News

This Thursday, December 17 at 12:30 pm Dr. Gintarė Venzlauskaitė, Fall 2020 Joseph P. Kazickas Post-Doctoral Fellow in Baltic Studies will be presenting on the research she has conducted at Yale this fall. Her talk is titled "Identity, Agency, and the Constraints of Political Conditionality: Understanding Lithuanian Diasporas of Displacement Through Narratives of Return."

Year 2020 surprised us all with a complicated obstacle course. However, "Youth Can" team continues navigating through this course in a creative way! New challenges lead to new ideas, different approaches, solutions and remind us to never give up. According to an old proverb, "when life gives lemons, make lemonade," so "Youth Can" team has been using this opportunity to accomplish new goals with tools provided.

Even though year 2020 put many plans on hold, Uncommon, previously known as SPROUT Coding, was busy growing and moving forward. It empowers young adults from low-income communities in Zimbabwe with the technology education and opportunities they need to escape poverty forever. It is done by creating innovative learning environments, teaching in-demand tech skills and placing graduates in meaningful employment.

This weekend, December 5th and 6th, in partnership with the Amagansett Free Library, our friends Hoops 4 Hope presents the virtual premier of the film "Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters" for a 48-hour viewing window.

International Christmas Charity Bazaar, held in Vilnius, Lithuania in the beginning of December every year since 2003, has been the unofficial start to the Christmas season. This year ICCB won’t let Covid stop them from getting in the holiday spirit! Today, on a Giving Tuesday, they are going Live and inviting everyone to be a part of it!

After the US election 2020 Jurate Kazickas chatted with "Lietuvos rytas" correspondent Rita Stankeviciute to share her thoughts about the election, her and her husband Roger Altman's contribution and hopes.

We extend our gratitude to Sandy Baksys, an American Lithuanian, who initiated a project bringing running water to some of Lithuania's the most vulnerable living in her dear father's hometown, Vidukle. Together with the Order of Malta, the Kazickas Family Foundation and many generous people, $11,000 were collected for this project.

Three KFF team members, NY office director Neila Baumiliene, Vilnius office director Agne Vertelkaite and AKGP and website manager Ginte Genender spent two inspiring weeks of networking, learning, and growing with the virtual American Express Leadership Academy at Thunderbird.

On this special occassion, we thank President Valdas Adamkus for setting an example of integrity and hard work while making Lithuania a better place for many generations.

As every year on All Souls Day, small group of Lithuanian community members join the Kazickas family to visit the final resting place of dr. Joseph Kazickas, his wife Alexandra and their son Alexander at the East Hampton cemetery.