Executive Director

Briefly explain what you do for a living.

I work as Executive Director in UN Women Finland. UN Women is a UN organisation for gender equality that aims to promote the human rights of women and girls. My job is to lead the organisation. Most of my working time is spent on HR management tasks and influencing work, which means, among other things, keeping in touch with politicians and officials. In addition, I carry out fund-raising work, communications and administrative tasks, such as the organisation's financial management.

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice?

It was not clear to me what I wanted to do after upper secondary school. I browsed vacancies on the TE Services website and noticed that Interpedia, an organisation specialising in children's rights, applied for an executive director. I realised it was my dream job. This started a goal-oriented competence building so that I could aim for similar tasks. The requirements of the position included a master's degree in social sciences, so I applied to study social policy at the university.

At the university, I expanded my competence in development cooperation and equality research. I had also volunteered in several different organisations during my life. The driver guiding my career choice was the interesting nature of the NGO sector, rather than an ambitious need to become a leader.

Describe your typical working day or week.

The executive director's working weeks could be described in two words: blocked and full. There is little time left for thinking or breathing, as working days are running from one meeting to another. In addition to continuous meetings, there is always a deadline, such as the date on which the funding application needs to be submitted or the deadline for submitting a report to the UN Headquarters. If neither of these is actual, there is a list of other urgent matters to be dealt with.

The working weeks include many kinds of tasks, but most of the time is spent in HR management, such as UN Women Finland's office meetings and meetings with one's own team members in smaller configurations. There may also be hearings in the Parliament or meetings in ministries. Communications, as well as cooperation with other actors in the field, and the headquarters also take time. It often happens that I have to do administrative work and financial management tasks in the evenings and at weekends.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you have?

My work environment is an office and the facilities of partners. I feel that a director must be physically available, so I do not work remotely.

Working days are long. I do not officially have a total working time, but in practice I do follow one. Because I have small children, I try to schedule my working day with school hours and children's hobbies.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession?

The executive director of the organisation is required to have strong expertise, passion and commitment to the matters they represent, as well as versatile generalist skills. HR management, financial management and administrative matters take up at least half of the working hours, but you do not always receive the necessary training for these tasks, in the NGO sector. You must acquire the competence yourself.

Social personality, curiosity and willingness to network are very important in the profession. It must be tolerated in this work that things will never be finished. Good stress tolerance helps, as pressure comes from many directions.

What is the best thing about your profession?

For me, women's rights are a matter of heart, and promoting them is best in this work. I find it hard to imagine a more fine organisation than UN Women. It does not matter if work takes up a significant part of my life, because I believe my work is significant.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging?

The endless amount of work leads to longer working hours, and the pay is low compared to the amount of work. Low wages affect the available resources and recruitments, as it is difficult for organisations to compete with other employers. I have accepted it myself, but I often feel insufficient when I have limited means of influencing it.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a executive director?

I encourage everyone to strive for their own dream, for example through voluntary work, self-education and traineeships. There may be tough competition for traineeships, so you should remember that traineeships do not determine the direction of the rest of your life. The most important thing is that you can see a common thread between your own choices and actions.

If you are interested in management tasks, you should approach those working in management positions with a low threshold. This provides a realistic picture of the work and possibly also sparring when striving for tasks.

If you end up in a management position in the NGO sector, other executive directors in the NGO sector are an irreplaceable resource. It is easy to share the joys and sorrows of work with them.

How do you see the future of your profession?

There are many challenges in the NGO sector. For example, the global economy has a direct link to the success of fund-raising. However, I would like to believe that the future is better for women and girls than the past. The development of equality has been constantly improving, but on the other hand, the increase in conservative votes is worrying.