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THE FOUNDERS

MAŁGORZATA ZARZYCKA

Business advisor, strategist, and founder of Luminaris Art. With over two decades of experience in business, she supports entrepreneurs and organizations in building effective operating models, managing change, and creating long-term development strategies. She specializes in combining a business perspective with social needs, particularly within the Canadian Polish community, for whom she develops solutions that deliver lasting and measurable results.

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WOJCIECH GAWENDA

Director, writer, and scriptwriter. He graduated from the Theatre Studio affiliated with the Kraków-based “STU” Theatre. For over 30 years, he has co-led the Toronto-based cabaret “Pod Bańką.” With the cabaret, he has performed across Canada, the United States, and Poland, where he received the Journalists’ Award at the Actor’s Cabaret Performance Review “Przewałka 2000.”

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MAŁGORZATA ZARZYCKA

She is actively involved in the Canada–Poland Chamber of Commerce, supporting the development of economic relations between Poland and Canada and fostering cooperation between business communities in both countries.

As an immigrant from Poland, she is deeply engaged in the life of the Polish community in Canada. For many years, she collaborated with the Canadian cabaret Pod Bańką, through which she met numerous artists and discovered a profound passion for culture and the performing arts. Her natural sensitivity, creativity, and openness allowed her to transform this experience into creating spaces for cultural events, social initiatives, and charitable activities that are vital to the Polish diaspora.

In founding Luminaris Art, she was guided by the belief that experience gained in the business sector can become a powerful tool for real and positive social change. As the founder, she is responsible for defining the foundation’s statutory goals, building its organizational structure, and overseeing its assets. Her business expertise supports the creation of stable financial foundations and professional operational standards—essential for implementing educational, cultural, and innovation-driven initiatives.

As a board member, she serves as a leader and strategist, using her analytical skills to design development programs, build partnerships, and grow long-term social projects. Her work is grounded in transparency, responsibility, and effectiveness—values shaped by both her extensive business practice and her personal mission to support the Polish community.

She is driven by a strong sense of social responsibility and a desire to give deeper meaning to her work. She finds fulfillment in seeing the foundation’s tangible impact on individuals and communities it serves. She believes that combining business expertise with social engagement is one of the most effective paths to creating lasting, positive change in any community.

In her private life, she is a devoted animal lover and cannot imagine her daily life without her dog, who brings her joy, balance, and peace.

WOJCIECH GAWENDA

He has appeared on TVP2 in Kabaretowy Klub Dwójki and performed in dozens of concerts, including at the Congress Hall in Warsaw, the Kwadrat Theatre in Warsaw, and Kraków’s legendary Piwnica pod Baranami.
 The cabaret Pod Bańką is the only Polish cabaret in history to have performed at an official Gala Concert during the Olympic Games (Vancouver 2010).

He is the creator, organizer, and master of ceremonies of the Polonia Cabaret Festivals, held annually in Toronto for 20 years. He is also a co-founder of Mavo Academy of Arts & Music, which he led for 15 years, educating an entire generation of young artists—children born into Polish families in Canada—several of whom later became permanent members of Pod Bańką.

Between 2002 and 2003, he served as General Manager and Artistic & Programming Director of a Polish television studio in Toronto. He was awarded the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” Medal by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage. In 2022, he was honored in the Polonia Personality of the Year plebiscite, organized by the Italian Polonia under the patronage of the Polish Parliament and Senate, recognizing distinguished members of Polish communities worldwide.