Petri Lehmus

Executive Vice President, Materials and Energy, VTT

Dr. Tech. Petri Lehmus has 25 years of experience from industrial R&D in the chemical industry’s materials and energy sectors. Having served the last 15 years as Vice President R&D at Neste Corporation, he has recently started in the role of Executive Vice President of the Materials and Energy business area at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Maria Sangder

Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Finland

Maria Sangder is a seasoned sustainable business professional serving as the Executive Director of UN Global Compact Finland. She has dedicated years to sustainable business and has deep expertise in driving sustainability transformations, business strategy, and sustainable business practices. Maria believes that we can be the generation that changes the course for the better. She sees sustainability as a powerful driver of business value and believes that positive tipping points can be achieved when all parts of society come together, regardless of differing perspectives or value systems.

Kaisa Hietala

Chair & Founder of Greencode Ventures, Non-Executive Director

Kaisa Hietala is an international board professional and business leader with a strong focus on sustainability. She has extensive experience in leading the energy transition and navigating related transformations. She serves on the boards of Exxon Mobil and Smurfit Westrock, and is the founder of Greencode Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on the green transition.

Rasmus Pinomaa

Head of Sustainability, Kemira

Rasmus Pinomaa is a sustainability leader with 15 years of chemical industry experience, currently heading Kemira’s global Sustainability function. His core focus is translating corporate sustainability into commercial action. Beyond his sustainability expertise, Rasmus has a background in innovation and commercialization of sustainable products and energy and climate policy lobbying. Previously, he led the pioneering work to create climate and circular economy transformation roadmaps for the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland. An active voice in the sector, he chairs the federation's Industrial Policy and Sustainability Group, contributes to European policy formation through Cefic, and serves as a Board Member for the UN Global Compact network in Finland.

Juha Erkkilä

General Manager, Outokumpu EvoCarbon

Metallurgist with a burning passion in sustainability. Working with steel industry for more than 15 years on three different continents. Creating and developing decarbonisation pathways for metals industry as well as developing markets for green metal products. Outokumpu EvoCarbon is tasked with supporting Outokumpu to reach it’s climate target of reducing CO2 emissions by 42 % by 2030 according to it’s SBTi target - profitably. Outokumpu has already reached 33 % and the journey continues.

Mari Granström

Chief Executive Activist, CEO, Origin by Ocean

Mari Granström is the founder and Chief Executive Activist of Origin by Ocean, a company dedicated to transforming ocean overgrowth such as sargassum, into high-performance bio-based ingredients for the industry. With a background as a PhD Chemist, Dr Granström is on a mission to transform our approach to oceans and their ecosystems through a regenerative value chain that benefits the environment, the economy, and local communities.

Her journey began in the industrial chemical sector, where she gained insight into the challenges of implementing systemic change in the large-scale operations of major corporations. Her unique blend of scientific knowledge and industrial business acumen has positioned her as a leading voice in regenerative business models. Dr. Granström's work extends beyond business; She actively advocates for global environmental policies, participating in several initiatives for the oceans, the environment, and business change. 

Johan Lunabba

Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Ahlström

Johan Lunabba is Vice President, Group Sustainability & Public Affairs at Ahlstrom. He brings extensive experience in business-driven sustainability, having held global leadership roles at Stora Enso and Neste before joining Ahlstrom in 2021. Johan also has a long background in management consulting, where he focused on strategy, innovation, and business development. His career centers on integrating sustainability into core business strategy to drive measurable growth, differentiation, and long-term value.

Antti-Jussi Tahvanainen

Head of Strategic Foresight, VTT

Antti‑Jussi, D.Sc. (Tech.), is Head of Strategic Foresight at VTT, where he helps executive teams identify emerging opportunities, evaluate technology investments, and build resilient long-term growth strategies. With more than 20 years of experience spanning technology, markets, and policy, he combines expertise in corporate foresight, innovation, and industrial strategy. He teaches foresight in executive education at Aalto EE and has previously held leadership roles at the Finnish Forest Industries Federation and ETLA. He was also a Research Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Design Research, focusing on radical innovation and future-oriented strategy.

Ilkka Kivimäki

Founding Partner & Advisor, Maki VC

Ilkka Kivimäki has long experience in scouting and scaling-up innovations, being one of the few investors whose path combines founder experience, big-tech leadership, and deep ties to Nordic research and startup communities. Ilkka built and sold his own company to SAP, later became a senior VP there, and then moved into venture investing, later becoming Wolt's first investor and chairman while also helping shape Finland's startup scene through roles like chairing Slush and Startup Foundation, serving as Vice Chair of Aalto University and almost a decade in Rinnish research and innovation council (TIN). Ilkka is founder of Maki.vc – a fund, which is known for backing unusual, technically ambitious companies, supporting founders also through unglamorous moments.

Ulla Heinonen

Director, Green Growth, Confederation of Finnish Industries

Ulla Heinonen is Director, Green Growth and member of the executive leadership team at the Confederation of Finnish Industries. She brings extensive experience in business leadership, digital transformation, education, and consulting. Throughout her career, she has focused on advancing sustainability while driving the development of skills, organisations, and business growth. Following her career in research, Ulla has served as Director in the ICT sector at CGI. For the past few years, she has worked in the field of sustainable business at Gaia Consulting.

Mikko Toivanen

Chairman & Co-Founder, Polarnode

Mikko has more than two decades of experience in the energy sector and entrepreneurship. Throughout his career, he has founded several companies, including Ilmatar, RE-Tech, Infratiera, and Polarnode.

Mikko has worked on numerous transmission and distribution (T&D) and renewable energy projects. He also played a key role in developing Finland’s first comprehensive TCM service portfolio, helping establish Ilmatar as a respected service provider among international wind farm owners and investors. Prior to this, Mikko worked on the construction planning side of the Latamäki project in Luhanka, Finland’s first project-financed wind farm. He also served as Project Manager and BOP EPC Construction Manager for the 211 MW Piiparinmäki onshore wind project between 2019 and 2022. In addition to this landmark wind power project, Mikko led Ilmatar’s construction operations from 2012 to 2023 in total this means more than 150 wind turbines constructed in Finland. At Polarnode, Mikko leverages his extensive expertise in project management, construction, and project development to support the growth of Polarnode’s project portfolio and network.

Caterina Cobino

Head of Special Projects and Partnership, Fincantieri

Caterina Cobino is Head of Innovation Partnership and Funding at Fincantieri. A Mechanical Engineer with extensive experience in international industrial environments, in the sectors of energy, manufacturing and construction, she leads strategic initiatives at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and European funding. She serves as Program Manager of Wave 2 the Future, Fincantieri’s flagship IPCEI Hydrogen project, and is actively engaged in building partnerships among industry, institutions and research organizations to accelerate the energy and digital transformation of the maritime sector. She also serves as Vice President of H2IT, the Italian hydrogen association.

Essi Laitinen

Research Scientist, VTT

Essi Laitinen is a Doctoral Researcher at VTT, specializing in the societal dimensions of the green energy transition. She has dedicated her research to understanding how emerging energy technologies, particularly green hydrogen, shape and are shaped by society, with expertise in energy justice, acceptance, futures research, and participatory approaches.

Essi believes that the green energy transition is not only about developing the technologies we need for a sustainable future, but also about ensuring that this future is fair and inclusive. She sees hydrogen as part of a broader socio-technical transformation, where questions of who benefits, who bears the burdens, and whose voices shape the future are just as important as technological progress.