Valda Liepiņa

Valda Liepiņa was born and grew up in a Latvian family in Australia. She actively participated in Latvian community activities – the choir, folk-dancing, playing the kokle (a Latvian instrument), taught at the Latvian primary and secondary school, as well as the Latvian university course. She also wrote (and continues to do so) for the Latvian newspapers “The Australian Latvian” and “Free Europe”. Valda was a council member of the Latvian Youth Association and the Latvian Federation of Latvians in Australia and New Zealand. From 1989 to 2007 she was the Chair of the Australian Division of the Latvian Popular Front (later Association Australia-Latvia). During this time the first consignments of humanitarian aid to Latvia were sent. She was also council member and Chair of the Baltic Council of Victoria. She received several Certificates of commendation from Latvian ministries and exile communities and in 1997 was awarded the “Three Star Award Gold Medal of Honour”. In Melbourne she was a broadcaster in Latvian for SBS Radio (Australian Government Special Broadcasting Service) and was also SBS Radio Marketing coordinator, later Training coordinator. For her various community activities, Valda was included in the book “Contemporary Australian Women 1996/97”.  In 1999 Valda moved to Latvia where she worked on several EU pre-accession Twinning projects. In 2006 she started work for the European Commission Directorate-General for Translation in Luxembourg where she was initially Head of the Latvian translation Unit, but has been Head of the English Translation Unit since 2012. Valda is also active in the Latvian diaspora community in Luxembourg, singing in the choir and writing for the Latvian diaspora newspapers about activities in Luxembourg. She has been Chair of the Latvian Parliamentary polling station in Luxembourg since 2010.