Young Professionals´ program 2023 has started, with its first session in Riga

The bilateral leadership program "Young Professionals", initiated by the Sweden-Latvia Cooperation fund, granted jointly by SEB and Swedbank program has started its second edition.

The aim is to bring young people of the two countries closer together and promote their leadership skills. Participating is a total of 16 promising young people from Latvia and Sweden, who met in the first days of June for the first time in Riga to learn from each other, establish new contacts and improve their leadership skills. Moreover, new networks are created, as well as strong and lasting friendships. The participants are carefully selected from various sectors of society, like business, political, cultural, NGO, and academic environments. SEB and Swedbank are given the opportunity to delegate one representative for each bank's participation in the program, which consists of two sessions – the first took place in Riga on June 1 and 2, while the second part will take place in Stockholm in September.

The two banks take turns in hosting the program and this year it is SEB in Latvia. The Head of SEB Latvia, Ieva Tetere says:

“At SEB bank, we didn’t have to worry much about further support for the Young Professionals program mainly for two reasons. We strongly believe in the need to invest in the society in which we work. If people are doing well, it will be good for us for work. Secondly, we want to contribute to the rapprochement of Sweden and Latvia and strengthening relationships. Sweden is currently one of our biggest investors, but I believe that both countries have the potential for even greater economic cooperation, in the fields of politics and culture.”

— SEB BANK LATVIA PRESS RELEASE ON JUNE 2ND 2023

“For the second year now, I continue to see how many excellent young people there are in both countries. We selected the participants based on their outstanding achievements, demonstrated potential and strong commitment to positively influence their fields of activity. Selections criteria included factors such as leadership experience, innovative thinking, essential achievements, and passion for positive change in society. This ensured that within the framework of the program, the group brought together various talented people who could contribute a valuable contribution to the cooperation between Latvia and Sweden.”

— ILZE RŪSE, CHAIRPERSON OF THE SWEDEN-LATVIA COOPERATION FUND BOARD