The “Future Leaders Academy” is a programme hosted at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga), organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Latvia and the Swedish Institute.

Dates for the five modules of the Future Leaders Academy 2023 will be:

September 8-10, September 15-17, September 29-October 1, October 13-15, October 27-29.

Application for the Future Leaders Academy 2023 is available here

Application deadline for 2023 is August 1.

Applicants will be notified of the selection committee's decision in mid-August.  

Purpose and Aim

The program aims to educate, inspire, and develop the leadership potential of future political and community leaders in Latvia.

By bringing together talented young leaders from all over Latvia, representing different regions and backgrounds, giving them an opportunity to meet and develop ideas amongst themselves, and by further introducing them to existing Latvian experts and politicians, the aim is to help them grow their contact networks for future success. 

The working language of the programme is Latvian, with some modules in English.

Participants and Selection

Candidates must submit an electronic application on the SSE Riga website, including their CV and a short 2-minute motivation video (in Latvian or English). Twenty participants for the programme are selected each year. Programme participants range in age from 18-27. For each class of the Future Leaders Academy, the selection committee strives for diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, and regional background.

Format and Lecturers

The programme is held over five weekends – Friday evenings 17:30-21:00, Saturday 10:00-17:00, and Sunday 10:00-15:00.

Last year during the Academy the current and former President of Latvia spoke (H.E. Egils Levits and H.E. Valdis Zatlers), as did the Minister of Science and Education (Anita Muižniece), in addition to the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy (Baiba Braže), the candidate for Prime Minister from “Progressivie” political party (Kaspars Briškens), and former Supreme Court of Latvia judge (Sanita Osipova).

Previous notable speakers have included Minister of Health and former Minister of Economics Daniels Pavļuts, former Speaker of the Saeima and current Defense Minister Ināra Mūrniece, former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks, former Minister of Economics and Minister of Finance Dana Reizniece-Ozola, founder of Ir.lv Pauls Raudseps, Board Member of SEB Banka Kārlis Danēvičs, Chief Economist Swedbanka Līva Zorgenfreija, founder of Re:Baltica Inga Spriņģe, as well as the faculty of SSE Riga.

Training modules have been hosted by business etiquette specialist and current member of Saeima Irma Kalniņa, LTV journalist Ilze Dobele, European Public Speaking Champion Dāvis Golds, board members of Quo Tu Domā? and others.

During the course of the programme, FLA participants develop and pitch a team project idea for the opportunity to travel and participate in the youth section of the Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan (https://nizamiganjavi-ic.org/en/forums). This opportunity is facilitated by FLA Patron H.E. Valdis Zatlers.

Participant Feedback 2022

• Overall evaluation of the Future Leaders Academy (out of 7) – 6.7
• Organization of the Future Leaders Academy (out of 7) – 6.9
• Would recommend to others (out of 7) - 7