President
The President is the single-person governing body of the Association and is elected by the association's general meeting for a two-year term of office. The President manages the activities of the Association, represents the Association in its relations with other natural and juridical persons, and communicates with the Association's Board, the Advisory Committee and the other members.
Rūta Vyšniauskaitė
Email: ruta@jaunimodebatai.eu
Former member of the Board, alumna of the „Jugend debattiert MOSO-Europa“ competition in Lithuania, winner of the Lesefüchse finals in Lithuania 2018. She holds a BA in Politics from the University of Birmingham (2022) and an MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology from University College London (UCL) (2023). Rūta can be contacted with any questions or suggestions relevant to the Association.
Members of the Board
The Board is the collegiate governing body of the Association, consisting of 4 members (including the Chairperson of the Board). The Council shall be elected for a period of two years by the general meeting of the members of the Association. The members of the Board, together with the President, take care of the organisational affairs of the Association, implement projects and ideas and invite the whole Association community to get involved in the Association's activities.
Rugilė Urniežiūtė
Member of the Board
Email: rugile@jaunimodebatai.eu
Graduate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at the Kaunas Jesuit Gymnasium, from the year 2024 studying mechanical engineering at ETH Zürich. She achieved second place in the German-language debate competition “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” in Lithuania in 2022. In the Board, she works on social media communication.
Dovydas Žilinskas
Member of the Board
Email: dovydas@jaunimodebatai.eu
Currently studying Quantitative Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management of Vilnius University (EVAF), he is an alumnus of the “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” 2022 debate competition in Lithuania. He is a professional photographer in Vilnius. Within the Association, Dovydas is responsible for external and internal communication.
Neda Miltinytė
Member of the Board
Email: neda@jaunimodebatai.eu
Graduate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at Šiauliai Didždvaris Gymnasium, student of the Bachelor’s programme in Politics and Humanities at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) Reims branch. She was the winner of the 2021 “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” German Debate Competition in Lithuania. Neda debates in English, Lithuanian and German. A former member of the Advisory Committee, Neda focuses on organising public events.
Sergej Stoma
Member of the Board
Email: sergej@jaunimodebatai.eu
Having achieved his Bachelor’s degree in Social and Political Sciences from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), he is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Law in Paris. He has many years of experience in organising debating competitions and trainings in both Lithuania and abroad. Having represented Austria in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in 2023, Sergej has a wide range of experience in advocacy and public speaking. He advises on the organisation of debate training, competitions and preparation of methodological materials. You can contact Sergej with any questions or suggestions relevant to the Association.
Advisory committee
The Advisory Committee is made up of active members of the Association’s community. They contribute to the organisation of events, idea generation and implementation of various projects. Members of the Committee help the Board to develop a communication strategy plan, design solutions and deal with various technical issues.
Povilas Gembickis
Member of the Advisory committee
A long-standing former member of the Association’s Board and an alumnus of the “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” debate competition in Lithuania. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University (VU TSPMI), also having studied at the University of Vienna (Universität Wien) in 2017–2018. Povilas was a participant in the Lithuanian delegation during the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. In the committee, Povilas focuses on the organisation of international projects and external communication of the association.
Vitalijus Dobrovolskis
Member of the Advisory committee
He is an IT professional, having graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Informatics from the Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH Aachen) in 2022. Being an alumnus of the debate competition “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” in Lithuania, he was a long-time member of the Association's Board. He is involved in solving technical issues and the implementation of IT solutions.
Radvilė Jakštonytė
Member of the Advisory committee
Graduate of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Primary Education Pedagogy at the Vilnius University of Applied Sciences (VIKO) and former President of the Student Scientific Society. Radvilė is an alumna of the “Debate Your Issue” project and author of articles on educational topics. Currently, she is a primary school teacher for special education classes, an educator in creative and debate clubs, and is a violinist in the VIKO ensemble “Voruta”. In the committee, she contributes to the organisation of Summer Academies and various other creative projects.
Audrė Jokubauskytė
Member of the Advisory committee
Currently a 4th year bachelor student at Vilnius University. She joined the association as part of the “Debate Your Issue” project. She contributes to the organisation of the Summer Academies.
Margarita Kalesnykaitė
Member of the Advisory committee
Graduate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at the Vilnius Lyceum, she is currently studying for a Bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Vienna (Universität Wien). She is an alumna of the “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” 2021 debate competition in Lithuania. In the team, she contributes to the organisation of the Summer Academy, the debate training “Alumni an Schulen” and other projects.
Karolis Liutkus
Member of the Advisory committee
Graduate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at the Kaunas Jesuit Gymnasium, he has been studying mathematics at the ETH Zürich from 2023. He was the winner of the debate competition “Jugend debattiert in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa” 2022 in Lithuania and participated in the Finalwoche during the international stage of the competition in Budapest. In the team, he contributes to the organisation of the debating training “Alumni an Schulen” and other projects.
Founders of the Association
Antanas Grimalauskas
Vytautas Jankauskas
Eglė Karpauskaitė
Džiugilė Kersnauskaitė
Emilė Paskočimaitė
Jokūbas Trinkūnas
Former Presidents and Boards of the Association
2017-2018 m.
Vytautas Jankauskas
(Chairman of the Board)
Antanas Grimalauskas
Eglė Karpauskaitė
Džiugilė Kersnauskaitė
Emilė Paskočimaitė
2019 m.
Emilė Paskočimaitė
(Chairwoman of the Board)
Povilas Gembickis
Bazilė Gancevičiūtė
Ugnė Klipčiūtė
Viltė Pacevičiūtė
2020-2021 m.
Emilė Paskočimaitė
(Chairwoman of the Board)
Povilas Gembickis
Sergej Stoma
Jokūbas Trinkūnas
Rūta Vyšniauskaitė
2022 m.
Sergej Stoma
(President)
Emilė Paskočimaitė
(Chairwoman of the Board)
Vitalijus Dobrovolskis
Povilas Gembickis
Viltė Sinkevičiūtė