Suvi Lähdevuori, System Developer

“I studied finance at the Aalto University School of Business, and my minor at the Master’s stage was economics. For my Bachelor’s degree, I completed my minor at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, with a focus on marketing and international trade. In the summer of 2012, I had a summer job at Finnpartnership, administered by Finnfund, and actually just stayed on that path.

At Finnpartnership, I got to see very concretely how Finnish businesses can create partnerships in developing countries. Partners gain momentum for their own business and produce development impacts in the target countries.

After a few years, I had the opportunity to transfer to Finnfund as an Investment Analyst, which was natural with my educational background. I was very comfortable with the project work, but something clicked in to place when I was involved in a large-scale system development project. I found myself interested in ICT issues and that I was good at them! My knowledge of the business side was appreciated, and I learned new things every day. Eventually, I gradually moved fully to the ICT team as a System Developer. I know business needs and requirements, and I speak the same language with, for example, the investment team. This is valuable in system development, which we do on the basis of needs rather than in the traditional ICT-driven manner.

The common thread in my career is the feeling that my work is relevant. I am quite aware socially and even a tree hugger to a certain degree. Although I am no longer directly involved with the projects, I am able to create the best possible prerequisites for the operations through my own work. My motivation certainly also increases by the fact that in my previous work tasks, I worked in close collaboration with project companies and saw what we were able to achieve together.”