Jerzy Pomianowski took the leadership of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) after two years as Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland. In this most recent position, he coordinated among others the Polish Foreign Policy democratization agenda, which included the establishment of the EED, a flagship initiative of the Polish EU Presidency in 2011.
As the director of OECD-UNDP’s Partnership for Democratic Governance (2008-2011), Pomianowski supported countries destabilised by armed conflict or natural disasters. This followed his launch of Poland Aid (2006-08) and work as Director General of the Polish Foreign Service (2005-06).
Pomianowski began his career as a civil servant in 1990, just after the fall of communism, first in the Ministry of Education, and then in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After being in charge of Poland’s relations with Asia, Middle East and Africa, he was Ambassador to Japan from 1997-2002.
From 1980-89, Pomianowski was an active member of the democratic opposition in Poland. He was a board member of the Independent Students’ Association and co-founder of the students’ independent publishing house during his Sociology studies at University of Warsaw.