SFV Changemaker

Disa Kuorikoski has a bachelor's in art, and likes cats and painting with watercolors.

A negative personal experience with health care led her on this journey:

I couldn't put my memories aside after my long struggle with fatigue eventually resolved. One day, I stumbled across an ad about a mentorship program for aspiring social entrepreneurs. The program promised tools and guidance for solving social issues. I felt ignored and like something had to change, so I signed up.

Disa Kuorikoski hopes SFV Changemaker will bring her clarity as to why workplaces, like health care clinics, fail at their mission. She also hopes it will spark ideas on how to protect other clients from mistakes.

Most importantly, she would like to find inspiration for how someone with her assets can best serve a cause like this.

Right now, Disa wants to raise awareness about flaws in health care, she shares:

My long-term goal is to grow professionally. I still don't have a dream job, but I try to help others. If I could change anything, I would end all avoidable suffering and unnecessary expenses caused by ineffective treatment protocols."

Jessica Hellqvist defines herself as a social and outgoing individual who likes to organize and develop herself.

For Jessica, it is important to promote health, especially mental well-being among individuals, regardless of background or situation.

What motivated her to start the SFV Changemaker program was that she saw a lack in society that I want to remedy: 

I have noticed that the young individual often struggles alone with mental illness for far too long before seeking help. I would like to change this. 

If I could change anything in the world, I would like everyone to feel loved, safe and valuable in their everyday lives. And that everyone would feel appreciated!"

Jessica decided to apply to the program because she wants to make social change and introduce new systems to prevent mental illness in society.

Tools that she would like to get are gaining new perspectives and developing a concept that can promote mental health. But also get inspiration and guidance on how to develop her idea.

In the near future she want to develop: 

The beginning of a sustainable social development by thoroughly designing my idea. In a long-term approach: I want to my promote mental illness and ensure that the individual gets help more quickly and is not left alone in society.

Vera Lindén is a bachelor's graduate in political science and is currently employed as a multilingual coordinator in schools in Helsinki. 

She has experience in supporting individuals who belong to a linguistic, cultural and/or religious minority in the Finnish society, developing competence in anti-racist work and intercultural communication as well as developing new guidelines for inclusion in workplaces and educational institutions. 

The main reason why I applied for the changemaker program is that I have dreams and ideas that I want to put into real practice. And while doing so, what could possibly be better than having a mentor by my side, a social network to brainstorm with and get inspired by as well as access to new knowledge provided by trustful resources? This is the recipe for becoming a successful changemaker, which is exactly what I aspire to be.

If Vera had the possibility to change the world, she would make it more open and connected by increasing accessibility to knowledge for everyone. She believes that knowledge, transparency and sharing different narratives and perspectives are the ingredients we all need for peace and a stabilization of each individual's mental and physical health. 

Knowledge is a tool with which we can all learn to empower ourselves and others. Accessible technology and increased literacy are the most powerful means for combatting ""knowledge poverty"" in the world. The internet has opened up access to education, new businesses and learning new skills in a way that has never been seen before.

She also expresses how the SFV Changemaker program is the perfect opportunity for Vera to learn how to develop a new social network for herself that is aligned with her values and work ethics. 

She hopes this program will provide her with a mentor who will inspire her, challenge her, give her straightforward feedback and teach her consistency. Long-term goals that she hopes to eventually achieve are increased leadership skills and being able to have an impact on other people's lives. Vera wants to be a good, trustworthy leader.

Juliane Fuchs is a committed and creative designer, project coordinator and freelancer with a passion for politics, social issues, system changes, and sports in the Nordics. Her main focus is the public and third sectors, as this is where she feels she can have the greatest impact.

She has been active in many different areas, e.g. as a municipal election candidate and was active as a scholar within the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation and organized a seminar on the theme of Public Service Design for other scholars. Currently, she works as an entrepreneur and freelancer for various companies, including as a service designer for The Strategy Architects, a consulting company in Germany that works with cities, ministries and non-governmental organizations.

Main topics in her work are strategy development, smart cities and regions, lab environments and their visualization and transversal innovation ecosystems. Previously, Juliane worked as a junior consultant in the governance-innovation team for Demos Helsinki, the Nordics' leading think tank.

Social entrepreneurship is something that interests her, but where she feels that she does not yet have sufficient knowledge is e.g. about funding and taking the first step. Juliane wants to join the SFV Changemaker program to learn new skills, get feedback and mentorship, and get to know other people of the same age who are passionate about what they do.

With #ReformMigri, Juliane started a movement together with a fellow student to improve Finland's migration service. Juliane is also passionate about accessible sports. She wants to make sports more accessible to both children and adults and is therefore involved on the board of her rugby union.

In the long run, I would like to find a larger project that combines many of my interests and where my skills and background can contribute to creating public good.

Agnes Bertell studies social policy and social work at Åbo Akademi University. She is calm, thorough and kind, and enjoys being with her family and friends. She also likes to exercise and move, as she loves the archipelago, sunsets and the sea.

"I have always reacted strongly when it comes to various injustices in societies or the world and thought a lot about them. I've always had a dream to make a difference, but maybe didn't really know how to go about it."

A main subject she is passionate about is bullying, focusing on both perpetrators and victims.  She is also passionate about everyone being able to go to school, have access to food, water and healthcare, women's rights, homelessness, domestic violence, etc.

Agnes wanted to join this project because it sounds very interesting, and it is a good chance to take when hoping to improve the world. Her vision is to find something that could help victims and perpetrators of bullying in society, in schools and at workplaces, so that they can have a better everyday life.

A short-term goal of Agnes is to be able to help someone to have an easier everyday life. Her long-term goal is, for example, to form an organization or something similar that could make a difference. 

Daniel Ekblad grew up in the countryside of the Finnish west coast. However, his mother tongue is Swedish, and his father is from Denmark. He has a bachelor's degree in international business from Novia UAS in Vaasa and the University of Lleida in Spain. After this, he spent two years working full time, mostly in marketing, including being self-employed.   He is now pursuing a master's degree in journalism at the University of Helsinki. Apart from studies and work, he likes travelling and cycling, preferably at the same time. He loves engaging with the locals wherever he goes.

When it comes to our future, I want to be more than a spectator. After having worked exclusively in private business for two years, this has become very obvious to me. Do I want to work for a future that is as bright as possible for myself? Do I include the people I know and love? Why stop there? 

If there were no limits to what he could change in the world, Daniel would like to significantly reduce misunderstandings and deliberate lies. He is craving a change towards less exploitation — unjust exploitation of workers, voters, feelings and resources. He views truth and thoughtful political opinion as an antidote to this.   Starting a new chapter in his life, and since his changemaking journey is still on its first legs, he is looking for people to help develop his ideas. He hopes to meet people that get excited about the same things he does, and that can provide inspiration to build a concept of his.

I’m looking to get my concept off the ground with a suitable test group. In the long term, I'm hoping that I can build my career around it.

The promise of a mentor is another thing he looks forward to in the program. Applying for this program was an obvious choice for Daniel.

One of Linus’ favorite things is having respectful discussions with people of differing opinions. For the most part, there is something to learn from all parties. All sorts of art interest him, but in his free time, he spends most of the time on drumming, photography and filmmaking. 

What motivated him to start his changemaking journey was the realisation of how privileged he is in different ways.

If there were no limits, he would like to change inequality so that people's opportunities would not be affected by irrelevant factors. Linus decided to join this program when he read about it because it seemed like just what he needed. He has many thoughts about society and hopes the program will help him find the practical ways of inducing change within the areas in need.

In the short term, I'd like to achieve as much happiness as possible — primarily for myself and people close to me. In the long-term, I'd like to have a similar effect on others as well.

Sofia Lintinen has always had an eye for vintage glamour and aesthetics. She grew up seeing silent films, old Hollywood films, listening to old jazz music, going to antique stores and creating art in different forms.   She feels a strong connection to the 1920’s-1930’s, but also 1940’s-1960’s, and has found a platform for this on Instagram, where she has the opportunity to share her passion with over 70,000 followers. 

Sofia would love to bring back the beauty of these eras within the makeup industry, to have the opportunity to design and create environmentally-friendly makeup compacts in vintage style.

I think this Changemaker program could help me find a way in the right direction and to find the right connections (i.e. to do business with) and to go forward with my idea. I am open-minded and easily find inspiration. In the long-term, I see this as an opportunity to create vintage designs also in other industries in the future. 

May Högdal studies educational sciences at the University of Helsinki and works as a personal assistant on the side. Her interests include vegan cooking, swimming and politics. 

She has been interested in making a difference in this world but has always wondered how.

I think what's important to me, is to understand that you can always make this world a little bit better; it doesn't have to be anything big.

If there were no limits to what she could change or impact, it would be how people encounter each other and the surrounding world. May considers kindness as the most important thing in this world. 

May is especially interested in leadership and meeting new people. Her studies touch on the subject of leadership, and she wants to develop and learn to make, for example, work place environments better for everyone — not just regarding productivity but also for better connections with peers. She wants to create and develop ways for people to learn how to work better together.