Growing up on a farm just outside Somerset, Manitoba, Klausen learned early the values of hard work, community, and connection. With a father who farmed and a mother who taught, and many great teachers along the way, education felt like a natural calling. \u201cI always knew I wanted to be a teacher,\u201d she says. \u201cThere was never really another profession I considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After graduating from Universit\u00e9 de Saint-Boniface with an education degree, she began her teaching journey in Thompson – expecting to stay only a year but finding herself drawn in by the sense of community. \u201cThompson was full of people from everywhere, all starting fresh. It was a welcoming, close-knit place,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, Lillian taught primarily French, later transitioning into guidance counseling with the River East Transcona School Division. Her career evolved through opportunities she hadn\u2019t planned for – first as a counselor, then as a secondment to the Department of Education in Assessment, and eventually into union leadership. \u201cI was always happy where I was,\u201d she laughs, \u201cbut one opportunity led to another, and suddenly I found myself here.\u201d What began as a reluctant step into a local executive role with \u00c9FM turned into a journey that brought her to the presidency of The Manitoba Teachers\u2019 Society in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now at the helm of MTS, Lillian is energized by her role and the team she\u2019s building alongside Vice-President Joel Swaan. \u201cWe balance each other really well,\u201d she says. \u201cJoel is incredibly detail-oriented and knows the structures and procedures inside and out, while I focus more on relationship building and the representing and speaking.\u201d Together, they lead alongside a fresh and motivated Provincial Executive that\u2019s learning and growing together. \u201cWe have trust, respect, and great communication,\u201d she says. \u201cEveryone brings something valuable to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lillian\u2019s first months as president have been busy but fulfilling. She\u2019s made it a priority to meet teachers face to face across the province, traveling to communities from Brandon and Dauphin to Thompson and The Pas. \u201cIt\u2019s important for members and locals to see that we care enough to come to them,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t really understand a community until you\u2019ve been there, seen their schools, and listened to their experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond Manitoba, she also represents educators nationally as vice-president of the Canadian Teachers\u2019 Federation. \u201cIt\u2019s about sharing ideas and learning from each other,\u201d she says. \u201cManitoba is doing great work, especially in Indigenous education, and there\u2019s so much potential to collaborate across provinces. If someone else is doing good work on something like climate change, then we can steal some of those ideas, pieces and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she\u2019s not leading meetings or visiting schools, Lillian is happiest spending time outdoors with her family. She and her husband recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and are proud parents of two teenage sons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Growing up on a farm Klausen learned early the values of hard work, community, and connection. With a father who farmed and a mother who taught, education felt like a natural calling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","post-thumbnail-displayed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3275,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions\/3275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbteach.org\/mtscms\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}