How to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in work life?

This page contains information on DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) topics and tools. You will find material from previous events organized by Mothers in Business International project and its’ partners. At the end of the page you will find a list of useful links.

Next DEI seminar will take place on 8th of May, 2024 at the KPMG house, Helsinki. We will have breakfast and top speakers Yumi Oishi from Rovio, Jenny Nordgren from LIDL and Tua Pelli from KPMG will be sharing insights about DEI work in their organizations. A panel discussion lead by Greta Andersson from FIBS will answer the question of how to get top leaders on board with DEI. After all this, you get to workshop on the DEI topic with other talents.

First 80 participants will fit in in this free seminar. - Save your seat now!

DE&I related seminar on 23rd November, 2023

Connecting talents and inclusive companies

We organized a seminar and networking event for talents looking for their next career steps. In our event with MiB’s Trusted partner Bird & Bird, we talked about connecting talents and inclusive companies that nurture a multicultural way of doing things.

We heard a keynote speech of Priyanka Banerjee, Partner & DEI Consultant from DeiDei, that consults companies in diversity. She has recently published a DEI Playbook together with various opinion leaders to support organizations’ diversity journey.

Sofia Pohls, Head of Sales and Co-founder from Finders Seekers shared insights about networking and landing a dream job as an international talent in Finland. Annukka Mickelsson, CEO from The Shortcut shared her inspiring story of networking in the startup ecosystem as a mother. We also heard about Bird & Bird's inclusiveness from HR manager Maija Fast.

Key take out was that connecting with people and companies is about finding mutual benefits and asking the question of how can I help others - be it other talents or organizations. The speakers encouraged talents to build trust in their networks and create a strategy for proactively approaching inclusive companies. The first connections were made in the lively discussions after the speeches in this fully booked event.

Stay tuned for more DE&I related events in spring 2024 - join us to network with other talents and company representatives!

DE&I related event on 10th of May, 2023

How to design diversity for organizations? And how to be part of the change?

In this networking event and workshop, we dove into the diversity and inclusion topic from the angle of end users and service design. In the key note, Annukka Svanda from Aalto University presented a researcher’s view to service design and DE&I. Iita Turkka then shared a success story about how the City of Espoo has designed their support service for highly educated immigrants.

Promoting gender equality, Angeliki Papagiannopoulou from Tech Nordic advocates talked about how to get more women involved in launching, growing and scaling up tech companies and startups. 

Key take out was that it takes more than interviews to engage users in an inclusive way for service design processes. Inclusive design requires analyzing the process with as diverse a crowd as possible and service design methods offer various ways to do this. Thus, engaging an organisation to become more inclusive, design is a well-suited approach.

The speakers of the event:

Annukka Svanda, Doctoral Candidate, Aalto University: How to use design tools to increase diversity and inclusion?

Iita Turkka, Career Counselor, the City of Espoo: The success story of designing a support service for the diverse end users

Angeliki Papagiannopoulou, Ecosystem Manager, Tech Nordic advocates: Designing diversity and inclusion from inside out – tech industry and startups


International talents should be included in the discussion and in developing solutions
— Afrah Al Bayaty

DE&I event for international talents looking for a job on 24th of November, 2022

How to get recruited into an international team? And how to manage one?

In this networking event for international talents and companies, we heard discussion about how Finnish companies hire international talents to their multicultural teams. Cases were presented from startups and bigger Finnish companies.

Keynote speaker Anna-Maria Henell CEO, Disior Ltd & Board member, Finnish Startup Community talked about what kind of talent startups are looking for, and what is typically required to be recruited to a start-up. Pihla Kivihuhta introduced Sievo’s best practices in building multicultural teams and Anneli Karlstedt from Nokia shared practices of hiring international talents and leading multicultural teams.

The event was aimed at international talents as well as HR representatives and management in Finnish companies and organizations.

The speakers of the event:

Anna-Maria Henell, Member of the board, Finnish start up community and CEO of Disior Oy: What kind of international talent are startups looking for? How to apply to start-ups? What is required to work in a start-up?

Pihla Kivihuhta, Sievo, Sustainability & Training  specialist: Growing multicultural teams

Anneli Karlstedt, Nokia, Head of Diversity and Inclusion: How to manage a team with 10 different people from 8 different countries? 

Organizers: MiB ry and The Spouse Program, City of Helsinki


We organized a DE&I seminar on 8th of June, 2022

Inclusivity morning: “What does it take to employ international talents in Finland?”

The DE&I seminar’s topic was the barriers in employing international talents. The seminar was open for everyone and aimed especially at management and HR professionals. Language was Finnish to make a maximum societal impact. MiB International project organized the morning seminar in Tiedekulma, Helsinki, together with HEI LIFE project.

diversity in worklife

Speakers’ presentations (in Finnish):


Tools for employer:


What is Mothers in Business?

Mothers in Business (MiB) is a nationwide network that supports career-oriented mothers in balancing work and family. Our aim is to provide opportunities for skills development, networking and career advancement. Currently, we have over 4500 members and hundreds of volunteers throughout Finland.

We have been organising a variety of events, such as networking events, company visits, training sessions and mentoring since 2015 in 10 municipalities around Finland for our members to develop new skills and build networks. Read more about what MiB is and our strategy, mission and values.