Maciek Bator

For Your Freedom & Ours

Founder

About Maciek Bator

Maciek is the founder and project coordinator for the For Your Freedom & Ours CIC, a social enterprise that designs and provides shared history programmes using creative forms of education and storytelling. He is responsible for designing and delivering interactive bespoke and accredited educational programmes combining historical events with a modern learning approach to foster a wider understanding of shared history and to celebrate positive relations between communities, focusing mainly on the history of the Polish Airmen in the Second World War who were based in Northern Ireland during that period.

He is an independent facilitator/training provider focusing mainly on the subjects of integration, inclusion and diversity, with elements of myth and prejudice busting. Maciek delivers authentic Polish culture diversity educational programmes.

Maciek was also co-founder of CRAICNI social enterprise, which specialises in delivering training and educational programmes focusing on race relations, ethnicity, diversity and inclusion, and between 2014 and 2017. He is also a fellow of the Start Up Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Programme in London and graduated from this programme in November 2016 and participated in the Meridian Leadership Programme by Common Purpose.

An alumnus of the Boston College Irish Institute leadership programme, supported by the US State Department in “Inclusive Politics”. In 2009 Maciek also graduated from the leadership programme, School of Leaders Association – Young Polish Diaspora Leadership programme supported by the Senate of the Republic of Poland.

In March 2008, Maciek was nominated to become a personal advisor of the Polish President of the Senate and was responsible for European Union migration issues. He co-founded the Polish Association Northern Ireland, the first fully professional Polish organisation in Northern Ireland, which focused on Polish migrants' issues. The organisation was in operation from 2006 until the end of 2012. During that period, he was involved in educating the local community about Poland, the Polish community and Polish culture through delivering authentic cultural experience workshops.