I am a consultant, trainer, and mentor with more than 20 years of experience in leadership, negotiations, and transformation.
Over the years, I have worked across business, government, NGO’s and international organisations to help leaders and teams build the skills needed to succeed in complex environments.
My professional journey spans multiple senior management roles, two terms as a government minister in Latvia, a member of the 13th Saeima (Latvian Parliament), and international engagements with banks, consulting firms, retail organisations, legal practices, universities, and public institutions across the region.
I earned a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard Kennedy School in 2007.
Currently I lead my own practice, where I design and deliver executive education and consulting programmes in negotiation, leadership, and transformation.
I also serve on the Advisory Board of Longenesis, a digital health startup advancing the ethical use of health data in Europe and beyond.
My training and consulting projects are delivered through Zeno Consulting SIA, a consulting practice based in Latvia that I own and manage.
My training partners
No man is an island famously wrote John Donne. Alongside my management and private consulting and teaching career, I continue working with leading business schools including the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Riga Business School, Hertie School Berlin and the leading training agencies in the region.
Riga Technical University
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
Executive Education Department
Latvia
Lithuania and the Baltics
I’ve worked with some of the best companies, industry leaders in the region and globally. See below some of the most recent clients.
My Track Record
Education
My first degree was a Bachelor of Arts from the Latvian Academy of Music (1999). I grew up studying to become a classical pianist, practising from the age of six. I later pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Management at City University, London (2000), building a bridge between the arts and management.
After gaining practical leadership experience, I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and completed a Master in Public Administration (MPA) at Harvard Kennedy School (Edward S. Mason mid-career programme) in 2007.
Public Service
I began my public service career in 2003, at the age of 26, when I was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, the ministry’s most senior civil servant. During three years in this role I introduced strategic planning and performance management in the cultural sector, oversaw institutional reforms in theatres, museums, and archives, and helped prepare the cultural field for EU accession. I also advanced major national projects, including the construction of the National Library of Latvia.
From 2011 to 2014 I served as Minister of Economics, where my focus was on raising Latvia’s economic productivity and competitiveness through modern industrial policy. I led key reforms in the energy sector, including gas market liberalisation and integration into the Baltic Energy Market, and corrected feed-in tariff subsidy schemes that had undermined the electricity market.
In 2017 I co-founded a social-liberal party Movement “For!”, later serving as its chairman and as a member of the Latvian Parliament (2018-2021). This period of work laid the foundations for progressive reforms in governance, healthcare, security and defence, as well as civil liberties.
Most recently, from 2021 to 2022, I served as a Minister of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic. I led Latvia’s vaccination campaign, which achieved the highest primary vaccination coverage in Central and Eastern Europe, and secured substantial budget growth and pay rises for medical staff. Alongside crisis management, I launched structural reforms including a Digital Health strategy, primary care and hospital reforms, and a €700m programme of health infrastructure investments.
In parallel with public office, I have also contributed to advocacy roles, co-founding the Latvian Startup Association and lobbying successfully for the Startup Law, Startup Visa, and employee share options regulation that strengthened Latvia’s startup ecosystem.
Private Sector
Alongside public service, I have built a strong track record in the private sector. I served on the management team of Swedbank Latvia, the country’s largest retail bank, where I developed the public affairs function in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. As a Board Member of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I helped transform the organisation into a more dynamic, member-driven business body.
Since 2007 I have run my own consulting and training practice, Zeno Consulting, working with both public and private sector clients. Over the years I have delivered programmes and advisory projects for many of the leading companies and institutions in Latvia and across the Baltics — including banks, law firms, technology companies, manufacturers, and professional associations.
In this work I have combined practical management experience with the role of educator, specialising in negotiation, leadership, and transformation. My focus has always been on designing learning and consulting engagements that are hands-on, relevant, and able to deliver lasting change for organisations and their people.
International Projects
Alongside my national roles, I have built extensive international experience in consulting and executive training, particularly in development assistance and governance reform. I have worked with governments and institutions in Ukraine, Moldova, Kosovo, Armenia, Georgia and Iraq, supporting EU integration, economic policy reform, and institutional development. My assignments have included advising the Moldovan Ministry of Economy during the EU High-Level Policy Advisory Mission, contributing to Kosovo’s industrial policy and functional reviews in Armenia, and helping shape strategies for sustainable economic transformation.
In parallel, I have designed and delivered leadership and capacity-building programmes for ministries, judiciaries, and professional bodies under EU and Council of Europe projects, as well as delivering projects for institutions such as the DFID, World Bank and UNDP. Most recently, in 2023, I co-delivered a leadership development programme in Iraq for Hertie School in Berlin. Across all these engagements, my focus has been on strengthening governance and equipping leaders to manage complex reform and change.
Private life
- I am a family man, married, have four kids
- I love everything outdoors – mushroom picking, boating, camping in the woods, trail walking
- Fascinated by history, particularly that of the 20th century
- Classical pianist by training, occasionally still perform on stage
- I completed an army infantry reserve training in summer 2025
