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At the School of Business, a new form of cooperation, Alumni Ambassadors, has been revived and renewed.

‘Although different alumni activities have been organised in the Finnish universities for decades, we do not have a similar alumni culture as is in many other countries. This is why we are relying on our active alumni, and have gathered a very enthusiastic group of representatives as the first Alumni Ambassadors’, says Jonna Söderholm, the Head of External Relations at the School of Business.

There are altogether 40 Alumni Ambassadors, and they represent classes from the 1950s to present day.

‘The role of Alumni Ambassadors is to act as a messenger for other alumni and introduce the School’s activities. The Ambassadors also communicate to the younger generation of students about the toolkit the School provides for working life purposes. The idea behind the alumni network is to serve as a bridge between students, school and business life’, Katariina Helaniemi says. Helaniemi is one the Alumni Ambassadors in the School of Business and works as Chief Program Curator in Slush.

“Gladly I have noticed that everybody benefits from the alumni network. As Alumni Ambassadors, we can encourage more alumni to participate in the different activities. Alumni activities help to keep the balance between social interaction and the hectic working life, and in addition, I get a warm feeling about it”, says Salla Vainio, the CEO of Fondia. Vainio was awarded as the Alumni of the Year in the School of Business last year.

“The cooperation helps students, alumni, and the staff at the School of Business to build and maintain community feeling. We believe these activities will have far-reaching results”, Söderholm concludes.