Egle
Girdzijauskaite, PhD
Global Communications Specialist with 10+ years’ experience driving international brand awareness.
Trusted advisor to leadership and key stakeholders, cultivating a culture of collaboration and excellence to achieve goals and exceed expectations.
Demonstrated success in building & leading international teams, planning and executing effective PR & marketing campaigns, utilizing data-driven insights.
Well versed in prioritizing time-sensitive issues in high-volume environments, including crisis management and rebranding strategies.
Key Achievements
Project & Communication Manager for Portal, a viral (primarily organic) campaign reaching 700M people.
Project & Communication Manager for #NanoJesus, an award-winning viral project reaching 700M people.
Project & Communication Manager for Dance for the Dawn, an art installation for Burning Man 2017.
Awards
Managed award-winning international projects in education, innovation, design, art, digital media, and advertising, including:
Winner – Gold Award
Adrenalinas
Winner – 1st Place
Verslo Zinios Password
Winner – LOGIN
Best Internet Award
Notable Projects
Communication Leader
European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH)
2022 – 2023
Communication Leader
SHREC Interreg
2022 – 2023
Brand Development Leader
Lithuanian Innovation Agency
2021 – 2022
Professional Experience
HEAD OF COMMUNICATION
ATHENA European University*
2022 – Present
Lead and inspire a team of 7 direct reports and geographically dispersed ambassadors in 9 markets in developing and executing communication strategies for branding and rebranding processes across countries.
Designed brand sustainability initiatives for resource scarcity and abundance scenarios.
Key accomplishments include:Created and implemented a decentralized communication model, improving speed and agility.
* ATHENA, the alliance for Green Digital Europe, is a European university with 9 member institutions that draw on their combined strengths to reach a common objective: to deliver high-quality education positively impacting research, youth employability, and social advancement at the national and European levels.
ADVISOR TO THE MINISTER OF ECONOMY & INNOVATION
Ministry of the Economy & Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania*
2021 – 2022
Owned the direction of the Ministry of Economy & Innovation's communication strategy and execution.
Key accomplishments include:
Official spokesperson on behalf of the Minister.
Led the communication strategy for innovation policy reform.
Spearheaded the branding of the newly-developed Lithuanian Innovation Agency.
Trusted advisor to the Minister on effective communication strategy during the pandemic crisis.
* The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation is responsible for handling government business in the following areas: Business Environment, Investment, Export, Innovation, State-Owned Enterprises, EU Support, Public Procurement, and Tourism.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & PROJECT MANAGER
Innovation & Creativity Center
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University*
2018 – 2021
Managed and mentored a team of ~10 creatives that ideated and launched 50+ successful projects, including multiple award-winning international PR initiatives across verticals.
Created and fundraised several academies, programmes, and hackathons, bringing together stakeholders from education, business, and government.
Organised and facilitated events with up to 2,000 participants.
Key accomplishments include:Winner – Gold Award (Adrenalinas)
Winner – 1st Place (Verslo Zinios Password)
Winner – LOGIN Best Internet Award
Co-created the centre’s brand.
Organically boosted Facebook followers by 10K.
* Vilnius Tech is a leader in technological sciences, executing research and experimental development projects across 13 institutes, 3 scientific centres, and 22 research laboratories.
ACTING VICE DIRECTOR
Innovation & Creativity Center
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2016 – 2018
Developed marketing strategies that outperformed income goals (100-200K).
Supervised the procurement and budgeting processes.
Key accomplishments include:Co-created the centre’s business model, communication plan, and long-term strategies.
Designed and instilled new services for the business, developing and nurturing strategic partnerships.
ASSISTANT TO VICE RECTOR – INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Innovation & Creativity Center
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2016 – 2018
Co-managed institutional self-analysis and external evaluation.
Partnered on internationalisation strategy formation and data management on university international activities, including rankings
and projects.
Organised international events.
Research
PhD RESEARCHER & LECTURER
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University*
2014 – 2020
Published a PhD dissertation and 9 scientific articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications on higher education management, innovation, internationalization, and public policy.
Conducted lectures for students on international management.
Key accomplishments include:Presented work in 7 international conferences.
* Vilnius Tech is a leader in technological sciences, executing research and experimental development projects across 13 institutes, 3 scientific centres, and 22 research laboratories.
RESEARCHER
Stenden University of Applied Sciences*
2016
Published a PhD dissertation and 9 scientific articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications on higher education management, innovation, internationalization, and public policy.
Conducted lectures for students on international management.
Key accomplishments include:Presented work in 7 international conferences.
* NHL Stenden is a multi-campus university of applied sciences firmly rooted in the northern part of the Netherlands with a strong international focus, drawing on the rich histories, networks and experience of two institutions, NHL and Stenden.
Education
PhD, Social Sciences (Management)
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2020
Master of Business Administration,
International Business Management
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2013
Bachelor of Business Management and Administration
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2012
Creativity Training
The Atomic Garden School of Creativity and Advertising
2021
PhD Seminar
University of Groningen
2016
PhD Seminar
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
2016 & 2015
Internationalisation Training
University of Amsterdam
2016
Technical Skills
Microsoft Office Suite
(Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)
Google Workspace
(Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides)
Jira
Trello
Canva
Figma
AutoCAD
Final Cut Pro
iMovie
WordPress
Squarespace
Wix
Nvivo
Slack
Languages
Lithuanian (Native)
English (C2)
Dutch (A1)
Russian (A1)
German (A1)