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Terrific Visit to Sweden by Secretary of State Kerry

On May 17, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski greet Secretary of State Kerry upon his arrival to Sweden.

This week, US Embassy Stockholm was honored to support a remarkable and highly productive visit to Sweden by Secretary of State John Kerry, his first visit as Secretary. Two goals were paramount for the visit:  (i) to meaningfully and constructively engage on the future of the Arctic through the Arctic Council, which Sweden chairs and of which the US is a member (ii) to engage Swedish government officials on the challenges we face together around the world.

Secretary Kerry landed in Stockholm early Tuesday morning and got underway immediately with consultations with the Swedish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Whether it’s the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan or the nuclear issue in North Korea (where Sweden acts as the protective power of the US), these are not just American challenges but international challenges and we are pleased that Sweden is a key partner in trying to solve them. An enormous shared opportunity is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; we both look forward for negotiations over this agreement to get underway soon. Prime Minister Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Bildt are incredibly gracious hosts, and the conversation reflected how genuinely close and results oriented our bilateral relationship is.

Secretary Kerry then went to the US Ambassadorial residence, where he bore witness to the US Embassy’s salute to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who chose not to be indifferent and saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. The US Embassy planted last year in front of the US Ambassadorial residence a horse chestnut tree (the same kind Anne Frank looked out over from her window in Amsterdam) in honor of Wallenberg.

Secretary Kerry then took a photo with our awesome US Marines, spending time to ask them about their service and where each came from.

Then the Secretary met with US Embassy staff members and families at the US Ambassadorial residence.  It was truly a warm, genuine and inspiring event.  Secretary Kerry immediately invited all the children on the stage with him, providing a poignant moment for the Secretary to reflect on life in the Foreign Service and speak of the great sacrifice, courage and patriotism of their parents. The Secretary took photos with all the kids, and went around the room and shook every hand. It was a wonderful and touching US embassy family moment.

After a casual lunch, in which we had the honor of being joined by US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had conducted an important wildlife program in the morning, we left for the High North of Sweden, to Kiruna for the Arctic Council.

The Arctic Council was launched in 1996 to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, in particular on issues pertaining to sustainability and environmental protection.  The United States, together with Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Russia are members.

The first meeting I took part in was with the Secretary, Senator Murkowski and Alaskan Permanent Participants (including several Native American tribal leaders). The Secretary discussed the Obama Administration’s new National Strategy for the Arctic and then dove right in to discussions about social challenges and biodiversity depletion. It was an incredibly real and honest conversation about the challenges we face together in the Arctic, and what it is we can do together to solve them.

The following morning the Ministerial began, with Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt opening the conference and Minister of Environment Lena Ek reviewing the solid record of Sweden’s chairmanship. Then national statements were presented, and Secretary spoke on behalf of the United States in the most visionary and poignant way. Here are some key passages from the Secretary’s remarks:

·         “It’s an honor to be here in Kiruna, and I begin by saying that there are many areas where the eight Arctic states’ interests overlap significantly. And despite our different sizes and our different cultures, and many of the varied interests that we’ve heard today from permanent participants, we share many values and priorities. But there is nothing that should unite us quite like our concern for both the promise and the challenges of the northern-most reaches of the earth.

·         “Temperatures we know in the Arctic are increasing more than twice as fast as global averages, and they are endangering habitats and they are endangering ways of life.  Last September, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic reached a record low, threatening marine mammal life and the indigenous and local communities that depend on them.”

·         “So we’re proud to join you today in the important work of protecting and preserving our shared Arctic, not just for the nations that touch it, but for the way that what happens here, for the stewardship that we have responsibility to execute, for the way that it touches every single person around the world and our way of life.”
The Ministerial was followed by lunch in the LKAB mine, the largest of its kind in Europe. Kiruna was founded in 1900 primarily around the extraction of iron. The mining industry remains so important to Kiruna that the town is currently in the midst of moving several large neighborhoods to a new location in order to enable further extraction.  With the local economy booming and with low unemployment numbers, Kiruna is thriving.

Secretary Kerry then returned to Washington. He returned having advanced the US interest bilaterally and multilaterally and the Embassy was honored to have had him here. We live in an ever smaller world, where problems have local roots but global reach. By engaging with our superb partners the Swedes, Secretary Kerry got us that much closer to addressing the challenges of our times.

I will end by saying that to me Secretary Kerry is a particularly inspiring leader. He speaks from the heart; has incredible military service and public service to draw from; and he shares President Obama’s great strategic perspective and vision. It was a deep honor to support his visit to Sweden.

For more pictures from Secretary Kerry’s visit to Sweden, check out the State Department’s Stockholm Flickr page and the Kiruna Flickr page of the trip!

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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski at the ABBA Museum

Celebrating Swedish icons in music & design

On May 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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How many of us have not danced around our living room while vacuuming or sung loudly in our car to the addictive tune of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”? I know I have. The song and the iconic band have connected generations around their addictive melodies and emotive lyrics. I remember clearly as a young girl in the 1990s watching hours of ABBA music videos—entranced by the two beautiful women, talented male singers and their fantastic costumes— alongside my father, one of the world’s biggest ABBA fans!

A few days ago, my childhood wonderment came to life at the grand opening of the ABBA Museum in Stockholm. Hundreds of people gathered in the outdoor courtyard of the museum which will also serve as a luxury hotel and a space to highlight rising young Swedish musicians. In this way, the concept of the museum acts as a conduit between the old and new— a way to learn and celebrate the past, while promoting a bright future.

The dynamic museum display located on the ground floor follows this theme. In one area we see the original sound-board used for the earliest ABBA songs, the original glittering gold costumes worn by the group in the 1970s as well as the newest technology showcasing holographic, life-size representations of each of the members that dance and sing, or computers that one can use to “mix” your own ABBA song with the tap of your finger.

The fantastic evening concluded with a surprise performance. As hundreds of guests gathered in the elegant, cobbled courtyard the rooms facing us began to light up and some of Swedish best young singers, rappers and dancers appeared in the large window balconies dancing hip-hop and singing songs ranging from traditional ABBA tunes to Swedish House Mafia. Every guest was swaying and bobbing their heads in amazement at that point, and the fireworks bursting at the end signaled a finale to an evening that Mark and I will always remember.

Later that week, I gravitated from Swedish icons in music to design. Svenkst Tenn is one of Sweden’s most famous design stores started in 1924 by Estrid Ericson and located prominently on one of Stockholm’s most beautiful and central streets facing the Baltic Sea—Strandvagen.

It’s rare to find a home in Stockholm without some element of Svenskt Tenn adorning it. Whether it’s an elegant, clean-lined plush couch or a traditional chair conceptualized by Joseph Frank— the famed long-time designer— in 1940s that’s manufactured in Sweden by a family that has passed on craftsmanship from generation to generation or paper napkins with the bright, often nature-inspired signature patterns. The dynamic spectrum of items in a wide price-range was formulated in the vision of Ms. Ericson who wanted every Swede to be able to afford something lovely and high-quality, according to CEO Maria Veerasamy.

I met Ms.Veerasamy for lunch in the tea room of the store (another part of Estrid Ericson’s vision) and we sat next to a glass-enclosed space which was the original office of the founder whose goal was to create a brand that would last for hundreds of years. In fact, each decision that is made focuses on the question: will this help us last 300 more years? Veerasamy explains the values of the company to me as long-term, extremely protective of the original clean design and tradition, and quality, quality, quality. The goal is for each piece to be made entirely in Sweden and of the highest quality in every point of the production chain.

Although the brand is typically very Swedish, there has also been a strong thread of multiculturalism interwoven into the design and corporate culture. Joseph Frank, the famed designer and creative partner of Estrid Ericson, was of Jewish descent and escaped to the United States when WWII broke out. He came back to Sweden afterwards and brought a little bit of America with him, creating “Jackson Pollock”-inspired patterns and one even called “Manhattan.”

Veerasamy herself comes from an immigrant background with an Indian father. She grew up in a smaller town and has no formal education, she often says. But she has a vision and a determination to protect the original inspiration behind Svenskt Tenn and make it timeless. In my opinion, she is an amazing face for this brand and it was a deep pleasure to spend the afternoon with her and learn more about Svenkst Tenn!

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Art meets the Sea at Artipelag

On April 30, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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A respect for the land and a genuine sense of harmony between man and nature are two elements I’ve noticed to be strongly present in Sweden. A sense of balance and connectivity with the earth can be seen in architecture, art, education, family life and urban planning.

Artipelag— a one-year-old art gallery located just outside of Stockholm— is a living example of these values. The sweeping structure can barely be spotted from the seafront. This was done by design so as not to disturb the seamless coastline, according to owner and one of Sweden’s most successful entrepreneurs, Baby Björn founder Björn Jakobson.

In essence, the clean lines of the building both  accommodate and celebrate the rocky archipelago, dense pine forests and slinky birch trees encasing the eclectic exhibits of both contemporary and traditional international art. Even the capricious Baltic Sea, which last year nearly froze over parts of the dock where boats can come right up to the gallery’s waterfront, plays a role as a permanent exhibit overseeing what goes on inside through the scores of towering, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the water.

The name of the gallery, “Artipelag”, is a play on Sweden’s famed rocky archipelago, one of the largest in the world. This rocky topography is interwoven literally into the gallery. A huge rock sits square in the center of the café with lean, porcelain candles buttressing the back so little climbing children don’t fall off! The owners were so attached to this massive stone that they essentially built part of the gallery around the ancient rock.

Attention to detail and raw enthusiasm for the art that lives in nature as well as in man is personified by the owner of the gallery, Björn Jakobson and his wife Lillemor. We were met by the couple, and later their daughter Josefin, who passionately described the inspiration for the gallery as a place for children and parents to come together to appreciate a diverse array of art, go for a walk along the boardwalk which is wheel-chair accessible, attend a concert in the massive auditorium or eat in the restaurant which boasts fresh local fare and a chef who won an award on the culinary team for the Olympics.

The gallery is designed to pique all the senses. In additions to the eyes, the acoustics have been adjusted to near-perfection to the point that an 800-person dinner was convened there recently and no one had to shout over the din at their respective tables, Mr. Jakobson informed us. Even the nose is scintillated by the combination of tar—in homage to the way sailors and boat-makers would protect their boats by painting them with tar— to the cinnamon floating from the café where warm kanelbulle and fresh confections are made on-site.

Almost every aspect of the art process has been attended to and can be accommodated on the grounds, including acclimatized storage and a facility that can support the weight of a huge truck hauling in sculptures or rock. A graceful flow and movement is incorporated into the exhibition rooms that currently showcase artists Paul Gernes and Cosima von Bonin. The vision of the gallery is to have a flexible model that displays a variety of genres and styles of art and appeals to families, the 55-plus age group and those who may or may not be art connoisseurs. In May, Artipelag will feature American photographer William Wegman and his collection “Hello Nature”. Mark and I are especially excited about that since Mr. Wegman’s work is largely inspired by the Maine woods. My husband has been spending summers in the northernmost part of Maine for nearly 40 years, sailing, hiking, fishing and reveling in nature. Some of our fondest family memories are hiking through Acadia National Park with our newborn daughter strapped to Mark’s chest in a Baby Björn!

In this way, our worlds of family life, art and nature collide in Artipelag and we cannot wait to explore further exhibitions and bring our family there again!

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The Excellent Stockholm Butterfly Museum

On April 29, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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On Sunday I took my daughter Aurora and my visiting Mother to the Stockholm Butterfly Museum (Fjärilshuset).  Sweden is a nature-lover’s paradise.  Whether it is the sub-Arctic High North, where the remoteness and space and beauty is captivating, or the thousands of little islands in the Swedish Archipelago, or the sunsets on the West coast, it is a country of gorgeous topography, and a love of nature.

In the capital of Stockholm there is a Butterfly Museum consisting of a 3000 square meter big tropical rainforest exhibition.  Outside the museum there are places to sit, with tastefully arranged chairs and places for children to play.

In the enclosed structures, high air humidity and temperature allows 1000 butterflies of different species to fly around freely in the facility. There are presentations of flower bouquets for the butterflies, as well as little hangings upon which the butterfly’s cocoon hang, and where you can watch the butterflies hatch.  Bouquets are strategically positioned  to attract butterflies so people can see them.  There are also parrots, dart frogs, turtles, and a number of really impressively large fish swimming in indoor ponds.

Here are photos of our visit to the Butterfly museum, from which we took wonderful memories from this unique exhibition.  Thank you Sweden for yet another wonderful memory!

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SACC-NY Executive Women’s Conference

On April 22, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Reception for the 2013 SACC NY Executive Women's Conference

Last week I had the fortune to do something very special and close to my heart: celebrate and learn from successful female executives from both sides of the Atlantic!

The Swedish-American Executive Women’s conference is organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce based in New York City. This year we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the dynamic women’s conference which this year saw tickets sell out months in advance. This is a testament to the work of the chamber’s first female President, Renee Lundholm, who has made SACC-NY into an effective vehicle for shared Swedish and American values and deepening people-to-people ties between our two nations through business.

The theme of this year’s conference was prescient and forward-thing: Making money in the 21st century. How do we evolve along with changing business models and shifting demographics to continue creating growth in our companies?

Several panels intermixed with individual speeches focused on “knowing and growing your value”, growth and leadership in a financially turbulent and constantly changing world, and even more detailed explanations of private equity versus conglomerate business models. Much of the discussions focused on trends and how to adapt those into growth. The co-existing trends of urbanization and digitalization, a quest for simplicity and essentiality, how the Internet is changing consumer behaviors and business models, and changing demographics, were topics of discussion.

Healthy renewal is central to any organization. I believe leadership and profitability in the future will rely largely in an ability to foresee challenges and adapt to change. This was the over-arching theme of my keynote remarks at the conference, which I was very honored to be able to deliver to such an amazing group of women.

My speech focused on how we can harness the unique values of the Millennial generation to create greater profitability. But beyond that, how can we use the values of openness, work-life balance and transparency to advance women’s leadership and create a more diverse, dynamic future workplace. In my opinion, there is a clear synchronicity between the values set of the young generation and women’s leadership.

I also believe that the United States and Sweden are ideal partners in promoting women’s empowerment. Lagom (work-life balance), consensus, transparency and even decentralized office spaces with the elimination of the “corner office” have been interwoven into Swedish society for several generations already. Our strong shared values and future goals for socially just societies bring us together with our Swedish friends on a very substantive level and make the possibilities for future partnership on gender equality and entrepreneurship, as well as a variety of other areas, endless.

I will end by imparting the advice that these successful women were willing to share with us in the audience on how to maximize their professional potential.

·         Build on our strengths, not fret continuously on our weaknesses
·         Women tend to say “no” more to opportunities, say “yes”!
·         Find a mentor, or better yet a sponsor, to support you over the long-term and explain the informal rules of an organization to you
·         Have passion for your job, but also for making your community better
·         Follow your gut instincts
·         Stay “employable”, always do the right thing and protect your personal brand, reputation is everything
·         Keep your pulse on how business is changing, find an area where you can be part of transformative change
·         Try out different roles and reinvent yourself, never stop learning
·         Women have something special of their own to bring to the table. Don’t feel that you need to bring the qualities a man would bring, being different is a plus!

Thank you Renee Lundholm, SACC-NY and the amazing women who participated in the conference for opening my eyes to new ways of thinking about growth and value and inspiring me to believe in myself and promote other women too!

For more pictures from the event, see our Flickr page!

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Dialogue with Professor Muhammad Yunus

On April 15, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Professor Muhammad Yunus speaks with Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski

On Saturday, we were honored to host the father of social business and micro-finance, Professor Muhammad Yunus, for a two-hour dialogue on diversity, empowering women through entrepreneurship and helping society through financially-sustainable, long-term measures.

Professor Yunus’s visit to Stockholm was sponsored by the Postkod Lotteriet, and directly from here he was traveling on to Washington, D.C. where he would be receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. As a testament to his visionary status, he is only one of seven people in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold medal.

Beyond titles and awards, Professor Yunus radiates positive energy and lights up a room. The moment our guests began to arrive, you could sense the way they were drawn to him and the joy he took in interacting with a dynamic array of guests from some of Sweden’s most successful entrepreneurs, CEO’s and venture capitalists to governmental development aid experts from SIDA or two teenage girls from Rinkeby (a suburb outside of Stockholm with a high population of immigrants and political refugees). Our two female students from Rinkeby Akademien, budding entrepreneurs in their own right, made such an impact on the event with the articulate manner they introduced themselves and engaged in the dialogue!

Around a large dining room table, Professor Yunus described the genesis of Grameen Bank and its goal of helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty by providing small loans and imparting basic financial principles. Much of Yunus’s work focused on empowering women, so much so that he has been named an honorary woman in Bangladesh, a fact he shared with us smiling gleefully!

Many of our guests had the chance to ask questions ranging from how the micro-finance model can be extended to entrepreneurs in the Islamic world to the digital future of using cell phones as ways to perform ultrasounds or test your eyes in the developing world where in many nations access to nurses and hospitals is sorely lacking. Time and again, Professor Yunus interjected a common theme: one person can make a lasting impact on any social challenge through creativity and sheer determination. When youth unemployment was mentioned, he mischievously looked many of us in the eye around the table and exclaimed: one of you can hire one person, just one, and make a difference!

At a time when social entrepreneurship is the buzzword of the moment, it can be stultifying that Professor Yunus catalyzed the concept and model more than 37 years ago. In fact, he told me that in 1987 he was called up by a Governor from a very poor state in America to try to solve the challenges of poverty through a business model. That man was Governor Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, headed up the initiative. Yunus has had a long relationship with Clintons since then, and this is a shining example of the shared values between the U.S. and many of its global partners on the challenges we face today. For me, it was so special to host Professor Yunus in Stockholm because Sweden has such a rich legacy of generosity in development aid and strong core of social justice. What a wonderful evening we all spent being inspired by this great man!

You can see more photos from the event on the US Embassy Flickr page!

 

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Ambassador Brzezinski and Abisko Station Manager Christer Jonasson at the Abisko Scientific Research Station.

Visit to Abisko: Bearing Witness to Climate Change Effects in the Arctic

On April 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Interest for Arctic issues has increased in the last couple of years as scientists explore, in greater depth, the effects that man-made global warming have on this pristine region.  Sweden is currently the chairman of the Arctic Council and has done a tremendous job in highlighting the challenges that the Arctic is facing.  For example, Sweden has used its chairmanship to institutionalize the work of the Arctic Council by establishing a secretariat in Tromsø, Norway.

My Embassy team and I have put particular emphasis on the Arctic in the last couple of years and collaborated closely with Sweden during its chairmanship. It is hard, however, to comprehend the magnitude of climate change without experiencing it first-hand.

Earlier this week I visited Abisko in the northernmost part of Sweden. The Abisko Scientific Research Station is located above the Arctic Circle, 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of Kiruna.  It is a center located in an ecologically sensitive part of the sub-Arctic, and gathers scientists from throughout the world.

Abisko is a member of SCANNET, a network of thirty-three bases in northern Europe and the United States that seeks to build capacity for research and monitoring in the Arctic. Abisko has gained an international reputation and is attracting scientists from a number of U.S. institutions including the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont and Alaskan research stations Toolik Lake and Barrow.

The station is unique in that it has one of the world’s most extensive records dating back to the early 1900s when it was founded. In the form of both data and photos, the research shows how the landscape has changed in the last 100 years.

Our host in Abisko, Station Manager Christer Jonasson, brought us to the adjacent Stordals mire where much of the research is being conducted. A mire is a wetland terrain dominated by peat-forming plants. All over the frozen Stordals mire, scientists have set up equipment — some of the instruments look like props from the Star Wars trilogy — that measure changes in the local environment. They measure variables such as climate, snow depth, ice thickness and ice duration. They monitor hydrology, water chemistry, geomagnetism and atmospheric carbon isotope composition. The research clearly indicates that there have been drastic changes pertaining to both flora and fauna over the years.

Christer explained that scientists have discovered cases where higher temperatures have created ice caps on top of the snow which is making it harder for reindeer herds to access food. Since some of the members of the indigenous Sami are heavily dependent on reindeer, these kinds of findings are extremely important. Christer and his team are working with the Sami to adapt to the changes induced by climate change.  Another recent phenomenon is that the birch forests around Abisko often experience invasions of caterpillars in the spring as it is no longer cold enough to kill off the eggs of those pests.

I would like to extend my great appreciation to Christer Jonasson and the researchers at Abisko who were generous with their time and gave us first-hand experience of how climate change is impacting the Arctic – and also gave us life time memories.

 

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Toca Boca Time!

On April 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Emil Ovemar and Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski with some Toca Boca friends!

Two Spanish, sing-song words encompass a foolproof solution for the traveling, exasperated parent: Toca Boca. The popular Swedish gaming application is not just a reliable silencer of agitated toddlers, but a celebration of the magic in every-day life.

 
The focus is just fun and letting kids be kids, according to co-founder Emil Ovemar who led us through Toca Boca’s colorful offices dotted with huge cardboard cut-outs and smiling faces of its iconic characters. At a time when kids grow up far faster than they should, Toca Boca’s creators are betting on prolonging the simple joys of childhood and learning through play. Children are encouraged to engage in interactive play that parents can feel good about Through a visual smorgasbord of never-too-perfect looking creatures— like my favorite “Bo”, a large hairy creature with a floral wreath adoring his jovial head— and simple activities like washing tea cups in a sink overflowing with suds or blow-drying the locks of a pink-haired girl with cat whiskers.

A part of the Bonnier Group, the concept was developed as a “digital toy” and launched in September 2010. The target age was originally 3-6, but today older siblings and even parents enjoy the meditative sensibilities produced by swiping away crumbs on a table meant for a bright tea set, concocting a pink polka-dot pair of pants via Toca Tailor or curling the unruly hair of a sanguine creature in Toca Hair Salon 2.

 
Today, it’s a wild success with a presence in most Swedish households and nearly 40% of its dissemination in the United States. In 2012, the game surpassed 22 million downloads and today vies with companies like Disney for top 3 status among most popular games. A strong collaboration with Apple and a prescient understanding of the times has propelled Toca Boca’s success. With most parents looking for an alternative to the violent, aggressive games that have been dominating the decade and a new generation of hands-on parents looking to cater to their child’s emotional development not only through ABC’s and 123’s. By emphasizing the simple things parents and kids do together like grocery shopping or setting the table, Toca Boca has hit a nerve.

New statistics demonstrating that Ipad play does not destroy the brains of your little ones (and in fact may enhance them!) and the focus of President Obama and many American law-makers on early childhood education may also add to the long-term social trends that will lead to the sustained success of games like Toca Boca.

 
Personally, my Ipad is replete with so many Toca Boca games that I’m even contemplating something I vowed to never do: purchase our nearly 4-year-old daughter her own Ipad.  I strongly believe in allowing children to play with whatever inspires them. If boys prefer ironing and arranging tea cups and girls enjoy strumming electric guitars and arranging train tracks (as our daughter does), so much the better for us all! The gender neutral nature of Toca Boca games is something that has always appealed to me. There are no pink Princesses with perfect blonde hair or loud, crashing cars; all the games focus on tasks that appeal to us all and characters who we can relate to.

Thank you Emil and the Toca Boca team for inviting me to your headquarters! We look forward to what creative games will be unveiled next!

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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski visits Ftrack

Visiting Ftrack & diving into the world of our imaginations

On March 28, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski visits Ftrack

Most of us have been transfixed by the special effects of a Pixar film or heard the squeals of our children as they faced a scary sea monster peering at them through a movie screen. As the movie industry becomes more technically-enhanced with characters dancing in front of our theater chairs and touching our imaginations in new and innovative ways, it has become more important for the film production process to be streamlined, efficient and cost-effective.

This week, I was able to learn much more about these modern practices by visiting Ftrack, a path-breaking new company that has revolutionized the production and visual effects processes. I was met by CEO Fredrik Limsäter and Chairman of the Board, Eva Redhe Ridderstad, at the spacious, light-infused offices of Ftrack in a modern building in Södermalm, Stockholm’s more bohemian neighborhood and home to many creative and artistic companies.

 
Fredrik told me about the genesis of Ftrack. He worked at a major movie company in Los Angeles and soon realized that the rather long and occasionally cost-bloated visual effects process could be managed in a much better way. He came home to Stockholm and in 2008 developed a state-of-the-art, fully-integrated management platform to oversee all aspects of the production process. Along with a team of brilliant young programmers, he is incessantly improving upon the software to make what’s already a very user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing system even better. The software manages budget, supervises projects, edits images, and controls time and cost in a pragmatic manner. It is a unique development in the field which the company expects to permeate the market.

A tour of through the office space took us on a journey through the raging, blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the grassy, cow-speckled knolls of Northern Europe with rubber faces of hairy monsters or swarthy pirates interwoven through the adventure. The marriage of fairy-tale and the most evolved levels of high-tech was truly fascinating and instructive. Sweden is a leading producer of connective technologies and Ftrack is a prime example.

To add to the whimsical and positive energy was Alfred, the son of Ftrack’s CEO who followed us inquisitively throughout the tour, dodging between computers and under desks. Seeing a serious businessmen bring his child to the office and work seamlessly, unperturbed alongside the energetic boy was a lovely sight for me!

Thank you Fredrik and Eva for the generous tour! I cannot wait to see the new dimensions Ftrack will reach in the future!

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Visiting IKEA headquarters

On March 20, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ten years ago while a first-year student at university, IKEA represented freedom, independence and a breadth of new opportunities to me. At that time in America, it had become a near requirement to purchase all of your university furnishings at the gleaming super-store.  Each piece of lightweight, streamlined furniture purchased represented one step closer to a new, exciting life!

Today the iconic brand symbolizes much more than just possibilities and potential for a fuller life. It symbolizes a core set of values— egalitarianism, sustainability and protection of the world’s resources, gender equality, social justice, philanthropy, diversity and inclusion, fiscal conservatism, a sense of community— which inform everything from its products’ “democratic design” to its style of informal, consensus-building leadership within the corporation’s management structure.

The short one-hour flight from Stockholm to Växjö, in the province of Småland, transported us to a serene, stony landscape dotted with leafless birch trees and known for its moose, and perhaps most of all, for IKEA and its founder Ingvar Kamprad who grew up there on a farm.

The land was notoriously hard to farm, thus instilling its people with a flinty hard work ethic and an aversion to waste. Kamprad brought the lessons he learned coming-of-age in a challenging setting to his vision for IKEA. A laser focus on efficiency is one of the reasons IKEA is able to provide its products at such low prices, explained CEO Mikael Ohlsson. Ensuring efficiency and strong partnerships with shared values along the entire supply chain is critical to IKEA’s success. The company has a “People & Planet Positive” goal for 2020 to make its stores, products and suppliers as sustainable as possible.

The focus on sustainable forestry is deeply impressive at a time when large timber tracts around the world are under intense pressure.  Great emphasis is placed on developing content alternatives other than just straight wood.

During our visit, we were able to see the production centers, scientific testing laboratories, design, the first-ever IKEA store and speak to designers in Älmhult. We even experienced a taste of home when we encountered an American supplier from Toledo, Ohio who was at IKEA headquarters with his wife for training and meet-and-greets, something IKEA does regularly to enhance partnerships and strengthened values transmission. When I asked Steve what he liked best about IKEA, he pointed to the strong focus on relationships.

One of the most personally exciting elements for me was their commitment to gender equality in the workplace. Many of the higher-level managers in the company started on the shop floor, and investing in employees’ productivity and development is paramount.

Today, IKEA has 42% female managers and has a short-term goal of 50%. One way they are attacking this challenge is through an initiative called “Battle of the Numbers” co-founded by Swedish media maven Eva Swartz Grimaldi  and Sofia Falk, that has received a one-year commitment from many of Sweden’s top companies (Ericsson, SEB Bank, H & M) to engage its top females in several seminars to discuss problems in gender equality within their corporation and find solutions. The solutions will later be presented to the CEO’s of all the companies to hopefully institute. IKEA’s assistant to the CEO, Fredrika Inger, an amazingly bright woman who helped guide and inform us through the visit, is directly involved in the initiative.

We ended this enlightening day in a very fitting place for Mark and me— the children’s section. Children, their development and their freedom to be and grow in every part of the home is a central value and driver for IKEA. The designers work with renowned children’s research centers to develop products that are first and foremost completely safe, even edible (as their markers are) but also lend to a child’s openness and creativity. Healthy eating and lifestyle are a key part of this message, and to underscore that we scanned reading books discussing gardening and squeezed plush toys shaped like carrots! Giving kids a healthy start is a passion and priority for our First Lady Michelle Obama and her path-breaking “Let’s Move” initiative, and many of IKEA’s values lined up perfectly with those of our President and many Americans.

Thank you Mikael Ohlsson and the IKEA family for an incredible visit! One that opened our eyes not only to IKEA, but allowed us to better understand the Swedish culture and what is important to Swedes.  Our visit places our shared values in an even stronger light!

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