Joanna Pruszyńska-Witkowska
Co-Founder
Future Collars
Joanna Pruszyńska-Witkowska is a well-known Polish entrepreneur who co-founded Future Collars - a digital platform enabling individual upskilling and retraining for technology-related positions. Born and raised in Poland, Joanna began her career in communications working as a manager at advertising agencies Leo Burnett and Havas, then founded her own PR agency, Headlines Porter Novelli, which she successfully ran for 20 years.
In 2018, Joanna and Beata Jarosz, a former member of the management board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, launched Future Collars. The company has grown significantly over the years and now operates in five markets, including the United Arab Emirates. As an official partner of Amazon Web Services, Future Collars has Orange, Amazon and Accenture among its main clients.
Joanna's work at Future Collars has been recognized by various organizations. For example, the company was recognized as one of the top 20 Polish startups by "MyCompany" magazine, "Digital Champion" by the Polish ICT organization in 2019 and "startup with social impact" by KU in 2020. EVPA also recognized Future Collars as one of the top ten social startups in Central and Eastern Europe.
Motivated by a mission to increase diversity in technology, especially the presence of women, Joanna initiated campaigns such as "Women in IT Career Day", "Woman Update" and the "Diversity in IT" scholarship fund to encourage women to pursue careers in the IT industry. She has received many awards for her work, including was listed by Forbes as one of the "100 Most Powerful Women in Poland" and won the "Businesswoman of the Year" award in 2022 by "Sukces Pisany Szminką". She has also been listed as one of the "Most Influential Women" by several Polish magazines.
Joanna graduated in liberal arts from Concordia University. She currently lives in Warsaw with her husband and four children. Her inspiring work at Future Collars continues to create opportunities and empower individuals, especially women, to pursue careers in the tech industry.