Anna co-founded Help Ukrainian People following her earlier personal efforts volunteering at the Polish-Ukrainian border with the substantial support of her friends and family. With not much more than a determination to help, an outline of a plan, and what ultimately became more than $35K in donations from friends, Anna provided essential aid at shelters in Medyka and Korczowa in March 2022 where she also met Max, a Ukrainian native operating near the Polish border who was coordinating emergency relief back into Ukraine. Together with Max, Anna was able to provide non-lethal aid destined for Ukraine.

A native of Poland and a first-generation college student, Anna attended law school at the University of Wroclaw prior to immigrating to Seattle in 2000. While still mastering English, Anna graduated from the University of Washington with honors, receiving a degree in International Studies with a concentration in International Political Economy. Anna is the majority owner of Innovare Investments, a real estate investment firm.

Appreciative of all that Seattle has provided since their arrival, in their free time, Anna’s family gives their support to their favorite communities such as Mary’s Place, Ronald McDonald House, The Forgotten Children’s Fund, and the Orion Center.

Joanna holds a B.A. from Yale, a Master of Science from the London School of Economics, and a law degree from the University of Washington. Since returning to her hometown of Seattle, Jo has been deeply involved in development, and has helped guide award winning projects to success as part of the HessCallahanGrey group. With her legal background, Jo often focuses on coordinating legal efforts on projects, while also tackling whatever challenge presents itself between building visioning and successful completion.

Joanna is active within the Seattle community serving on the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Facilities Committee and Henry Art Gallery Board. She also coaches her daughter’s Rookies Basketball team at the YMCA.

Pawel Mierzwa leads our operations in Poland. His primary responsibility includes sourcing and coordinating the delivery of supplies to people in Ukraine. Professionally, he is a Co-Founder and serves on the Board of Directors at Andea, a software company located in Krakow. Pawel has spent quite a few years living in Southern California and received his bachelor’s degree in Financial Management from the California State University, Long Beach. He now resides with his wife and two teenage sons in Mogilany, a small town on the outskirts of Krakow. An avid sportsman, Pawel loves to spend his free time playing football (when he’s not injured), running, biking and skiing.

Joy Portella is the president of Minerva Strategies, a boutique consultancy that inspires positive change though smart communications. Prior to establishing Minerva in 2012, Joy spent more than five years as director of communications at Mercy Corps where she led a team of communicators in the U.S. and Europe. Previously, Joy worked for a decade at leading communication firms – Burson-Marsteller, Ruder Finn, and SS+K – in New York and Washington, DC.

Joy holds a BA from Yale University and an MA in international economics and European studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. When she’s not working, you can find her running and biking, cooking for a crowd, traveling to all corners of the world, singing with choral ensembles, and lounging at home with her husband and feline.

Max is the founder of Immediate Medical & Evacuation Services, a non-profit that he started at the beginning of the invasion with his close friends. Based near the Polish border, Max and his team directly transport relief such as food, medicine, and non-lethal aid into Ukraine’s hardest hit areas such as Kharkiv, and extract refugees out of those same areas. Before the invasion, Max lived near Hamburg where he studied and worked as a tennis coach.