Smarter Parenting Day. The world is changing – let's learn together!

Anu Välba

Television and radio editor, show host

Anu Välba has been active in the Estonian television and radio landscape for over 30 years – as a presenter, editor and producer. She has hosted and edited the much-loved programmes ‘Terevisioon’, ‘Paar’ and ‘Ringvaade’, and, since 2015, the talk show ‘Hommik Anuga’. Anu has been involved in numerous music, entertainment and special-occasion programmes, and has hosted major live broadcasts and high-profile events. Her work has been recognised with several television and media awards, including the EFTA award for Best Show Host and the title of ‘Alumnus of the Century’ from Tallinn University.
Alongside her work and other commitments, Anu is also the mother of a wonderful son.
 

Jaak Raie

Director General of the Estonian Education and Youth Board

Jaak Raie is the father of three daughters. Two of them are already adults, but as we all know, parenthood does not end when children grow up.

The world of children, young people and learning has featured in Jaak’s life from various angles. His grandfather was a long-serving headteacher, Jaak himself has been a basketball coach, and to this day he remains very much a sports educator at heart. He believes that progress comes from practice, feedback and, at the right moment, a little encouragement.

Today, Jaak leads the Education and Youth Board and deals every day with issues that are very close to parents’ hearts: how learning and school are changing, what a parent’s responsibility is for their child’s development, how to make good choices on the path to learning, and what skills are needed to face the future.

When Jaak isn’t busy with education, basketball or music, he can usually be found by the water, as he is a keen fisherman. As a father of three daughters, a coach and a leader in the field of education, he will bring together both his personal experience of parenting and a broader perspective on how to create the world’s best opportunities for the learning and development of children and young people at Smarter Parenting Day.

Liina Kanter

Head of the Educational Innovation Department at the Education and Youth Board

Liina Kanter leads the Educational Innovation Department at the Education and Youth Board, whose responsibilities include sustainable and modern learning, digital and artificial intelligence skills, IT and engineering education, vocational skills and sustainability.
Liina has extensive experience in shaping policies relating to children, families and equal opportunities. She has previously worked in child protection, as an adviser to the Minister on family policy, and headed the equality policy division at the Ministry of Social Affairs. She is also a member of the Chancellor of Justice’s Human Rights Council and the board of the Sustainable Business Association.
As a mother of a 12-year-old son, Liina views changes in education from the perspectives of the system, a leader and a parent. She believes that whilst we cannot prepare children for everything that lies ahead, we can equip them with the skills, self-confidence and a supportive environment that will help them cope with change. To achieve this, educational institutions, the home and society must be prepared to learn alongside the children.

Kairi Kaldoja

Deputy Secretary General for Language Policy at the Ministry of Education and Research

Before joining the Ministry of Education and Research, Kairi Kaldoja worked at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Although she came from a somewhat different world, language has always been an important tool for her. The noble aim of bringing people together, uniting them and making oneself understood by others – language is a great opportunity, but also a responsibility. Creating value and working for the good of the country is something she has no intention of swapping for anything else for some time yet.

Had Kairi not gone to university to study law, however, she would have very much liked to become a symphony orchestra conductor! The challenge of getting several dozen musicians to play together in such a way that everyone knows what they’re doing, takes others into account, takes their solo at the right moment and allows others to do the same in good time is simply such an enticing challenge for her! Every time he sees Kristiina Poska in front of the orchestra, he still feels a twinge of envy.
 

Irene Käosaar

Headmaster of Narva Estonian Gymnasium

Throughout my professional life, I have followed a spiral of themes centred on education and integration. I graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in Estonian as a Second Language and worked as an Estonian language teacher at a school where Russian was the language of instruction for eight years. My subsequent professional journey led me to become Head of the Language Transition Centre at the Integration Foundation in 1999, Head of the General Education Department at the Ministry of Education and Research in 2007, and subsequently Director of the Integration Foundation in 2017. At heart, I have always been a teacher, and so five years ago I fulfilled my dream and set about establishing a new state grammar school – Narva Estonian Gymnasium; today, I also lead two primary schools in Narva, and together we form the Narva Estonian Education Campus. I live by the principle that, within my own value system, I am always true to myself – as a mother, a sister, a friend, a colleague, a partner, a daughter, a leader… I am the mother of two grown-up sons and the grandmother of a lively little boy – these three are the centre and backbone of my world.

Triin Kahre

Psychologist, family therapist and trainer

Triin Kahre is a psychologist, family therapist and trainer with extensive experience as both a teacher and a school psychologist. For the past ten years, she has dedicated herself to working with families, focusing primarily on family relationships and how they function.
In addition to her practical work with families, Triin teaches family psychology and therapy to various professionals, students and trainee family therapists. She also supervises practising therapists, supporting them in their professional development.
Triin is in a long-term relationship and has three daughters, two of whom are already adults. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, watching high-quality crime series and playing tennis.

 

Umberto Geerts

Social pedagogue, trainer, teacher

Umberto was born in the Netherlands and studied social work and social policy. As a trainer at Peaasi.ee, he runs mental health first aid training sessions for parents and young people, dialectical behaviour therapy groups for young people, and training courses for practitioners of the ‘Let’s Talk About Children’ method.
At Tartu Herbert Masing School, he works as a social pedagogue and teacher and is responsible for the parents’ school programme designed for parents of children with mental health issues. For the past ten years, he has worked as a parenting trainer, running the ‘Wonderful Years’ and ‘Caring Fathers’ programmes.
Umberto lives in Tallinn and is the father of three sons (aged 6, 10 and 14).
 

Karmen Maikalu

School psychologist, family therapist

Karmen Maikalu is a psychologist, family therapist, trainer and head of the Estonian Association of School Psychologists, with over 25 years’ professional experience. She frequently appears in the media and at various conferences to speak on topics relating to parenting and the mental health of children and young people and is a passionate advocate for these issues. In her presentations, Karmen combines research-based approaches, long-standing practical experience and the ability to address complex topics in a clear and relatable way. The President of the Republic of Estonia has recognised her work with the Order of the White Star, Fourth Class, and for several years running, journalists have voted her among the 100 most influential Estonians.

Tauri Tallermaa

Memory coach and trainer

Tauri Tallermaa is a qualified accountant, but he also has professional experience in both the finance and marketing sectors. In 2001, he joined the Speed Reading School team and, a year later, after meeting eight-time World Memory Champion Dominic O’Brien, he learnt memory techniques and began conducting memory training sessions. Memory-related topics are primarily linked to attention and concentration, which is why there has been an increasing focus on training these skills in today’s fast-paced world. In addition, he provides training on systematic thinking and revision, communication and sales, negotiation and assertiveness, public speaking, and learning and teaching. He has written two books in Estonian on the subject of memory – “The Story of the Brain” (“Ajalugu”) was published in 2019, and “Rock, Paper, Scissors” (Kivi-paber-käärid”) in 2024.

Õnne Uus

Lecturer in Educational Psychology, clinical psychologist, family therapist, member of the PeVa (Family and Parenting) research group at Tallinn University

Õnne Uus holds a master’s degree in psychology and a PhD in educational sciences and she works as a lecturer in educational psychology at the Institute of Educational Sciences. She has long worked as a clinical psychologist in collaboration with Tartu University Hospital (Centre for Genetics and Rare Diseases) and at Tallinn Children’s Hospital. She also works as a family psychotherapist, including with children with individual differences and disabilities and their parents.

Õnne Uus’s passion lies in the psychological development and maturation of the mind, as understood by psychology, and the necessary conditions that enable learning. Her focus is on executive functions and the crucial role that the learning environment plays in meaningful learning. Õnne researches and teaches how the family, the teacher, peers and the learner themselves can influence what goes on in the learner’s mind and how their memory works.

She knows that learning is amzing, a life-changing experience.

Õnne Uus’s strength lies in sharing evidence-based knowledge on how best to utilise the human brain’s cognitive abilities at every moment, so that what has been learnt can be applied in the future and the knowledge acquired can be continuously expanded upon.
 

Liisi Koikson

Parent, singer

For most of her life, Liisi Koikson has described herself as a singer and performer. This year marks her tenth year as a mother. Whilst she used to be able to showcase what she’s good at in front of others, recent years have shown that the role of a parent mercilessly exposes her shortcomings in everyday situations.

The greatest lesson she has learnt whilst growing up alongside her children has been understanding how to truly support them whilst still leaving herself some breathing space. She wouldn’t dare give anyone advice, as we all have such different life stories. However, she must share her experience – and perhaps someone will nod in recognition. Sometimes that is enough.
 

Mustafa Çelik

Parent, television operator

I have been living in Estonia for 18 years now. Right from the start, I began working as a camera operator at Eesti Televisioon, and during that time I have been involved in many of the biggest and most important projects on the Estonian television scene. I have worked on programmes such as ‘Terevisioon’, ‘Pealtnägija’, ‘Eesti Laul’ and ‘Eesti otsib superstaari’, as well as serving as a camera operator at the Song and Dance Festival, the  Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia parade and many other major events and television programmes.

Alongside all this, it is important to me to be a good father and to contribute to society. I consider myself a hard-working, conscientious and open-minded Estonian. I have deep ties to Estonia and can honestly say that I consider myself an Estonian patriot.

Uljana Kuzmina

Parent, ERR television journalist

Uljana Kuzmina has been working as a television journalist for 19 years and, in recent years, has done so in both Estonian and Russian. Over the years, she has worked in news and become the sort of person who is only ever late in her worst nightmares; she has conducted interviews and learnt to listen to people; and she has hosted hours-long live broadcasts, which have taught her to work under intense pressure whilst retaining her sense of humour.

“I have the funniest mum,” says her nine-year-old son when Uljana helps him with his schoolwork. Without a sense of humour, it would indeed be difficult, as her son attends an Estonian-speaking school and one might say that Uljana is also learning a little alongside him at primary school. In any case, thanks to her son, her Estonian vocabulary has become noticeably richer in recent years, and she has learnt that it’s perfectly normal for a mum to say: ‘I don’t know, let’s have a look together.’

Ruslan Trochynskyi

Parent, musician, music teacher

Ruslan Trochynskyi was born in Ukraine and studied music at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music in Kyiv. He has lived and worked in Estonia since 2004 and is an Estonian citizen.

Ruslan has three children in his bilingual family, with whom he celebrates the important festivals and traditions of both cultures.

In 2005, he founded the Estonian-Ukrainian folk rock band Svjata Vatra, with which he has performed in 23 countries around the world. In addition, he has performed at numerous local authority events alongside his daughter, Rute Trochynsky. In collaboration with the Estonian Traditional Music Centre and Eesti Kontsert, Ruslan has been giving lecture-concerts in schools and kindergartens for nearly 20 years. He has worked as a music teacher in a general education school for seven years.

As a musician, music teacher and parent, Ruslan has gained a wide-ranging experience and an overview of what is happening across Estonia in these areas.