In their words

“Nothing but praise. She struck exactly the right balance between providing the cohort enough space to talk and discuss amongst ourselves, and stepping in to clarify, tease out the endpoint of some of our approaches, and provide an excellent repository of supplementary material which allowed us to explore related subjects beyond the core reading list. A pleasure to be in her cohort.”

“Your audit-versus-advisory close on Day 4 is now a clause in my submitted action plan's mitigation section against evaluator capture. Single sentence, load-bearing. Thank you.”

“Being someone who had facilitated many courses before, I immensely appreciated how the facilitator made sure everybody got the same amount of speaking time. There was also a very good ratio of letting people react to one another but not getting sidelined by topics or arguments when new issues needed to be introduced. The facilitator was also very good in suggesting further reading where someone was interested in a specific area and, maybe even more important, saying where her information was more limited and suggesting other sources to go to.”

“Basically what made the peer experience so valuable was how Vilija set the tone in the beginning as a place where we've all come to learn and grow: we're here to gain perspective and implement it into our professional practice. Vilija was a demon with the clock and kept everything on task.”

“Thank you so much for your thoughtful and inclusive facilitation throughout the course. I really appreciated how you encouraged diverse perspectives and created a welcoming environment where everyone felt comfortable participating. I also found it especially encouraging to have a woman facilitator in a field still predominantly dominated by men. Your ability to balance technical discussions with broader social and interdisciplinary perspectives made the cohort experience both accessible and intellectually enriching.”

“Thank you for guiding the cohort and for genuinely listening to different perspectives, offering thoughtful feedback, and encouraging everyone to participate and feel valued within the group. I also felt particularly encouraged by having a woman facilitator: this representation is especially meaningful for other women considering entering the AI safety and governance field. Vilija also did a great job balancing technical knowledge with broader social, political, and interdisciplinary perspectives, which made the discussions feel both accessible and intellectually rich.”

“Having our sessions facilitated by Vilija was absolutely excellent. She managed to be flexible enough to adapt the pace of the session to the length of our plenary discussions, and she always found ways to have people engage with them at their own pace. One thing that also stood out to me, besides her positive and calm attitude, was how quick she was in giving us links and additional resources as soon as a new topic was mentioned by someone.”

“I appreciated when Vilija gave space for cohort members to express their opinions and responses to an individual's question before sharing her own. It gave ownership and shared involvement to the group.”

“Your professionalism, responsiveness, and support haven't gone unnoticed. You skilfully managed discussions, ensuring we stayed on the topic of the day without disrupting the flow of the conversation. That's a real skill, and it allowed me to fully express my convictions, uncertainties, and clarify remaining questions.”

“Vilija was great: supportive, asked follow-up questions, tried to bring people into the conversation, incredibly patient with me.”

“Thank you for honouring and respecting us as individuals by hearing out our ideas, but also respecting the group by keeping us on track.”

“It was great having you as a facilitator. I really liked how you navigated the conversations, knowing when to be silent and when to drive them in a particular direction.”

“Great and giving guidance. She was super supportive throughout and gave additional guidance when asked, which I really appreciate. With an audience that is diverse and without much time to get to know one another, she kept the dialogue focused on the participants and avoided biasing the thinking.”

“Great job. I appreciate your calm demeanour and support of everyone's thoughts without wasting time. Excellent time management.”

“Thank you for the facilitation. I honestly think there is no way to improve it more. I had an amazing experience.”

“You made my Wednesdays truly enjoyable. Thank you for being as professional as you've been, helpful when your help was needed, and wonderful across the board.”