At a Glance
Location: Wrocław, Poland
Impact Areas: Employment Generation, Job Placement
People Supported:
Youth, Migrants and Refugees
NESsT Program: Central & Eastern Europe Accelerator
Joined NESsT Portfolio:
2025
Overview
Women and children now make up 90% of the refugees in Poland, and by the 2024–2025 academic year, there more than 195,000 Ukrainian children registered in Polish schools and kindergartens, the highest figure since the onset of the crisis. Despite this, many migrant families in Poland face barriers such as unequal access to education, limited support for learning the language, and schools that are not fully prepared to meet the needs of a diverse student population.
Future Leaders Project (“FLP”) was founded by Ruslan Syvoplias, who migrated from Ukraine to Poland following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Recognizing the challenges faced by migrant and refugee families, particularly in accessing quality education, Ruslan launched FLP to create inclusive early-education centers that support integration and cultural exchange among young children and their families.
FLP’s preschools and nurseries cater predominantly to children from Ukrainian refugee families, but also welcome those from other migrant backgrounds, such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia.
By offering bilingual education and culturally-responsive classes, FLP helps children newly arrived in Poland to overcome language difficulties, such as struggling to understand lessons and communicate with their teachers and classmates, while supporting them to adjust more easily to an unfamiliar school environment.
This not only prevents young children from falling behind academically because of language gaps, but also fosters a sense of belonging and counteracts the social isolation that refugee and migrant children often face.
FLP’s teachers, who are migrants themselves, serve as cultural bridges, ensuring sensitive, personalized support for each child and family.
The social enterprise’s impact also extends to adult family members, actively assisting parents with procedures to legalize their employment and residence status in Poland. In 2024, more than 60 refugee family members benefited from this support.
Results & Impact
105
refugees & migrant children supported per year
50%
women in senior positions
12
excluded women employed in 2024, projected to grow to 20 by 2028
““Future Leaders Project (FLP) develops projects that combine business efficiency with a sense of social responsibility. Our priority is to create initiatives that genuinely improve the quality of life for migrant children and families, while supporting the development of strong and resilient communities.””
NESsT Investment
Founded by a Ukrainian migrant and entrepreneur, FLP supports a rapidly growing community of migrant and refugee families in Poland.
Rising real estate costs in Wrocław have led many families, including migrants and young local families, to relocate to nearby towns and cities. FLP plans to open a new education center in Krośnice, located just outside of Wrocław, where many families seek quality education. NESsT’s investment to FLP will support this expansion and renovation work to existing centers for energy efficiency, while allowing FLP to employ at least eight qualified Ukrainian teachers in dignified jobs.
Mentoring and technical support from NESsT and IKEA co-workers will focus on strengthening the enterprise’s governance and organizational structure, in addition to introducing reporting frameworks to measure and manage its social impact on local communities. NESsT will also provide targeted support in financial planning, scenario analysis, and risk management, helping FLP reduce its dependency on any single revenue stream.