The Lithuania Tribune
Last week during a solemn
afternoon, one of the biggest private investors of Lithuania Marius Jakulis
Jason Foundation (MJJ Foundation) was officially presented.
The 3.5-million-euro foundation will provide financial support to scientists
from different fields coming to Lithuania to continue their research and share
their knowledge with Lithuanian students. It will also invest in new businesses
of entrepreneurs returning to or arriving in Lithuania and will provide
scholarships to the talented Lithuanian students’ Master’s studies in the best
universities worldwide.
Yellow vest as a symbol of building and
creating
In the celebratory
afternoon, the business and academic community gathered at Kempinski Hotel
Cathedral Square. The guests wished the best of luck to the team behind the
newly established foundation and congratulated the founder Marius Jakulis Jason
on his birthday.
“This is how my work uniform looks like,” Marius, the founder of the
foundation, who addressed the guests in a safety vest and a builder’s helmet
said. “I would like the yellow vest in Lithuania to symbolize the
development of the country rather than distrust in the government. That is what
I was doing all my life and what I am encouraging others to do today with the
help of their abilities, talent, and entrepreneurship.”
Just yesterday, wearing the same vest and helmet, Marius Jakulis Jason started
the construction of Park Inn by Radisson Vilnius Airport Hotel & Business
Centre. According to the businessman, the hotel that is being built near
Vilnius airport will open its doors in April 2020.
The inspiration behind the foundation and its co-founder, Marius’ wife Liisa
Leitzinger noticed that there are many people who do good deeds in Lithuania,
unfortunately, they work on their own. “We can do so much more by uniting
our forces and working together. That is why, we are an open foundation that
can be joined by anyone who wants to invest in changes in Lithuania.”
The foundation is a living organism
When welcoming the guests, the director of MJJ Foundation Kotryna
Stankutė-Jaščemskienė expressed her delight in having the opportunity to
contribute to attracting talents important to Lithuania.
“I believe that we can
move forward only by maintaining diversity and attracting international
experience,” Kotryna said. The director has been serving as a head of
Lithuanian network of professionals Global Lithuanian Leaders (GLL) for many
years and has extensive experience in mobilizing global Lithuanians.
After presenting the planned activities, she emphasized that the foundation is
very much like a living organism, and the first year of work will show which
directions are more relevant to the public, and what can be improved and
changed.
According to the director, private foundations, in cooperation with
universities, can move forward faster and create a change: MJJ is already in
collaboration with three major Lithuanian universities (Vilnius University,
Kaunas University of Technology and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University).
The most important thing is to feel
valued and necessary
Eglė Daugėlaitė, the host of the afternoon, moderated a discussion about the
investment in the country’s intellectual capital. The talk featured three
ambassadors of the MJJ Foundation – people who returned to work and carry out
scientific research in Lithuania.
After returning from Scandinavia to Šilutė and establishing a robotics school in the town, Evanas Maksvytis intends to expand the network of such schools in Lithuania and says that he can see the point in contributing to the foundation’s work and helping young gifted people realize their unique ideas.
Harvard student and lawyer Justinas Jaruševičius noted that the foundation will not only provide a young gifted person with the opportunity to become a member of a strong, educated community but will encourage and urge to act.
Meanwhile, scientist Linas Mažutis, founder of Droplet Genomics – a microfluid technology lab – drew everyone’s attention to what helps bring the brightest minds back to Lithuania, “When do you want to return? When you feel needed and your work is appreciated. Let’s provide the scientists with that desire and motivation.”
About the foundation
The 3.5-million-euro MJJ Foundation operates in
three directions – science, business, and knowledge. Business direction:
financial support for gifted entrepreneurs and specialists who intend to return
or come build a business in Lithuania. Science direction: will provide
financial support for scientists who completed their doctoral studies abroad
and wish to continue their research in Lithuania.
Knowledge direction: will provide scholarships for the Master’s studies of
active, talented and public-spirited Lithuanians in the best universities
worldwide. The currently created mentor network will take care of the
participants of all three directions and will help them establish themselves
and carry their work successfully in Lithuania. More information and
registration forms for applying: http://mjjfondas.lt
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