The one to step up
I tend to take on responsibility whenever I get involved and find that I'm needed. I start in the background, but after a while I often find myself in the role of the leader.

This has happened in work, in volunteer roles and in politics. In city politics, I started as a deputy member of the Sports Section and now, eight years later, I am Vice-Chair of the Helsinki Green Council Group as a member of the Culture and Leisure Committee and leader of its Green Group. In between these tasks, I have also chaired the Youth Section of the Board for two years. So even as a vice member, you can get a lot done! But the aim for this election is to become a full member of the City Council.
I am very honoured in my current role as Vice Chair of the group and my mission has been to make the work of the council group as smooth as possible and to ensure that everyone in our group feels equal. Together we are more impactful and unleash the full potential of the group.
Towards a more sustainable lifestyle, with personal and collective decisions
I first started to think about the state of the Earth when I was in high school. I switched from traveling by scooter and car to using public transportation and cycling instead. I encouraged my family to recycle and once I started living on my own, I started to cook vegetarian food. Since then I have continued striving towards more and more sustainable choices. For example, in 2020 I challenged myself to a year of not buying anything, and before our children were born our household’s mixed waste was reduced to one single bag. I have requested a sign for vegetable protein to my local grocery store and fought for collecting plastic recycling in my apartment building.

A sustainable lifestyle is like a game, in which one can always progress and challenge one’s thinking and actions. It is also important to find a pace that suits you and to take care of your own wellbeing. While I want to encourage everyone towards sustainable choices with my own actions, I also strive to make a difference in the bigger picture, whether it be in politics, at the workplace or in the different organizations I am a member of, or by investing and making donations.
Global citizenship as identity
The global world has been strongly present in my life from a young age. I started school at an international class at the age of five, when my family lived a year in Israel. Watching the UN peacekeepers work sparked my interest towards international relations and security.
In high school I spent a year in the United States as an exchange student, and saw Obama being elected as a president for the first time. I admired the free hobbies and the sense of community they created, but was not fond of the double standards and the society being dependent on consumerism and cars.
During my time in university, I was awarded a grant and headed to Madagascar for an exchange year. I learned two new languages and made new friends at the University of Antananarivo. On the city streets I saw poverty and the hazards it can create on a bigger scale than ever before.
I wrote my Master's thesis about global citizenship. In Nairobi I interviewed young Kenyan students who had spent a year in the United States on student exchange. They had strong faith in the future and believed that together we can make a lot of good happen. However, it's still important to note that not everyone has an equal opportunity to grow up as global citizens.