Congratulations to The Piast Institute’s Top 25 Polish American Leaders in 2025!

For the first time, the Piast Institute honors Top 25 leaders of the American – Polish community in the Detroit metropolitan area. These honorees have made lasting impacts in fields such as business, education, philanthropy, public service, and the arts.

The nominees had to be living Michigan residents of Polish descent, over the age of 21, and were selected by an anonymous committee. Their contributions range from representing Polish organizations, promoting events, legal advocacy, scouting, organizing Polish language testing, and even traditional folk costume craftsmanship.

Below we publish a very good speech of the Honorary Polish Consulate in Detroit, Richard Walawender, who was also recognized.

Piast Institute Event – June 1, 2025

I would like to sincerely congratulate all the award recipients on receiving this honor and thank them for their dedication and leadership in promoting their Polish heritage.

I also want to thank Virginia and the Piast Institute for putting on this wonderful event. This is very important work. We don’t do enough to thank and recognize the achievements in our Polonia, and what the Piast Institute is doing is invaluable.

I was reflecting on why is it that people of Polish ancestry, whether living in the U.S., Poland or other parts of the world, tend to be more connected with and celebrate Polish traditions and hang on to and remember their Polish heritage, much more than almost all other ethnic groups.

Why is it that there have been and still are so many active Polish dancing groups, scouting troops, fraternal organizations, churches, institutes, festivals and cultural centers? And it’s not just the recent immigrants from Poland who are active. Actually, it’s the second, third and even fourth generation Polish Americans that most openly and publicly celebrate their Polish heritage.

So why is it that the Polish identity is so strong among the Polish diaspora – which we call Polonia? Why is it that we all know and are sure to remind the rest of society that St. Pope John Paul II, Lech Wałęsa, Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Nicolas Copernicus, Frederic Chopin, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Kazimierz Pulaski are Polish heroes? As well as all the Polish-American athletes honored at the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

Well, I think it has to do with Polish history and how we were all instilled with it as we were brought up. As you all know, the Polish nation has been under attack and subjugated and partitioned by other empires throughout its history – whether it be the Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Germans or Soviet Union. The Polish people have a strong survivalist instinct, which has kept alive Polish culture and language even in the times that the country of Poland was suppressed.

So Polish people, whether they lived in Poland or moved to the U.S. or other countries, kept the mission alive – to ensure that Poland and Polishness not only survive but become stronger. And that is why, today, the Polish government also does a lot to assist Polonia, even providing funding, to support Polonia throughout the world, and to assist Polonia in preserving Polish culture, heritage and language outside of Poland. You don’t see other governments doing that.

In conclusion, that’s what leaders in the Polish community do – working to pass down this beautiful, rich Polish culture and tradition. And that’s why we congratulate those Polish leaders today and in the future. We must keep this up. With so many more Polish-Americans to recognize, I hope the Piast Institute makes this a regular event.

Na zakończenie chciałbym jeszcze raz pogratulować wszystkim laureatom tego zasłużonego wyróżnienia. Ufam, że nadal Państwo będziecie źródłem dumy i inspiracji dla naszej Polonii.

Richard Walawender

The recognition event occurred on Sunday, June 1st. at the Century Banquet Center in Sterling Heights, MI, where the community gathered to celebrate Piast Institiut Leaders in 2025: