Mundelein native represents U.S. at Y20 summit in China

The millennial generation has been called entitled, self-absorbed and lazy.

With her ambition, gumption and perseverance, 20-year-old Kotryna Jukneviciute of Mundelein could never be described as such.

Last month, the Georgetown University junior was one of only four U.S. delegates to attend the Youth 20 summit in Shanghai, China, where she met other young people from around the world to discuss global issues ranging from governance to poverty and exchange ideas for solutions.

“To be able to share ideas and learn about their culture and how they view these issues was the most rewarding experience,” she said.

Jukneviciute, who is studying international relations and Arabic, became interested in politics while attending Carmel High School. She spent her junior year interning for Congressman Bob Dold’s re-election campaign. Upon graduation, she followed him to Capitol Hill, commuting to Washington, D.C., up to three times a week during her freshman year at Loyola University.

“It was hectic, but I loved it,” said the Lithuanian-born Jukneviciute, who moved with her single mother to the United States when she was 3.

Jurate Dzemenaite said her daughter is a determined young woman who once wrote in her journal, “I am here not to make a new page. I am here to make a new chapter in life.”

“She is something for sure,” Dzemenaite said. “She has accomplished so much.”

Jukneviciute’s positive experiences in Washington, D.C., resulted in her transferring from Loyola to Georgetown University.

“Working on Capitol Hill, I was exposed to so many politically ambitious people,” she said. “It was a great experience and ultimately made me decide I needed to be at Georgetown. It immediately became my dream school.”

Jukneviciute was soon appointed Georgetown’s director of federal and D.C. relations for the Office of Federal Relations, the university’s primary liaison to the federal government. The office’s primary mission is to provide advocacy on behalf of the university on issues pertaining to higher education, according to its website.

It was through this position that Jukneviciute was nominated and selected for the Y20 summit in July.

“I was blown away by how much thought, cooperation and detail was put into this summit,” she said. “All the streets and highways were blocked off for us, especially in Shanghai, and ‘Y20’ was written all over the buildings. We also met the vice president of China.”

Meeting of global minds

At the summit, youth delegates were broken into groups to discuss topics that included poverty elimination and joint development, entrepreneurship and creative thinking, social justice and equal opportunities, green life and sustainability, and partnership and global governance.

Jukneviciute’s group worked on the topic of entrepreneurship and creative thinking. Each group wrote a proposal of ideas based on their topic to be submitted to the global leaders of the G20 summit taking place Sept. 4 and 5 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Jukneviciute said she’s looking forward to their review.

Suggestions that Jukneviciute contributed to the report included creating a global network for entrepreneurs to connect and share ideas “because you can’t do it alone,” and for more schools to offer education in entrepreneurship, even at the elementary level.

“We need to foster an entrepreneurial mindset,” she said. “Not only attorneys and doctors should be valued in society but also innovative minds that think outside the box, who can break barriers.”

The young global delegates spent hours together every day. As they worked, their conversations sometimes would get heated, but they always respected each other’s opinions, Jukneviciute said.

“Every single country brought so much to the table,” she said. “It was amazing how all these different people from all these different countries got along so well and had such constructive conversations. We thought, ‘Why can’t our world leaders come together like this?’”

Jukneviciute said being a Lithuanian immigrant has allowed her to understand firsthand how critical it is to work together with all nations toward security and peace.

“At Georgetown, every other student I meet is international,” she said. “It has made me value my background and understand how fortunate I am to be a dual citizen.”

She encourages other young people to follow their passions, to take risks, to get out of their comfort zone and be open to learning about the world beyond their backyard.

“Break away from the environment you’re used to,” she said. “Experience something that will alter your thinking. It will reshape you as a person.”

This fall, Jukneviciute will intern for an international law firm.

“I thought I wanted to go to law school right after graduating, but I think I may take a few years off,” she said. “I’d really like to work at the State Department or somewhere along those lines. I definitely want to work abroad.”

If you’re wondering how Jukneviciute finds time for all her commitments, she said her sleep and social life sometimes suffer, but she remains as determined as ever to pursue her goal of making people’s lives better around the world.

“As a college student, everyone tells you that you have your whole life ahead of you, that there’s time after graduation to do what you want,” she said. “There’s nothing that makes me more angry than hearing someone tell me that. There’s no time to waste. People need help now.”