Burlington, MA 1942

I was born in Tallinn but grew up in Canada. My education (Clinical Nutrition) includes a BSc – McGill, MS - Boston University, MS, PhD (Food Policy) at Tufts University.

My work in Estonia (1992-2002) includes Editor, UNICEF Situation Analysis of Children and Families; and Principal Investigator, Child Health and Nutrition Survey (EVTTU) (1996, 2002) in conjunction with TalTech. I am the Esto-nian Honorary Consul for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, member of the Boston Estonian Society and am in active contact with life in Estonia as I spend summers at our family talu in Viljandi-maa.

ERKÜ should be applauded for its work in providing support for so many Estonian endeavors here in the US. We recently experienced this during our Boston Baltic Film Festival: ERKÜ support was critical to our success. Our US population is relatively small and scattered, with limited resources, and Estonian events are significant as they serve a two-fold purpose. As we gather to enjoy our community, we also simultaneously promote Estonia, its uniqueness, its history and its culture. With ERKÜ support we market ourselves, and this promotion is invaluable to ensure our relevance and visibility when political decisions are made by Congress. I have always felt a personal obligation to promote our value as a people and a nation, and as a member of ERKÜ more opportunities would be available to me for this.