Rūta Vainienė has been working at LFMI since its inception in 1990 and was its first employee. Her fields of expertise include state finances, tax, budget and monetary policy, banking and market economy reforms. In 1999–2004 Rūta led the team of policy analysts as LFMI‘s Vice-President and since 2004 she kept her ties with LFMI as an associate policy analyst. In 2005–2007 she served as economic advisor to Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas. In 2005–2009 she lectured on macroeconomics, public sector economics and international banking at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius. In 2007 Rūta Vainienė became Head of the Tax Competition and Budget Reform Team of the “Coalition for a Free Europe” – the initiative of leading European free-market think-tanks. The Coalition’s Position on the EU Budget Reforms was widely presented across Europe and the EU debate has been enriched by the free-market reason. In 2008-2011 Rūta Vainienė served as LFMI‘s President. Currently, she works at LFMI as a senior fellow.
 
LFMI owes to Rūta‘s expertise and efforts major achievements in economic and monetary policy and tax and public finance reforms. In 1991–1992 she participated in creating the legal basis for Lithuania‘s capital market. In 1998 -2004 she served as a Member of the Board of the Central Bank of Lithuania. Rūta Vainienė takes part in the Sunset and Sunrise Commissions. Since 2010 she has been a member of the Board of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
                                                                                                                                      
Rūta Vainienė holds a diploma in economics from Vilnius University. She did internships at Deutsche Bundesbank, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Monetary Fund, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Hudson Institute.
 
In 2007 Rūta Vainienė published a “Dictionary of Economics” which became a bestseller in Lithuania and was later translated into many foreign languages. She is an author of numerous articles and publications, a long-time commentator on the Lithuanian National Radio and a highly quoted TV and radio speaker.