Krista Butvydas Bard has since 2010 served as Honorary Consul, and since 2016, as Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Lithuania to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She has worked with both U.S. and Lithuanian Embassy staff, and coordinated efforts of myriad agencies and ministries to organize delegations, negotiate MOUs, and spearhead public and private sector exchanges, thinktank initiatives, humanitarian relief, and cultural and educational events.

As the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a federally mandated partnership program with Lithuania, Bard works on an ongoing basis with the Pennsylvania National Guard, the Governor’s office, and numerous PA agencies and officials, notably helping to arrange the first U.S. Governor’s visit to Lithuania in 2019.

Bard founded an award-winning marketing consultancy in 1985, working for 25 years with Fortune 500 companies, SMEs and organizations in diverse industry sectors. She served for ten years as President of Philadelphia’s small business association, designing programs to support business development and civic engagement for over 400 companies.

Prior positions include US Department of Interior policy analyst for historic preservation, art and advertising director at Boehm Porcelain, and executive director of the Victorian Society in America.

Bard currently serves as Chancellor of the Consular Corps College; as Chair of the Public Affairs Council of the national Lithuanian American Community; and as advisor the the Lithuanian Cultural Center.  She is past president of the Consular Corps Association of Philadelphia, and has served on the boards of numerous other professional and U.S.-Baltic associations.

Bard’s awards include: Lithuanian Knight’s Cross Order of Merit presented by the President of Lithuania, Lithuanian Ministry of culture Medal of Honor, Angel of Vilnius Award, Public Relations Society of America International PR Award, Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction, Geographic Award, the USA Showing Center Association Maxi Award, and the Mabel Daniels Award for Literature.

Her art avocation’s most recent series “Sacred Words” has been exhibited in Palm Beach, Paris and Washington D.C., and awarded to numerous interfaith leaders.

Bard graduated from Tufts University summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, as a Leopold Schepp Foundation Scholar, and also holds an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning.