Liisa was born and raised in Finland but got her first taste of the U.S. as an American Field Service exchange student in El Segundo, California. After several years of studying and working in Finland and Germany, she returned to the U.S., this time to Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her MBA at Simmons College (now Simmons University) and subsequently worked as process consultant for companies such as AT&T and Aetna Insurance. After the Berlin Wall came down, she was called to help in setting up non-profit organizations throughout Eastern and Central Europe. Her most meaningful stint was an EU-funded housing project for former political prisoners in Albania. Later she ran the Women & Leadership Conference organized by her alma mater Simmons in Boston.

Now retired, she shares her time between Boston and Grafton, Vermont. She served on the Planning Commission for the Town of Grafton as well as on the 27-town Windham Regional Commission for five years. Currently she serves on the Boards of Directors of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Native Plant Trust. Previously she served on the Boards of Directors of A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, First Night Boston, and The St. Botolph Club Foundation.

She spends much of her time caring for the 1820’s farm Larks’ Meadow in Grafton that she and her late husband acquired decades ago. She is happiest around plants, wildlife, music, word games and friends.