Summary and pictures from the Slovak PRO Summit 2024
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We’ve just concluded our biggest event yet - the Slovak PRO Summit 2024. We invited 100 of the most accomplished and active Slovak professionals to NYC for two days of inspiration, learning, and, most importantly, building relationships that will shape the future of our community and of Slovakia.
The theme of the Summit was “From Goals to Greatness: Celebrating Slovak Success and Giving Back”. Our goal was to create a platform where our leaders could exchange ideas, collaborate, and form meaningful connections. These interactions will undoubtedly lead to new partnerships, businesses, and innovative solutions that strengthen our ties to both the U.S. and Slovakia.
The Summit started with a keynote by Marian Gaborik, Slovak hockey legend and former New York Ranger, who inspired attendees with his discussion about his hard work to become one of the most successful Slovak hockey players.
TedX-style talks provided our guests with inspiration about space research, AI, and Slovak civic society. Dominika Ďurovčíková , an astronomer at MIT, delved into the mysteries of the universe with her talk titled Looking Up from Slovakia to the Beginning of the Universe. Maria Bielikova, CEO of the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, shared her insights on how AI can transform Slovakia, and Martina Kolesarova, Executive Director of the Nadácia Pontis, explored the importance of civic engagement in shaping Slovakia’s civil society.
Dado Slezak and Jakub Jurovych shared their experiences on navigating the U.S. business landscape in a panel discussion titled Achieving Business Success in America. In a second panel, Barbara Pivnicka, Sabina Sabados, Joe Seliga, and Michal Simkovic, talked about the importance of giving back to our communities and to Slovakia.
Lubos Pastor, Professor at the University of Chicago and Board Member at Vanguard, engaged in a fireside chat about how Slovak professionals and experts abroad can make a meaningful impact on Slovakia’s future.
We are proud that for a second year, the Slovak PRO Summit was attended by the President of Slovakia. We are grateful that Peter Pellegrini joined us for a formal discussion about the engagement of our community to help Slovakia. We talked about brain drain, including Slovak professionals abroad in the creation of a long term vision of Slovakia, and how to increase participation of Slovaks abroad in Slovakia’s democracy. Most importantly, we were promised deeper cooperation and support for our activities.
Ultimately, the greatest value of this Summit came from networking and strengthening our relationships with each other: from the pre-event networking evening sponsored by Mayer Brown LLP and Friends of Slovakia, to informal discussions during breaks, to the evening social at Bohemian Spirit Restaurant sponsored by the Slovak-American Cultural Center. These relationships will evolve into deeper partnerships, creating opportunities that will benefit both our local communities and Slovakia.
What’s next for Slovak PRO - Slovak Professionals?
We have built a strong, engaged community of Slovak professionals eager to contribute to Slovakia’s progress. We are going to continue growing our community in the U.S. and expand into even more new cities in 2025. We will continue to provide platforms for Slovak professionals to connect, collaborate, and advance their careers, while helping shape the future of Slovakia.
We are very thankful that we were able to co-organize the Summit with the Slovenský generálny konzulát v New Yorku / Slovak Consulate General in NY. Thank you to Milan Vrbovsky and the whole team at the consulate for working with our team to make this Summit a reality.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our Summit sponsors—the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, the Consulate General of Slovakia in New York, Friends of Slovakia, Mayer Brown LLP, Slovak-American Cultural Center, the First Catholic Slovak Union, and Talent Square—for their generous support in making this event a tremendous success.
Thank you to our dedicated team of Slovak PRO leaders that worked hard to make this Summit successful, and who lead our community across 7 US cities.
Viac informácií:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/SAFD4Woz3a9wVswL/
