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 2025 will be:

• October 3 – 5,
• October 17 – 19,
• October 31– November 2,
• November 14 – 16,
• November 28 – 30.

The application for the Future Leaders Academy 2025 is available here. The application deadline is August 11, 2025.

Applicants will be notified of the selection committee's decision in late August / early September.
 

Purpose and Aim

The programme aims to educate, inspire, and develop the leadership potential of Latvia's future political and community leaders. We seek applicants with a strong interest and demonstrated commitment to the future development of Latvia in any field.

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

The programme's working language 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 20-27. 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 from 17:30 to 21:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00, and Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00.

Last year, notable guests of the Academy were the Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Siliņa, the former President of Latvia H.E. Valdis Zatlers, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, Minister of Culture Agnese Lāce, Swedish Ambassador to Latvia Karin Höglund, Governor of the Central Bank of Latvia Mārtiņš Kazāks, European of the Year 2022 Reinis Pozņaks, industry leaders from SEB Banka Kārlis Danēvičs, Swedbank Līva Zorgenfreija, META Vitnija Saldava, and many many others!

Training modules on public speaking, critical thinking, argumentation, and presentation skills are part of the Academy’s yearly programme.

During the five weekends of the programme, FLA participants develop and pitch a team project idea to a jury comprised of distinguished Latvian decision-makers. Read the article about last year’s winning concept in IR.

Participant Feedback 2024

Participants would recommend to others (out of 10) – 9.43