The Supervisory Board of the Integration Foundation elected Dmitri Moskovtsev as the new director of the foundation this week as a result of a public competition. The new director will take office on 1 July. The current director Irene Käosaar will become the headmaster of the new Narva Estonian State High School.
‘The Integration Foundation plays an important role in making Estonia more cohesive. The team of the foundation is motivated and the range of its activities and services is wide. Thanks to the leadership of Irene Käosaar, the foundation is significantly more present in Ida-Viru County, but also in other regions of Estonia. The teaching of the Estonian language has also developed strongly. The role of the new director is to maintain the achieved results and expand the impact of the organisation, especially in the current situation where the refugee crisis in Ukraine poses additional challenges to society,’ said Piret Hartman, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Integration Foundation and Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity of the Ministry of Culture.
Dmitri Moskovtsev has been working in the Ministry of Finance since 2017 as a project manager in the field of public administration. In 2014–2017, Dmitri Moskovtsev worked in the Tallinn City Centre Government as the Chief Specialist of the City Property Department. He has actively contributed to social activities, being the founder and organiser of the TEDxLasnamäe conference in 2014–2018.
Dmitri Moskovtsev holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and governance and a master’s degree in political science from Tallinn University. In addition, he has completed a number of refresher training courses in management and policy-making.
‘Creating and maintaining a cohesive society is a common challenge for all of us. In order to achieve a greater impact, we must look for solutions and ways to involve more compatriots in the activities, especially people who speak Estonian as their mother tongue. A good example is the Language Friend programme organised by the foundation, within the framework of which hundreds of volunteer mentors help Estonian language learners to practice the language,’ said Dmitri Moskovtsev. ‘The Integration Foundation has an important role to play in the adaptation of refugees and in supporting their language learning, and local governments and communities across Estonia also need support in the field of integration in connection with the refugee crisis,’ Dmitri Moskovtsev added.
Irene Käosaar has been the director of the Integration Foundation since 1 September 2017 and will continue to contribute to the field of integration as the headmaster of the Narva Estonian State High School, which will be established in 2023.
The Integration Foundation is a state foundation established in 1998, which operates in the area of government of the Ministry of Culture and carries out various activities that promote integration and adaptation. The Integration Foundation has Estonian language houses in Tallinn and Narva, which offer free Estonian language and culture education to permanent Estonian residents and newly arrived immigrants. The foundation employs 49 people.
