Lithuanians from UK and US Will Help Students Improve
The Lithuanian Diaspora Academy is introducing an opportunity offered by its friends Global Lithuanian Leaders (GLL) for the students to receive advice from world Lithuanians on successful career planning.
The Lithuanian City of London Club (LCLC), uniting Lithuanians working in the City of London, for a third year in a row is organizing the project City Big Brother. This year, experienced professionals of Lithuanian nationality will provide advice and spread knowledge that will help students improve while studying in the fields of business, economics, international relations, law and the arts, as well as help them pursue their careers or further studies in Lithuania and abroad. The project was met with success and continues its expansion: this year, professionals working in the United Kingdom will be joined by 20 qualified specialists from the United States of America.
"Last year, 60 talented students from the UK and Lithuania sent applications for the project, half of which were chosen as participants. This year the project is divided into two parts – City Big Brother UK and USA Big Brother – so the students can choose which nation’s "big brothers" they want to meet. We predict that the project will receive over 100 participants’ applications", said the author of the project, Rytis Vitkauskas.
More than 50 "big brothers" will be representing the UK and the USA this year, including business consultants, lawyers, financing specialists, experts of international relations and arts.
"With this project we encourage collaborations among Lithuanians who have succeeded to find their place abroad ("big brothers or sisters") and young students who are still planning their careers ("small brothers or sisters"). We hope that the promising Lithuanian youth will be able to improve professionally, taking over the international experience, knowledge and formulas of success collected by their elders", said Lina Tolvaišaitė, the project coordinator of USA Big Brother.
As before, City Big Brother in London is organized by Rytis Vitkauskas,the Vice President of growth equity investment firm Summit Partners, Petras Vaičius, the Vice President of Investment Banking at BofA Merrill Lynch and Indrė Dargytė, an Associate at Laven Partners. This year the team is joined by Andrius Šlekys, who was Rytis Vitkauskas’ "small brother" last year. This summer he will launch his career in London, the investment bank Jefferies.
The USA Big Brother project is overseen by Lina Tolvaišaitė, LCLC member Darius Daubaras’ "small sister", currently working at the World Bank in washington, and representatives of the Global Lithuanian Leaders (GLL) – Rokas Beresniovas, the Vice President of HSBC Bank in Washington and Edvinas Minkštimas, a pianist and doctoral student at the famous performing arts conservatory, the Juilliard School, in New York.
Final-year BA and MA degree students from universities in Lithuania, the UK, the USA and other countries, seriously considering further studies, professional practice or career in Lithuania and abroad, are invited to participate in the project. More information about the project and the conditions for the participation can be found on the websites www.litcityclub.co.uk and www.lithuanianleaders.org. The candidates are to send their applications on e-mail to CityBigBrother@gmail.com (for participation in City Big Brother UK) or USABigBrother@gmail.com (for participation in USA Big Brother). The deadline for candidate applications (selecting one of the two projects) is April 20.
After the processes of selection and pairing, informal communication will begin in the form of calls, e-mails, Skype conversations and coffee meetings. The candidates are warned that the form and results of this communication will be decided only by their own activities and self-organization, because the "big brothers and sisters" are very busy.
LCLC seeks to bring together Lithuanian professionals from the City of London (and the rest of the Greater London) working in the areas of finances, law and business consulting. The club encourages professional, intellectual, social and cultural communication among members, participates in collaborative projects with City clubs from other countries, as well as Lithuanian organizations and the country’s Embassy functioning in the United Kingdom, and develops relationships with Lithuanian leaders in business and politics. The club was founded in 2006 by the initiative of Vygaudas Ušackas, who was the Ambassador at the time.
Global Lithuanian Leaders is a social organization founded in 2010 and uniting professionals and leaders of their own fields in Lithuania and abroad, people who are not indifferent to Lithuania, its people, research, culture and where this country stands in the world. Through its various social and academic projects, GLL aspires to become the bridge of global experience and knowledge that leads back to the homeland.
