The Board of Directors of the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design
The Board of Directors for 2009
The board of directors of the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design consists of eight leading decision-makers in the corporate and design sectors. Important objectives for the board are to promote the internationalization of Finnish design expertise, to encourage enterprises, particularly small and middle-sized firms, to apply design in product development, and to arouse the interest of the public in design. It is chaired by Hannele Pohjola, with Heikki Allonen, Dan Colliander, Eero Miettinen, Jorma Savolainen, Lena Strömberg, Petra Tarjanne and Tero Vähäkylä as members.
Chair
Hannele Pohjola (*1950)
Innovation Manager of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, Ms. Hannele Pohjola, Master of Laws, has served in a wide range of executive duties and positions of trust in government administration and the corporate sector. She has been in the service of Finland's Confederation of Industry and Employers and at the Ministry of Transport and Communications Finland and the National Board of Posts and Telecommunications among other duties. She is a member of the boards of directors of the Design Museum Foundation and the National Technology Agency Tekes and a member of the working groups on innovation and industrial policies of the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.
Board members
Heikki Allonen (*1954)
CEO of Patria Plc, Heikki Allonen MSc has many years of experience in Finnish and international industries through executive posts in the SRV Group and the Wärtsilä, Metra Lohja and Fiskars Brands corporations. His present positions of the trust include board memberships in Wärtsilä Plc and Rautaruukki Plc. Mr Allonen is associated with the arts through his membership on the board of the Sibelius Society.
Dan Colliander (*1961)
Dan Colliander, BSc, became CEO of the Suunto company in 2000, having previously served in executive duties in Finland and abroad with the Gillette company and Braun Inc, among other organizations. He is the chairman of the boards of the Vantaa Wellness Forum and the Finnish Federation of the Technology Industry.
Eero Miettinen (*1954)
Eero Miettinen, MA, has previously served as Group Design Director with Nokia and in executive design positions in the automotive industry, at Saab-Valmet and Sisu-Auto, as well. In addition to teaching in the field, he has been involved in international concept design and consultation. Prizes and awards received by Eero Miettinen include the Industrial Designer of the Year award for 1994 and the Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2001.
Jorma Savolainen (*1963)
Designer Jorma Savolainen is the CEO of the Desigence design agency and the founding member of Muodos. Savolainen has served in numerous teaching and expert duties and positions of trust in the design sector. He is also a member of Design Round Table and the Design 2005! monitoring group.
Lena Strömberg (*1943)
Secretary General of the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo design association and the Finnish Association of Interior Architects SIO, Lena Strömberg is a recognized professional designer with a great deal of experience of national and international positions of trust in the field, including membership on the board of directors of the European Council of Interior Architects. She currently represents the Ornamo association in the ARMI
Petra Tarjanne
Petra Tarjanne works in the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
Tero Vähäkylä (*1958)
Tero Vähäkylä, MSc (Econ.) has worked as President of Home Business Area of the Fiskars Brands company and earlier as CEO of the Iittala Group. He also has a great deal of previous international experience in executive-level sales and marketing positions, with the Leaf corporation in England, Holland and the United States, among other organizations. Ha ahas also been vice-president of the Leaf Group of Finland.