"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

“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

“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

“My experiences from the Young Professionals program have given me a new outlook on both my day to day life and my career as a whole. From talking to real experts and picking their brains to workshops which introduced me to new ways of thinking, options which I didn’t even know I had have now opened up for me. But possibly above all else, I have had the pleasure of connecting with a room full of driven people from a wide range of fields that I will be able to call upon throughout my entire career. I would strongly recommend the Young Professionals program to anyone who is interested in broadening their horizons and developing invaluable leadership skills.

Thank you, again, to Austra and Pär for this truly great experience.” 

- Elizabeth Giles