Piast Institute

The Piast Institute is a national research center devoted to Polish and Polish American affairs. It is also one of forty-eight United States Census Bureau Information Centers (CIC) and one of two located in Michigan. It is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

The Piast Institute develops conferences, seminars, data publications, public programs, lectures, and exhibits that provide accurate information about Poland, Poles, and Polish Americans. It also has a special interest in the role of Ethnicity in American Life.

In 2007 the Piast Institute created the Hamtramck Drug Free Community Coalition (HDFCC) in response to rising rates of substance abuse among Hamtramck youth. The coalition has grown since then to include many active community leaders from all areas of the city.

With its resources and its position as a Census Information Center, the Piast Institute acts as a data resource center helping business and community groups develop policy papers and historical, cultural, political, economic, social and demographic studies on a wide variety of topics. The Institute works to implement environmental and policy changes within its community. 

The Institute was founded in 2003 by the late Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski, a celebrated historian, writer and academic, and Ms. Virginia Skrzyniarz, an accomplished executive serving non-profit organizations in various capacities for over thirty years.

Ms. Skrzyniarz was appointed the CEO by the Piast Board of Directors in 2018.