LIGHTHOUSE - Key Persons
Aaron Newton joined the Lighthouse team in June 2020. A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas (journalism) and Oregon State University (construction engineering), Aaron is a jack-of-all-trades. His official title as director of mentoring does not encompass the full scope of his duties at the Lighthouse. Aaron also serves as the IT department, bookkeeper, furniture builder, head financial advisor for Lighthouse students, comedian emeritus, worship leader, A/V department and other roles as assigned.
Aaron enjoys playing music, rock climbing, building guitar effect pedals, exercising, being the only true extrovert in the office, inline skating, lamenting about how hot it always seems to be, exploring the Latvian countryside and assisting with youth camps.
Amanda Banister is the CEO & founder of Lighthouse Transitional Care. She has worked seasonally in Latvia since 2009 and moved to the capital city, Riga, to work full time with orphaned children and young adults in 2016 after God gave her a heart for the fatherless.
Amanda earned bachelor's degrees in anthropology and dance performance from Southern Methodist University in 2013. She pursued a career as a dancer, teacher and performer before moving overseas to begin life as a missionary. After a year of serving vulnerable children through an organization in Riga, she saw a gap in care for aged-out youth, and that's where the dream for the Lighthouse began. She has become a passionate advocate for young adults aging out of state-run child care systems and wants to continue to lift up and listen to their voices.
When she isn't advocating for young adults from foster care and orphanages, Amanda can be found teaching dance classes, drinking coffee, drawing, painting, or spending time with her husband, Landon, and their two dogs.
Callie Newton volunteered with the Lighthouse since its founding and joined the staff full time in Riga in February 2020. After earning her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, Callie's career took many twists and turns, but through it all her heart for justice and for the nations remained.
She's an all-around communicator. Writing is her passion, but she also loves taking photos, editing audio and video, designing, coding and more.
She's also a registered yoga teacher, and in her spare time, indulges in many hobbies including reading, writing fiction and poetry, fiber and visual arts, cooking, baking, weight lifting, rock climbing, inline skating and playing casual, cozy video games.
Dace Šmitiņa joined Lighthouse Latvia at the beginning of 2022. She is the only Lighthouse staff member originally from Riga. She just finished university and is feeling fresh, full of motivation and determined to help youth solve their problems and reach their potential. In the past Dace has worked with kids and youth in an orphanage so she's familiar with the life situations Lighthouse youth have gone through before.
She is a helper by nature. She likes to develop close relationships with people so she could understand them better and help in the best effective way possible.
Dace is also a mom of a three-year-old girl. Mostly she spends her free time with her daughter and husband. She likes to bake pastries and sweets, be in nature, go on hikes. She also likes to learn more about social subjects and enjoy the presence of God.
Jhonata Neves started volunteering with the Lighthouse in 2021 and joined the staff officially in 2022. After graduating in Civil Engineering at Paraná University and working as a BIM designer, he left Brazil and came to Latvia in 2018 for a change in his life and to pursue something that would resonate with his inner self since social justice has always permeated his life through different areas.
He is a jack-of-all-tricks type of person, and helping others is basically his modus operandi. He loves being involved in different projects and being hands-on, and that's how he contributes to the Lighthouse team. One of his passions is mentoring and coaching. He enjoys psychology and counseling subjects and is always trying to learn more.