New additions to the Brno Expat Centre team
Our dear Veronika is soon to give birth not only to one, but two! new, honorary, members of our team. Which sadly means she’ll be leaving the day-to-day running of the office. To take on some of her responsibilities, we welcome our new immigration expert, Lenka!
Our legal consultant Veronika has been with us since 2019. In those five years, she helped hundreds of expats to arrive and stay legally in Brno. Or helped them get their deposits back from their landlords, or helped them sort out their tax domiciles.
But the daily workload is just one part of her contribution. In many ways, her more notable legacy is in the projects she has started, or helped develop, and that the Brno Expat Centre will very much continue. She’s been the head and soul (and hands) behind our student programme, which helps students in Brno enter the job market, or stay in the city after graduation. We also appreciate her input in our efforts to advocate the easing of Czech immigration policy. (We haven’t gotten far, but we’re nowhere near stopping!)
It also needs to be mentioned that we are a small team, and as such, everyone in it is pretty vital. And not only in the tasks their job position prescribes! In other words, the team will miss you in many other ways I won’t be able to list here, Veru.
Now she’s embarking on a different chapter – parenthood. And because Veronika always strives for efficiency, she’s taking it two babies at a time 😉 She’s temporarily stepping away from the office for maternity leave with the twins, though she will be joining us on occasion, for seminars and project development.
Welcome, Lenka!
Taking Veronika’s chair of our immigration expert is Lenka Kiknadze.
Her work in the expat centre is hardly her first experience in an international environment. Quite on the contrary, she almost puts the rest of us to shame 😉
From volunteering and working for local NGOs supporting migrants and refugees, to teaching English in Georgia (the country, not the US state:) and working in a relocation agency in Brno, her journey to our office is truly rich in the right experiences. And that’s not all yet! She also worked for language schools, international companies, and the Centre of Assistance for Refugees from Ukraine. Oh, and she was married to an expat. She’s married to him still, but he’s now a Czech citizen.
She was born in Brno, and in her own words, she’s probably going to die here, too. When asked what she likes about living in the city, she says, “Brno is not too big; not too small. It’s family-friendly, full of cultural events, movie festivals, and just a short ride by public transport away from nature.”
When not at work, she spends her time with her husband and two children. And unavoidably, also house chores. “We’ve been trying to do gardening, too,” Lenka says. “We’re members of the garden colony in our neighbourhood.” She likes travelling, reading, art movies, volunteering, hiking and dancing. “If only I had more time for all of these, though.”
To contact Lenka, feel free to use the standard route – our contact form. Your question will easily reach her.
