Monday September 10 - Helsinki

The first full day of meetings in Finland offered the opportunity to meet with leaders in both the public and private sector. 

I started my day with the Senior Inspector of the Gender Equality Unit, Annamari Asikainen.  She shared the basic framework that Finland has established for gender equality programs.  Finland has had a Corporate Governance Code in place since 2008.  There is now at least 1 female board member in 86% of companies, however the diversity varies quite a bit between size of company and type of industry.  Annamari’s perspective on what has enabled gender diversity is the government focus, company awareness and companys setting goals.   

Next I met with the leader of the Parliament Women’s Network and former Member of the European Parliament, Astrid Thors.  The current Parliament in Finland is comprised of over 40 percent women.  Astrid shared some of the history of how the women's network was started in the early 1990’s and how they continue to focus on relevant topics for discussion.  Some of the challenges that they are looking at today are the pay gap, women’s violence and other issues of equality.  Astrid’s perspective on the success in women in leadership in Finland is that much can be attributed to the long standing tradition in Finland that everyone is needed to contribute to the economic development of the country. 

In the private sector I had the opportunity to meet with Keith Silverang, CEO Technopolis Plc.  The company was formed in 1982 as the first Scandinavian technology park as a small business incubator in Oulu, Finland.  Eisenhower Fellow Pertti Huuskonen led the company for 20+ years.  The company has continued to grow and has now expanded internationally as well. Their current strategy is to expand nationally while keeping their core competency of service driven business.

Lastly I had the privilege of meeting with Sari Baldauf, Chairman of the Board, Fortum.  She shared open dialog regarding her leadership experience in HP, Nokia and now at Fortum.  She is a strong believer in having a corporate culture that focuses on diversity.  Three of the seven board members at Fortum are women and their board consists of international diversity as well.  Sari indicated that companys need to set clear strategy, targets and emphasize the business rationale associated with diversity. 

Some of her key messages were businesses need more pioneers, be energetic and find opportunities to make a difference.  

Parliament

Parliament Annex