Darius has been a Camp Neringa Inc. Board Director since 2019 and President since 2021. With more than 15 years working in marketing and communications, Darius has a background in marketing strategy, branding, storytelling, design and data analytics. He got his start in communications working with nonprofits, including several NGOs in Lithuania, where he has worked in politics, human rights and was even a summer camp counselor in Vilnius. As a long-time Neringa camper, counselor, coordinator and parent to two campers, Darius has a keen interest in Neringa's mission of nurturing Lithuanian culture, Catholic values and providing opportunities for personal growth. He is committed to ensuring that the mission continues to resonate with the next generation of campers, their parents and the evolving North American-Lithuanian community.

Jessica Simone (Zikaras) has been involved with Neringa for more than 25 years. She began camping at Family Camp, continued to English-speaking Heritage Camp, and was then a counselor there for many years. Since then, Jessica has been an active member of the community by: hosting Ziemos Svente weekends; creating and coordinating the annual Counselor Retreat; serving as program coordinator; organizing the Cooking Club; and more! Jessica has been on the Board of Directors since 2021 and was recently elected as Vice President. Neringa is an extra special place for Jessica, as it is where she met her husband Greg as a camper, and where the couple recently got married. Jessica and Greg live in Massachusetts with their dog, Reia. Jessica has a master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in nonprofit management, and currently works in Human Resources. 

Darius is a project manager specializing in healthcare initiatives. He has experience in all levels of projects from IT software and hardware implementations to managing the transition to new state of the art healthcare facilities. As a part of managing diverse projects, Darius is responsible for keeping the project on schedule, managing budgets and human assets, facilitating meetings and creating project artifacts. His connection to Neringa started with his mother, Reggie, who served as board president and started taking Darius to family camp, and then English Heritage camp where he was a counselor for 5 years.

I have been serving on the Board as the Secretary since January of 2019. I started coming to Camp Neringa when I was nine years old. I have been a camper, counselor, dishwasher, volunteer, program coordinator, and cook. Camp Neringa has brought so many wonderful things to my life, culturally, spiritually, and personally; being on the Board has been a meaningful and wonderful way to give back to this amazing organization and community. I grew up in Connecticut, but now live in Worcester, Massachusetts, with my wife, Atiana (another Neringa alum), and our puppy, Sunny. I work as the Director of Operations & Communications for the First Baptist Church of Worcester. When I'm not working or at Camp, I enjoy cooking, basketball, and Star Wars. 

Emilija has been involved with Neringa since she started as a camper in 8tas namelis at Lietuvių Vaikų Stovykla.  She was a Neringa CIT, a long-time vadovė at Lietuvių Vaikų Stovykla, and Summer Manager in 2004.  More recently she's enjoyed returning to Neringa with her young family, attending both Lietuvių Šeimų and Lithuanian Heritage Family camps.  This past Summer her girls attended Heritage Camp for the first time. 

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Emilija’s various experiences at Neringa have provided her with a strong understanding of Neringa’s mission and how it is brought to life for campers of all ages.  Emilija has been a member of the Board since 2016, serving on various committees, as Secretary, and most recently as Vice-President.  In her professional life, Emilija leads Communications for a large, multi-national technology company in the financial space. She shares Neringa’s vision and passion and wants to be involved in ensuring that the stovykla is able to continue its mission for generations to come.

When I was 15 years old I stepped out of a VW van after a 500-mile ride with a crew of girls from Hamilton and Toronto and stepped into the life of Neringa forevermore. Following my brief camping years, I was a counselor for multiple summers in a row. I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and then early in my professional life I became the first Executive Director of Neringa when the Sisters first incorporated the camp as Neringa, Inc. Over the years I’ve served on the Board, volunteered with a variety of projects and most recently lead the Neringa100 capital campaign in which the community rose up strong to raise enough money to secure the future of Neringa to at least her 100th birthday.

Sr. Laimute is a valued member of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.

Throughout her life, Sr. Igne has been involved in youth ministry, not only at Neringa, but also in Dainava, Michigan,   Kretinga and Winnipegin Canada, Buenos Aires Argentina and Sao Paulo Brazil, not to mention in post-Soviet Lithuania. She believes strongly that whatever enhances a person's identity and helps create an environment to experience God and encounter Jesus while in community, is to build the Kingdom of God. 

I began attending Neringa nearly 50 years ago as a very young camper. I continued attending for many years, became a counselor, a program director and then a member of the earliest board. (My favorite memory is being married at Neringa!) I’ve returned since to family camps and other events with my husband and children and have volunteered as board and committee member over the years.

Professionally speaking, I’m an owner of an events management company, Green Tree Event Consultants, that manages business-to-business events such as conferences and trade shows. I live in Maine, have four children, and am married to a Texan, Frank Freeman, who often gets roped into volunteering. I also keep bees, a few chickens and a dog to round out our home.

My parents introduced me to Neringa in 1974 and I began camping in 1975, worked as a camp counselor from 1984-1992, and assisted with the organization of the Lithuanian Family Camp. I first began working with the Board of Directors in 2002 and was selected as a Neringa, Inc. board member in 2004 and served until 2012 – during part of that tenure I also served as its Treasurer. I was an active member in the Continuity Committee (2013-2015) that created the process for the corporate transition from Neringa, Inc. to Camp Neringa Inc. In 2016, I was elected as a Board Member to Camp Neringa, Inc. (CNI) and served as its President from 2016 to 2021 and during this time CNI purchased the camp property from the Sisters.

I was born in Hartford, Connecticut and since 1997, I have been employed with Verisign, Inc. in Northern Virginia. I currently serve as a Director with responsibility for Top-Level Domain Policy and Platform Management. My wife Nerija and our four children all have been active in Neringa camp life. 

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1964, and began camping at Neringa as a child, attending the Ateitininkų Stovyklas which were typically organized the last two weeks of August.  Participation at these camps was a formative experience for me — a special place which helped define who I am as a person. 

As an adult, I met my wife at Neringa’s inaugural  fundraiser in Washington, DC, and served on the Board of Directors in the early 2000’s.  With my family we attended Lithuanian-speaking family camp.  My children continued to attend the Lithuanian speaking summer camps and more recently served as vadovai in 2021 and 2022.  In addition to my board responsibilities at Camp Neringa, Inc., I currently serve on Neringa’s recently formed Finance Committee where we have developed a board-approved investment policy framework for managing Neringa’s endowment funds. I recently retired from the International Finance Corporation after a more than 30-year career in development finance.

Vaiva has a deep understanding of the "Neringa way" - she has been a camper, CIT, counselor, Summer Manager, volunteer, and participant at various Neringa events across both Lithuanian and Heritage camps and at events including work weekend, walkathon, and cooking club. She attended Neringa from ages 6-16 at Lithuanian camp in the 90s. She was a CIT at Heritage camp and the following year she was a counselor for more than 2 months covering all the camps. After many years on the West coast, she recently moved back East and has been excited to engage with Neringa again, which always feels like home. This summer she led a class on šiaudinukai (Lithuanian straw ornaments) during Heritage family camp, was Summer Manager at children's Heritage camp while navigating Covid-19 protocols, and attended and volunteered at walkathon.

Vaiva has spent the last decade leading teams and programs with a focus on streamlining business operations and new market expansion in the solar industry, most recently for Tesla.

Ruta has been involved with Neringa since attending Family Camp at age two. She has participated in all children and family camp sessions as a camper and later as a counselor. In more recent years, she has held other roles as Program Coordinator for Trečia Savaitė (Lithuanian speaking Third Week) and Žiemos Šventė Winter Celebration, Camp Nurse, and even kitchen Sous-Chef. 

Professionally, Ruta is a Research Project Manager in the Clinical Trials Office at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a leading hospital in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. She has a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from Boston University and an MBA in Healthcare Management from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.