Our Team
Together, we strive to cultivate a community where every student feels valued, challenged, and empowered to reach their full potential.
VIS staff members hail from 17 countries. These include Lithuania, Australia, South Africa, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Poland, the Philippines, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Lebanon, Ukraine, Spain, the Netherlands, Moldova, and Belgium.
School Council members are elected by the Meeting of Stakeholders based on the skills and competencies they bring to the role. These reflect where the school is at any given time. At present, our council brings experience in economics, civil society, health and medicine, STEM education, and marketing.
Dr. Nerijus Mačiulis is Swedbank’s chief economist in Lithuania. He is the author of several scientific publications on currency crises, international finance and economic integration, and is a member of the editorial board of the “Baltic Journal of Economics”. He has three young children at VIS.
Inna Berezkina is a programme manager at the School of Civic Education, which is one of Russia’s oldest NGOs founded in 1992. Inna also serves as a contributing editor at Sapere Online and an International Advisor at Democracy Without Borders. Inna has a son in middle school at VIS.
Dr. Ieva Jovaišiene is an associate professor at Vilnius University. In addition, she works as an anesthesiologist at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics. Ieva has a daughter in upper school.
Alexandrina Satnoianu is a campaigns and visuals coordinator at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), where she has worked for the last eleven years. She has a Master’s degree in Gender Studies and a second Master’s in Marketing and Communications. Alexandrina hails from Romania and has two daughters. She has been a member of the VIS community for over 10 years.
Vilnius International School was founded in 2004 by a group of parents and educators from Denmark, Finland, Lithuania and the United States. They envisioned a school that reflected the values of a democratic and multicultural society and was rooted in the local culture. This vision holds true to this day.
VIS is a not-for-profit organization governed by articles of incorporation referred to as the by-laws. The governing body is composed of three permanent members that make up the Meeting of Stakeholders, and a five-member self-perpetuating competency-based School Council.
Rebecca Juras has served as Director of Vilnius International School for more than 15 years. In addition to working in an administrative role, Rebecca has taught kindergarten, fourth grade and humanities at the school. She has a B.A from Macalester College and a Master of Education from the University of Virginia.
Liisa Leitzinger is a co-founder of VIS from Finland, where she studied law and marketing. She began her career working with patents and trademarks at an intellectual property firm. Liisa moved to Lithuania in 1995 and graduated from the history faculty at Vilnius University. Her diploma work concerned the 1918 – 1940 political relations between Finland and Lithuania.
Liza Lerche Jensen is a co-founder of Vilnius International School. She and her husband are entrepreneurs who started numerous businesses in manufacturing, retail and real estate sectors in Lithuania. These include UAB Metalco and UAB Living Scandinavian Design. Liza currently lives in California with her husband and two sons.
Torben Pedersen is from Denmark and has lived in the Baltics for over 20 years, finally settling in Lithuania. He works in field of audit and financial management and serves on the Board of Directors of several companies.