Hanken & SSE Executive Education kicks off integration program for educated asylum seekers with company partners
Hanken & SSE Executive Education debuts integration program Business Lead 2016 for educated asylum seekers in collaboration with 40 partner companies
The integration program Business Lead 2016 commences on 10 May with the first module in Helsinki. The program was launched in February 2016 and is delivered by Hanken & SSE Executive Education together with Hanken School of Economics and the mobile service company Funzi.
More than 70 asylum seekers showed interest to take part in the program. Applications were received from candidates of 13 different nationalities, with the majority hailing from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Candidates are mostly male with nine female applicants and they are between 23 and 53 years old with the majority in their late 20s. Having fit program criteria and gone through the application process, 40 educated asylum seekers were offered a place in the program. Central program criteria are a higher education degree (or at least 3 years of studies), at least 2 years of relevant work experience and English language skills.
Many candidates have an educational background in engineering, accounting or other bachelor’s or master’s degree in business and good English language skills. Most participants are based in the capital region of Helsinki but also in other parts of Finland.
The initiative was well received and raised immense interest among businesses in Finland. The program partners are Accenture, Agency Leroy, Ajatar, Amcham Finland, Camaleonte, Dazzle, Elisa, EY, Etera, Federation of Finnish Financial Services, Fennovoima, Fingrid, Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Folksam, Fortum, Hanken & SSE Executive Education, HUMLOG / Hanken, IBM Finland, Iwa Labs, Juuriharja Consulting Group, Kallio Elementary School, Kone, Konecranes, Lumi Accessories, LähiTapiola, Microsoft, Miltton, Nokia, Ramirent, Roschier, Seedi, SOK, SOL Palvelut, Supercell, Elo, Valmet, Varma, Virala, Wapice and Wärtsilä.
“While this initiative is a drop in a large ocean, it can still have a very positive effect on the lives of dozens of people”, says Sari Salojärvi, CEO of Hanken & SSE Executive Education. “We are aiming for a mutual benefit, for companies to find competent employees or partners with language skills and also support entry for asylum seekers into Finnish business life”, Sari Salojärvi continues.
”This program is just great, it is the first step in starting my new life in Finland”, says program participant Moataz Jalal Mohammed from Iraq. I am so excited and look to learn a lot about the working environment in Finland, he comments.
The program is unique of its kind with the aim to support two-way integration of educated asylum seekers into Finnish and European business life. The program consists of 4 live modules that Hanken & SSE Executive Education delivers over 7 days in total, a mobile learning service developed by Funzi, mentoring by Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce and a 2 month internship in one of the partner companies. Program modules address Finnish and European business landscape and culture, business strategy and entrepreneurship, financial management and self-leadership as well sales, marketing and customer understanding. The program is funded through the partner companies.
Learn more about the program in this link: http://hsseexed.co/BusinessLead2016
For more information
Sari Salojärvi
CEO, Adjunct Professor
Hanken & SSE Executive Education
Sari.Salojarvi@hankensse.fi
+358 41 466 6064