Aug 27 / The YES Community Remembers Astrida Levensteins

The YES community was incredibly saddened to learn that Astrida Levensteins, State Department Program Officer, had passed away on 28 June. Astrida was the Program Officer directly responsible for working with us on building the YES program over the last several years and was a tireless advocate for youth exchange and for the YES program in particular.

While her death comes as a great sadness to all of us who had the pleasure of working with or meeting Astrida, we can at the same time rejoice in the achievement she contributed so much toward, as we together rejoice in the success of the YES program – which has completed its fifth year with the 07-08 class. It is certain that there is nothing she would have been more proud of than to have seen that wonderful, successful and rejoicing class of 07-08 and the newest arrivals for 08-09 that so recently unfolded before us in Washington, DC, in all of their diversity of experience.

A condolence card was signed by the outgoing class of 2008, which will be delivered to Astrida’s family. A remembrance book is also being brought together for the family, and we would be grateful for any contributions, but it might be especially welcome for each alumni group to bring together a message of thanks for Astrida’s work in support of the YES program. Alumni can submit their messages directly by clicking here.

Below is an announcement released from the State Department:

Astrida’s sudden death on June 28 was a great loss to her colleagues in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and all those who knew her. A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, she graduated from University of Maryland College Park in 1988 and began her career in international exchanges with World Learning in Latvia and the U.S. She joined the Department of State in 2002 to work on the Community Connections program and then with Youth Programs such as the Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES), the Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange Program, and the Algerian Youth Leadership Program.

Astrida was warm and friendly, had a sharp wit, and was always ready to jump in and help her colleagues. She was well-known throughout the Department for her outgoing personality, her love of all things Latvian, and her commitment to the programs on which she worked. Her colleagues and all who knew her will miss her humor, her openness to new ideas, her optimism, and her collegiality. She is survived by her mother, her brother and sister-in-law, and her two nephews.

A memorial service for Astrida Levensteins will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, 2008, at the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington (400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850). A reception in celebration of Astrida’s life will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Vilis Vitols Scholarship Fund, in Astrida Levensteins’ name. The fund is managed in Latvia, and administered in the United States by the American Latvian Association.

The Vilis Vitols fund is a Latvian scholarship program that was established to support dedicated young Latvian students in the pursuit of higher education – a fund that embodies both Astrida’s deep ties to her Latvian culture and her influential life’s work.

Checks should be written to the American Latvian Association, with a notation for the Astrida Levensteins’ Memorial Fund.

American Latvian Association
Astrida Levensteins Memorial Fund, c/o Raits Eglitis, Executive Director, 400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850-3121.