By Lindsey Wray

Jurate Kazickas believes in the importance of press freedom.

That's why funding the IWMF Leadership Institute in Lithuania made sense to Kazickas, herself a journalist and women's rights advocate.

"It combines my two passions," she said, "helping women and working for a free press."

The IWMF, in partnership with The Kazickas Family Foundation and Internews Network, is sponsoring the three-day leadership training program in Lithuania April 10-12 to help women journalists from the former Soviet Republics build skills and prepare to be leaders in the news media.

By cultivating news media leaders, Kazickas hopes the Institute will call attention to press freedom and the state of media the former Soviet Republics. Plus, she would like for women journalists to gain confidence in their skills and learn techniques to advance their careers.

"I really wanted to do something for women at a junction in their careers where they've reached a level where they really feel like they can go farther," she said.

Participants in the program will attend sessions facilitated by Ukrainian media trainers Larisa Tatarinova and Larissa Shidlovskaya on subjects such as advocating for oneself, leading change in newsrooms and achieving work-life balance.

Kazickas hopes the women will also learn from each other.

"I think there’s such value in hearing other women’s experiences," she said, adding that she, too, is looking forward to learning more about the state of the media from the participants.

Aside from her interest in news media and women's rights, Kazickas is "very proud" for the opportunity to show off her homeland of Lithuania.

Kazickas, who currently visits Lithuania every few months, came to the United States as a child. As a young adult, she left her job at Look magazine to become a freelance journalist in Vietnam. Kazickas was just 23 years old and one of only a handful of women when she worked as a "combat photojournalist" in 1967-68 in Vietnam.

"That kind of jumpstarted my career," she said.

Kazickas didn’t leave Vietnam unscathed. She was injured when a utility shell exploded during a battle. Fortunately, she was not seriously wounded.

Following her stint in Vietnam, Kazickas worked for the Associated Press for about a decade, covering "all the radical social changes that were taking place in America" in the 1970s, including one she felt especially passionate about: the women’s movement.

"In covering the movement I really felt I was writing about myself," she said.

Just as she made strides as a woman journalist, Kazickas hopes to encourage participants in the Lithuania Leadership Institute to do the same.

"It’s a really wonderful profession for anyone who has any curiosity about the world," she said of journalism. "You immerse yourself so totally in a subject that you’re constantly learning."

As journalism moves farther into the realm of "new media," Kazickas said, the field becomes increasingly competitive, which is even more of a reason that women journalists need to be equipped with skills to succeed.

Thus came her decision to fund the IWMF Institute. The mission of the Kazickas Family Foundation – established in 2000 after Kazickas’ father sold his communications company – is to help Lithuania in its post-Soviet development, especially in the areas of technology and education. But when the idea of journalism training crossed her mind, she contacted the IWMF.

"I knew they had the skill and expertise for the content of the seminar," she said.

Kazickas said she’s thrilled to support the Lithuania Leadership Institute and hopes that the women journalists who attend will continue networking after the event, helping one another to acknowledge their strengths and understand the obstacles they face in the news media. She believes that women’s participation in journalism and the political process is essential.

"I am such a believer in the strength and power of women to change the world."

Lindsey Wray is the IWMF’s communications coordinator.