“This program has been one of the absolute highlights of my entire work life so far. I could never have imagined when I applied how much fun I would have. The program is highly rewarding, both in terms of learning about our cultures as well as leadership skills and styles. I learned many things that I can make use of already today in my career, but that will also be helpful in the future. I wish we had more sessions to look forward to! Luckily, we have the Alumni network”.

Caroline Sundin, Sweden, participant in 2024

“I really liked Pär Lagers´ way of thinking and I believe that I have learned and got some takeaways from his perspective, which I will be able to use in my everyday work life situations regarding, where I feel that more leadership and proactive thinking/action is needed. I liked how Pär emphasized reflection, which helped me gather my thoughts and better understand my conclusions and lessons from a given lecture or workshop.”

Laura Okdaldere from Latvia, participant in 2024

"It is always an amazing experience to meet like-minded young professionals who each are an expert in their own field, but the participants of this program were absolutely amazing, as everyone was sharing their experience, so highly motivated and ready just gain the maximum from this program. I could not imagine a different place, where we could be inspired by so many high-level field specialists and leaders, taking the time to share their knowledge and experience with us. It was truly a remarkable experience."

Pauls Pencis from Latvia, participant in 2023

 "I was able to have unrestricted access to ask questions and meet top-level leaders during the program, which I think is a great and privileged opportunity for every young professional who is still at the beginning of his career. I enjoyed every bit of the moment spent with other participants and the dialogues that we had between us. I want to use this opportunity to thank the organizers of the program, sponsors and mentors who taught and spend their time with us."

Bruno Kuplausks from Latvia, participated in the 2022 program

“During The Young Professionals Leadership program, I had a great opportunity to listen and learn from successful leaders from the private and public sector in Sweden and Latvia. The lectures, workshops and discussions gave me a better understanding of what a good leader should be. I have many take-aways to be applied both in both my professional career and private life.  However, the most valuable thing was a chance to get to know and spend four days with fourteen young, smart and interesting people I would probably not meet without this Program. Each of them has taught me something new, inspired and broadened my horizons.”  

Tatjana Parfjonova from Latvia, participated in the 2022 program

“I would like to begin by thanking Austra Krēsliņa and Pär Lager for an exceptionally well planned and executed program, as well as the Sweden-Latvia fund for making the program possible. And last but definitely not least, I want to thank the other program participants. In particular I want to emphasize that the wide variety and depth of experiences and expertise provided by the other participants in this program was at the heart of what made it so successful. As an academic financial economist, this constituted a fantastic opportunity to - among other things - get the view from the first row of the direct real world application of financial economics. The intersection between the acquisition of deep knowledge and the ability to disseminate and make full use of that knowledge by means of well-rounded leadership skills, as exemplified by the careers of Jens Henriksson and Ieva Tetere, were of particular interest to me. In addition, the juxtaposition of Swedish and Latvian leadership styles, communication styles and decision making styles I think made it clear that one should take care not to assign too much weight to the differences. We are more similar than different, something that became abundantly clear after having formed relationships with the Latvian delegates of the program over the course of the few but intense days we spent together. And in essence, this insight is the key insight of the program.”

Magnus Hjortfors Irie, from Sweden, participated in the 2022 program