Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

2011 Goda Aženeckaitė- Petravičienė

Goda graduated from LCC in 2003 with a major in Business Administration. She followed that up in 2006 with a Master's degree in Human Resources from Kaunas Technical University.

After her LCC graduation, her career began to take shape as she worked as a manager for a management consulting firm, Investicijų Kvadrantas. It was during this time that her vision for business development and her passion for creating order where there is chaos was sparked.

In 2004, Goda with her husband, Andrius Petravičius (LCC 2004 graduate) founded Grand Partners, a professional training and coaching company specializing in training for all aspects of business. Goda is co-owner and President of Grand Partners. In the creation of their business, they realized that to be successful, having like minded employees was an important component and have hired a large number of LCC graduates in order to meet that need.

As the coaching and training industry changed shape in Lithuania, Goda recognized the need to diversify and created a second company, Organization Training Center (Organizacijų mokymo centras) that specializes in coaching and training for city, regional and national governmental agencies.

In 2009, Grand Partners changed again as they partnered with Linkage Inc., a top five international training and coaching corporation and created a third company, Linkage Baltic, Linkage Inc's partner for the Baltics, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Linkage Baltic's capacity for multicultural business development and command of the Russian language enabled Grand Partners to expand into several larger markets in the Russian speaking regions of Eastern Europe.

Goda's accomplishments are not limited only to Business. With four like minded associates, Goda created My City Klaipėda (Asociacija "Mano miestas Klaipėda"), a non-profit organization that takes the empowering nature of coaching and uses it to connect interested Klaipėda citizens with the resources, contacts and agencies necessary to contribute positive change in their city. Goda has served as a board member for "Mano miestas Klaipėda" since its inception in 2009.

Goda also serves on the board of the International Coaching Federation Lithuania (ICF Lietuva), a global association of professional coaches dedicating to advancing the profession, setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches. Goda has served on the board since 2010

In 2010, Goda took on her most challenging partner to date as she gave birth to her seven month old son Mykolas and has embraced the challenge of bringing order to a new kind of chaos.

We congratulate Goda Aženeckaitė-Petravičienė, LCC's 2011 Distinguished Alumni award recipient.

2010 Lorna Qesteri

Lorna Graduated from LCC in 2004 with a major in Business Administration after three years at LCC. While a student, Lorna was a Resident Assistant (RA) for two years as well as volunteering with the Salvation Army's Klaipėda city dump ministry. Lorna was also the 2004 recipient of the Leadership Excellence award presented at the Baccalaureate ceremony.

Lorna's service to the LCC Community was only a small glimpse of the dedication to service that she has displayed in her life, prior to coming to LCC and after. Before LCC, Lorna worked with post-war children affected by the war in Kosovo and dedicated time each summer to work at children's camps in her home country of Albania.

After LCC, Lorna returned to Albania and worked with the International Organization for Migration in Tirana, Albania. At the IOM, she helped potential Albanian migrants find information for legal channels for migration, family reunification and other needs. Her work gave her opportunities to work with centers for migration in Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo.

In 2006, Lorna earned her M.S. in International Economic Development at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. Her interest in Economic development sent her on an internship to Quito, Ecuador where she worked with the Centro del Muchacho Trabajador (Youth Work Center) where she worked with small business development, taught technical English, basic Accounting in Spanish, led support groups for abused women and worked on other projects targeting children and the elderly.

In 2007 Lorna returned to Albania to work for World Vision as Program Manager for World Vision's Tirana Area Development program. Lorna directed a team that designed, proposed, monitored and evaluated community programs and strategies for development in the Tirana area in coordination with World Vision's overall goals for development.

In January of 2008, Lorna returned to LCC to teach in the Business Administration department, teaching courses in Micro and Macro Economics, Development Economics and First Year Seminar. Lorna is a student favorite for her strong command of her subject area, her heart for people and the love for her subject and her manner of presenting Economics, not for Economics sake, but as a part of life.

We congratulate Lorna Qesteri, LCC's 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

2009 Asta Reiff

Asta graduated from LCC in 1998 with a double major in English and Theology. By that time, she has already been teaching English to young children at a local elementary school in Klaipėda for two years. Asta married Jim Reiff and they made their first home in the mid west United States, where she taught English and coordinated teaching volunteers for the Adult Basic Education Program at Northeast Nebraska Community College.

Jim and Asta move to Tirana, Albania, where Asta worked as a teacher for high school students and adult professionals at all levels. Later, Asta was employed by the International Organization for Migration in Tirana. Using her administrative skills, she helped to launch the Information Center for Migrants coming into Albania, and later worked as a project manager for IOM. During this time, she worked skillfully with 12 staff member from 6 Balkan countries to assist over 2900 migrants in the first six months of the project.

In 2006, Asta and her family, which by now included her husband and two daughters, relocated to Chennai, India. She took a job as a full time English teacher in the American International School where she currently teaches children from around the world. In July 2007, Asta volunteered her time to return to LCC and teach in our Summer Language Institute.

Asta Reiff is truly a multicultural person with an entrepreneurial mind. She eagerly seeks out opportunities to serve her neighbors and the less fortunate wherever she is living.

2008 Saulius Karosas

Saulius graduated from LCC in 2001. He started his studies in 1993 in the Winter Language Institute and entered his first year of college in 1994. After a year of studies Saulius joined a Christian ministry group Covenant Players and served there for three years. He returned back to LCC in 1998 together with his new wife and they both were very active members of the LCC community.

Saulius is currently working as the pastor of the City church in Klaipėda. He is an active and passionate leader, a faithful pastor, a great teacher, and a person with a big heart. Saulius is involved in many social projects in the city, is developing a Christian retreat center and continues having close connections to LCC. For several years Saulius has been a key person in helping plan the annual Christian youth conference Saltshaker that takes place at LCC International University.

When accepting the award, Saulius commented: "The faculty and staff that worked here always had one quality – they believed in the students, and saw the students’ potential more than the students did themselves. Many of my professors, like Dean Pinter, Steve Trotter, and David Shenk had more dreams for me than I dared to dream for myself. The professors did not just teach – they mentored, cared and inspired me to realize that life is too short to just “go with the flow.” Life without passion, life without sacrifice, life without search to find one‘s call in this world is not a life worth living. Seeing the passion and dedication of those who were giving their lives to make this university what it is today inspires me to likewise serve people, accept them as they are and help them find their call in life. I thank God and everyone who were, and are my help and inspiration. Thank you."

2007 Roman Gaiduk

Roman has been selected as the 2007 recipient of the LCC Distinguished Alumni Award. His career at the consulting company ERRA, his successful teaching and involvement at LCC International University, and his service in the Christian community have earned him this award. LCC is proud of him and proud that Roman is an LCC alumnus.

2006 Linas Bodendorf

Linas Bodendorf has worked in computer, in travel and hospitality, and most recently in the oil industry. In his spare time, he has created a bookstore in Klaipėda that offers used books and excellent Christian literature. An outstanding point guard of LCC basketball teams as a student, Linas has also worked with basketball program for young people. The recipient of the award is also an active participant and leader in his home church.

"When I received the presidents letter about the award, I told Jim that Im undergoing some big changes in my life. I do not think I have achieved something yet. My dreams are not one-day wishes. I would take this nomination as an encouragement to keep on. Im no longer working for the biggest enterprise in the Baltics. At the moment, Im starting everything from scratch. One needs great encouragement and faith when going into the unknown. So, from the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for this encouragement," Linas Bodendorf expressed his gratitude during LCCs eleventh annual Commencement exercises.

2005 Edita Kriščiūnienė

Edita Kriščiūnienė graduated from LCC in 1997 and was the first of a series of LCC graduates to be retained by Andersen Accounting (now Ernst and Young). Edita is engaged with both the business and Christian church community in Vilnius. In addition, she has made an outstanding contribution as a member of the LCC Board of Directors since 1999. She stands as a superb example of the LCC vision "to create a new generation of leaders for Eastern Europe".

Edita commented: It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be chosen as the first recipient of this LCC Distinguished Alumni Award. It also makes me hesitate because in this kind of situation one always tries to answer questions like "What are theexpectations? What am I supposed to do?"

On the other hand, it is not difficult to receive the award. In fact, it would be more difficult to not be a distinguished alumni coming from a very distinguished school. Yes, there is no question that LCC is different from other schools. I believe that many of the students and alumni have experienced these differences in some way. I have experienced them myself and I must say that these are definitely positive differences. What are they? What are these things that make us the distinguished people from the distinguished place? Naming those is difficult. It is personal. It is touching and emotional. It is not commonplace. It is defined by the good spirit of, if I may coin a phrase, "distinguishment" that is shared by all of us.

I hope that as we leave these walls once again, we will have refreshed this good spirit. I hope that each one of us will name for himself or herself what the differences are. I hope that we will take them further with us, so that more people can see and experience LCC in the ways we have. I hope we can build on these differences to make a difference elsewhere.