A holder of two Masters of Laws obtained at the University of Amsterdam, Lillian Steffens started work as a corporate lawyer in the late 1990’s.
Her academic mind and legal curiosity are reflected in her numerous publications on matters of private international law, property law and corporate law.
Nonetheless, after visiting Malawi several times, Steffens' vocational interest changed to a different mission. In 2005, she registered Mlambe Foundation, a Dutch charitable organisation aimed at assisting in the preservation of the Malawi’s wonderful cultural heritage.
In 2007, together with her partner Menno Welling, she came to live and work in Malawi, and she seized the opportunity to assist the Foundation with the actual implementation of its projects that include provision of scholarships to Malawian students in History and Anthropology, among others.
Mlambe Foundation’s main project is Tisunge! Which means ‘Let’s preserve!’, a Lower Shire Heritage Centre whose purpose is to restore pride and appreciation of local nature and culture to people of the Lower Shire.
Immediately after settling in Malawi, Steffens combined her voluntary work for Tisunge! with a paid job as director of Jambo Africa Limited, a Malawian tour company, which is there to promote tourism in the country.
Though on another mission in Malawi, law still remained her first love, hence in November 2007, with Clifford Chance LLP and the Catholic University of Malawi, an idea for a Centre for Legal Studies was launched.
On a strictly voluntary basis, she coordinated and developed a course programme in consultation with the partners at Clifford Chance and the Malawi Law Society, and currently, she is Acting Director for the Centre.
She has been a member of Rotary Club Blantyre since January 2008 and as of 1st July she has been a board member, serving as chairperson of the vocational committee.
