Thursday September 13 – Helsinki, Finland

Finnish Defence Industry

Today began with a discussion with the chair of the Finnish Defense Industry, Kari Heinistö.   Our dialog ranged from discussion on the current defense industry to his work experience leading a large aerospace company and now as a member of Aventum Partners. 

His perspective on women in leadership is that the focus right now tends to be on the top, when in fact industry should be focused on developing the pool of candidates and broadening the base for the future.  The engineering field in Finland is lacking a diverse population which is a similar issue in the US.  

Women's Enterprise Agency

I met with the current director of Naisyrittajyyskeskus (Women's Enterprise Agency), Taru Päivike.  She has led this organization for the last 4 years continuing the mentoring and networking opportunities for female entrepreneurs that were first established in 1996.  The organization was originally established as a one year project but today continues to offer mentors, training and networking for female entrepreneurs.  Taru believes that there needs to be more emphasis on attracting women to technical fields.  She suggested programs starting at an early age to attract girls to technical fields such as a pilot.  She herself recently got her pilots license and would like to show how math and physics were a necessary part of learning to fly. 

When asked what drives the Finnish percent of women in leadership she indicated three things:  the daycare system, the culture of equality and legislation requiring that the same job be available following a 3 year maternity leave. 

Sights in Helsinki



Helsinki Cathedral




The Wooden Chapel in center city