Sami Suomela has been appointed as the new CEO of Junior Achievement Finland. He will take up the position on March 3, 2022.
Sami Suomela (M.Ed.) has diverse experience, networks and background in the municipal sector and educational world, both as principal and vice principal and as a teacher in a special needs class. He also has strong management expertise in matters related to strategy, personnel and finance.
In addition to the municipal and educational sectors, Suomela has worked on the development of learning environments and consultation.
According to Christina Dahlblom, Chair of the Board of Junior Achievement Finland, the organization was looking for a person with the understanding and ability to make the organization’s service offering and schools’ needs meet as the new CEO.
“The important mission of Junior Achievement Finland – enabling entrepreneurial skills for all young people in Finland – has the wind behind it; young people want to learn about and try entrepreneurship, and the curriculum requires extensive teaching of these skills. In addition, operators promoting entrepreneurial education have a very committed ecosystem that supports the strengthening of learning through both activities and funding. An important challenge on our path towards reaching all schools and young people in Finland is to get teachers, principals and other educational decision-makers to join in. For the position of CEO, we were looking for a person with an understanding of and insight into how the mission and service offering of Junior Achievement Finland can continue to develop in the best possible way, have a presence in the everyday life of schools and young people, and thereby reach more and more learners in a long-term, inspiring and effective way. Our personnel is incredibly competent and passionate, and I’m sure that, under Sami’s leadership, we can build even stronger bridges between our offering and schools’ needs. I warmly welcome Sami on board and look forward to seeing what he and the organization can achieve in the coming years!”, Dahlblom says.
Sami Suomela steps down from his position as Administrative Principal for Basic Education in the City of Kauniainen to take up the position of CEO of Junior Achievement Finland.
“I’m looking forward to being part of the great story of Junior Achievement Finland! When it comes to the organization’s activities, I was impressed by the service offering, which provides a wide range of programs for children and young people allowing them to practice, experiment and learn future working life skills, as well as to gain experiences of competence, capability and success. It has been my dream to work on well-being and competence development and to be able to bring my knowledge and experience to the discussion and work. As the CEO of Junior Achievement Finland, I’ll have the opportunity to further support the success of the organization and its personnel. Together, we will create something new and meaningful for society,” Sami Suomela sums up.
For further information, please contact:
Christina Dahlblom, Chair of the Board, tel. +358 50 563 6927