A New Chapter for VinFinitti
We are proud and excited to announce a major milestone in the growth of VinFinitti.
Our team is becoming stronger with the addition of exceptional expertise, experience, and passion. Today, Tomasz Smakowski officially joins VinFinitti.
Tomasz is a renowned certified sworn sign language interpreter, founder of the World of the Deaf Foundation, and one of the most respected advocates for Deaf communities in Poland.
For us, this is a transformative moment.
Tomasz brings not only world-class professional credentials—including interpreting for the United Nations, the President of Poland, and the Prime Minister—but also something equally valuable: a lifetime of personal experience as a hearing child of Deaf parents.
His knowledge, perspective, and profound understanding of the challenges faced by Deaf individuals align perfectly with the mission and values upon which VinFinitti was built.
However, we do not want to introduce Tomasz in our own words alone.
The best way to understand who he is is through his own story.
Meet Tomasz – His Story
Since childhood, I have been immersed in the Deaf community.
I was born into a family with Deaf parents, and sign language was my first language.
Family photographs and videos remind me that from a very young age I acted as a bridge between my parents and the hearing world—calling relatives, helping during appointments, translating interactions with public offices, and assisting during medical visits.
Looking back, it was a wonderful experience. It taught me how to build relationships, solve difficult problems, and collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
My mother, thanks to the determination of her parents, became fluent both in written language and sign language. In many ways, she became a Deaf bridge between two worlds. She was deeply trusted and respected by the community around her, yet throughout her life she never felt completely at home in either world.
My father, on the other hand, communicated primarily through sign language from childhood. Unlike my mother’s family, his parents chose a path centered entirely within the Deaf community. He grew up in boarding schools among Deaf peers and never fully acquired reading and writing skills.
Yet in the language of his heart—sign language—he was a storyteller, a poet, and a source of laughter and wisdom. Within the Deaf community he was known as a kind, empathetic, and gifted individual.
Still, throughout his adult life he often felt dependent on others and believed he stood at the end of the line, relying on assistance and support to navigate everyday life.
At the age of 24, I decided that serving the Deaf community would become my life’s mission.
I earned my certification as a sworn sign language interpreter, established my own professional practice, and began working with government institutions, local authorities, businesses, and television networks.
Over time, I reached the highest professional level in my field, providing interpretation services for the United Nations, the President, and the Prime Minister.
I also established two recording studios where we created more than 100,000 hours of sign language content.
Yet I always felt there was more to be done.
As an interpreter, I witnessed how increased access to information empowered Deaf individuals—raising awareness, strengthening self-advocacy, and giving people greater confidence to express their needs and aspirations.
This inspired me to establish the World of the Deaf Foundation in 2019.
The foundation’s mission is to increase public awareness of Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities while providing expert support and advocacy. Through the foundation, I began working with the Polish government to help create systemic improvements in the everyday lives of Deaf people.
But there is still so much work ahead.
Then, a childhood friend reappeared in my life: Seweryn.
Although our lives had taken different paths, we discovered that we shared the same vision and aspirations.
In 2026, we reconnected and exchanged ideas about the future.
To our surprise, we realized we were working toward exactly the same goal.
We both want Deaf people to have autonomy, opportunities, communication support, knowledge, and a stronger voice in matters that affect their lives.
Today, more than 70 million Deaf people live around the world. According to WHO projections, that number could reach 750 million people by 2050.
Have you ever stopped to think about their needs?
That would represent nearly 10% of the world’s population, yet society still knows remarkably little about Deaf communities and the barriers they face.
That is why I decided to join Seweryn and VinFinitti.
Together, we can work on a truly global scale.
Keep your fingers crossed for us—I look forward to building this future together with all of you.
United by a Common Purpose
The reunion of Seweryn and Tomasz after so many years is more than coincidence.
It is the moment when personal stories, shared values, and extensive professional experience come together to drive meaningful global change.
Both understand firsthand what it means to watch loved ones struggle with communication barriers.
Both possess the determination, expertise, and tools needed to help remove those barriers once and for all.
With Tomasz on board, VinFinitti gains an extraordinary expert voice and a powerful compass that will help ensure our technology addresses the real needs of Deaf communities worldwide.
Together, we will continue building solutions that deliver exactly what Tomasz has dedicated his life to advancing:
greater autonomy, greater access to knowledge, and a stronger voice for Deaf individuals everywhere.
Tomasz, welcome to the team.
Together, we will take this mission to a global scale.
