Mr. Valdis Zatlers was President of Latvia 2007-2011. The former president spoke with the next generation of leaders about elections, leadership, and the rule of law while also sharing personal political experiences and life lessons. Mr. Valdis Zatlers also underlined the value of lifelong learning and encouraged the upcoming leaders to continuously strive for self-improvement.

This is the sixth year that SSE Riga organizes the Future Leaders Academy in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Latvia, with support from the Swedish Institute. The Future Leaders Academy is a five-weekend programme, aimed at educating, inspiring, and developing the leadership potential of young Latvian political and community leaders from all over Latvia.