John Kazickas brings both an international perspective and a passion for supporting education and the arts to the ASSIST Board. John attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT, before attending The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI where he received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 1980. In 1981, John began his career working for the Vought Corporation in Grand Prairie, TX. There he served as an Associate Engineer for two years before becoming the President of the Laundercenter Equipment Corporation in 1983. John would spend the next 12 years of his career here, coordinating the organization’s financial and budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, and increase efficiencies. In 1995, John began his first international endeavor as a consultant with Omnitel in Vilnius, Lithuania. John served as a Consultant for what would soon be the first GSM cellular network in the Baltic States. In this role, he worked closely with cellular companies like Motorola and Telia in planning the network from the initial design phases to launch. From 1995-2002, John continued to monitor and analyze system performance, as well as consult with users, administrators and engineers to identify business and technical requirements for system design and implementation. In 2003, he became CEO and Chairman of Baltneta in Vilnius, Lithuania where he supervised the management and operations of Lithuania’s premiere Datacom company. As a board member and later Chairman for this family-owned company, John conferred with board members and management to steer the company through Europe’s financial crisis, increasing sales through board recommendations and policy implementations for 12 years. John currently serves as the General Director and Secretary of the Kazickas Family Foundation in New York, NY. John directs, with aid of family members, the activities for the foundation with the aim to fulfill the mission of supporting education, culture and the arts, as well as the undeserved in Lithuania and in the United States.