Mrs Teresa Mokrysz
She heads the MOKATE Group that encompasses a number of business units in Poland and abroad. She was the creator of the MOKATE brand, and now keeps up the business traditions of three generations of the Mokrysz family. The high regard in which she is held is evidenced by the many awards she has received, from both business and government. In 2000 she was awarded the title of "The Most Enterpreneurial Woman in the World" by the International Association of Women Entrepreneurs, and in 2005 she was decorated with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Resurrection of Poland.
Teresa Mokrysz has been connected with the Cieszyn area of Silesia from birth. It was here that she started not only her education but also her family. She completed her studies at the Katowice University of Economics with a master’s degree in economics. In the meantime she had married Kazimierz Mokrysz. She gained her first professional experience in the Land Management Department of Ustroń’s town authority. At that time her husband ran his own building materials plant, while also manufacturing salty sticks and jellies. This was the continuation of the Mokrysz family’s business traditions, consolidated over three generations.
In 1989 Teresa Mokrysz gave up her promising career as an official to take over her husband’s firm. She registered it under the name of MOKATE. Remaining faithful to the family tradition she chose a name based on her and her husband’s first names and their surname: MOkrysz - KAzimierz - TEresa. She also changed the firm’s line of business. She began with coffee creamers, and then it was time for the great adventure: cappuccino. Before long these products, previously unknown in Poland, had gained a huge market. MOKATE invested wisely. In 1995 the modern plant in Ustroń had 3,500 sq.m. of floor space, but by 1999 it had expanded to 15,000 sq.m. Today the whole MOKATE group of nine enterprises can boast production facilities and warehouses with twice that amount of space. MOKATE now exports its products to every continent.
Teresa Mokrysz has won for the company all possible prizes and awards, for both production quality and business flair. The President of Poland awarded her the Gold Cross of Merit, as well as the President’s Business Prize in 2004. Moreover the International Association of Women Entrepreneurs has awarded her the insignia and the title of “The Most Enterpreneurial Woman in the World”. For several years Teresa Mokrysz has also been active in the world of banking and finance. As a member of the Supervisory Board of BRE BANK, she is able to share her business experience with others.
In her rare moments of leisure she enjoys skiing, which she has even done competitively. Now she more often decides to go riding, and she takes an active part in the training of the MOKATE TEAM which consists of a few select riders and first-class horses. She likes reading books, especially memoirs, as well as works on the history of art or economics. She travels a lot all over the world, mainly on business. She has two adult children, a daughter and a son, both of whom already work for the company. She has no plans to leave Ustroń, as she considers the Silesian Beskid mountain region to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
