaeffer-Moldovan in our New York office to learn more. If you would like to receive a copy of our Growth Strategy or discuss our plans for the years ahead, we would be delighted to hear from you.
With gratitude
This transformation has required an extraordinary amount of thought, discussion, and careful legal work. We are deeply grateful to Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, our longstanding pro bono legal counsel, for its exceptional guidance throughout this process. Weil's relationship with POLIN Museum goes back much further. Its Warsaw office played an instrumental role in drafting the historic public-private partnership agreement in 2005 that led to the creation of POLIN Museum. Over the years, Weil has continued to support American Friends of POLIN Museum in the United States. Today, its team have been indispensable in helping us translate our new strategy into a sound governance and legal framework.
Most importantly, we thank you — our donors, friends, partners, program participants, and supporters. We are honored to be your connection to POLIN Museum in the United States. As American Friends of POLIN Museum enters this new chapter, we want to deepen that connection, serve you better, bring more people into this remarkable community, and ensure that POLIN Museum and the thousand-year legacy it preserves continue to inspire generations to come.
A new chapter begins today. We hope you will be part of it.
NEW BOARD LEADERSHIP
Chair & Treasurer: Andrzej Rojek
Vice Chair: Roman Rewald
Secretary: Elizabeth Szancer
Board of Directors
Ronald S. Lauder, Patron of American Friends
Hilda Chazanovitz | Anita Friedman | Izabela Grocholski | Shana Penn | Irene Pletka | Tomasz Schellenberg | Jerzy Warman
Interim President (non-Board): Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
Emeritus / Emerita Directors
Victor Markowicz — Honorary Chair of the Board
Samantha Asulin | Cantor Joseph Malovany | Stuart Schear | Rabbi Arthur Schneier