The nominees for the Sustainable Finance Rising Star category have been announced – POLSIF Awards 2026

The POLSIF Awards analytical teams have completed their evaluation of the entries submitted for this year's edition. Based on this, the Sustainable Investment Forum Poland is announcing the list of ten nominees in the category of Sustainable Finance Rising Star.

Nominees (in alphabetical order)

Marta Biernacka - mBank

Joanna Borowska - PKO BP

Natalia Kot - PKO BP

Katarzyna Kowalska - PKO BP

Paweł Makuch - Abris Capital Partners

Maciej Orczyk - Artha Consulting Network

Jadwiga Pisarska - BNP Paribas Bank Polska

Agata Wacław - BGK

Edyta Wojciechowska-Kurek - BGK

Filip Wójcik - BIK

About the category

The Sustainable Finance Rising Star award recognizes individuals under the age of 35 who demonstrate exceptional commitment to advancing sustainable finance in Poland through professional activities, projects, initiatives, or research that create a tangible, positive impact on the financial market. Both self-nominations and external nominations are accepted in this category.

How the evaluation process worked

In accordance with the Competition Rules, entries are evaluated in two stages. The first stage, which has just concluded, involved a formal verification and a scoring analysis conducted by the analytical team. In the Rising Star category, analysts evaluated the candidates' professional activities, projects, initiatives, and research, as well as their measurable impact on the Polish financial market.

The second stage consists of a substantive evaluation by the Competition Jury, which will begin its work in the coming days. The Jury consists of 7 to 15 members—experts in ESG, finance, law, and academia, as well as representatives of the Competition partners—and makes decisions by a majority vote. Jury members are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the evaluation if any are identified. The Jury's decisions are final.

What's next

The winners will be announced during a gala ceremony on September 17, 2026, at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, held in conjunction with the 3rd POLSIF Sustainable Finance Forum. Winners will be entitled to use their award titles for a period of 12 months.

In addition to the Rising Star category, awards will be presented for the best sustainability-linked financing, the best sustainable financing other than SL, the best investment fund pursuing sustainable development goals, as well as the POLSIF Sustainable Finance Research Award and a Special Award.

Congratulations to all the nominees – being included in this group is an honor in itself.

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