Ainomaija Haarla

Ainomaija Haarla is a Finnish Doctor of Science in Technology, business leader, board professional and advisor, lover of visual arts and design.

Ainomaija Susanna Haarla (born Alasuutari, born 1953, Rovaniemi) acts as the chair of the board of Ateneum’s friends as of 15 March 2023, as an advisor to two Finnish venture capital investors, Korona Invest Oy (1) and Evli Growth Partners (2), as a member of the Securities Committee of Forest Products Engineers, and as the chair of the Board Nomination Committee of the Academy of Technical Sciences in Finland. Previously, Haarla has worked, among other things, as the President and CEO of the Technology Academy Finland (TAF), which awards the Millennium Technology Prize, in 2009-2013, before that as an entrepreneur and in the service of the forest and metal industry in Finland and in Germany, Augsburg from 2002 to 2005. (3, 4) Haarla was a member of the faculty of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2010-2015.

Started in 1994, board work covers large, mid & small cap companies with different ownership bases (e.g. Neste, Korona Invest, Altia, Biohit and StyroChem Finland), committee work, startups and growth companies (e.g. Gold&Green Foods Oy and Roima Intelligence Inc.), family offices and registered associations (e.g. Paper Engineers’ Association, Strategic Management Society of Finland, PRIMA and EuroCASE). She has been a member of the Directors' Institute of Finland since 2005. (5)

Haarla baptized M/T Stena Poseidon at Prodosplit Shipyard in Croatia on 16 November 2006 and became the Godmother of the tanker.

In the years 2013-2017, Ainomaija Haarla worked as a part-time Professor of Practice at three schools of Aalto University, Aalto CHEM, Aalto BIZ and Aalto ARTS, and as a teacher in the Aalto Ventures Program (AVP) in the area of ​​corporate entrepreneurship. (6, 7, 8, 9)

Ainomaija Haarla holds following degrees: Master of Science in Engineering (1978), Master of Business Administration (1992) and Doctor of Science in Technology (2003) from Helsinki University of Technology (part of the current Aalto University). The MBA thesis work dealt with synergies and the doctoral dissertation product specialization as a competitiveness factor in the paper industry. She has completed her studies at Stanford University (entrepreneurship), MIT (system dynamics) and IMD (management).  

The Finnish Business Angels Association (FiBAN) awarded Dr. Haarla the Exit of the Year 2016 award (for a successful exit of Gold&Green Foods). FiBAN chose her as The Finnish Business Angel of the Year 2020. (10,11) Forest Products Engineers’ Association awarded her a merit plaque no. 20 on 26 April 2022.

She is married to M.Sc. (Eng.) Eero Jukka Rafael Haarla. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Ainomaija Haarla enjoys visual arts & design, skiing, hiking and growing oak trees.

REFERENCES

1 https://koronainvest.fi, team                         

2 https://www.egp.fi, Insights Meet our Industry Advisors

3 Jukka Ukkola (ed.), SK Hän (She), Ainomaija Haarla, SK 93 (2009): 24, pp. 48-51

4 Lasse Pajala, John Lagerbohm (ed.), Who is Who (in Finland) 2011 , p.152. Otava, 2011

5 Ainomaija Haarla, From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Integration , pp. 20-21, Boardview 1-2/2012, Directors' Institute of Finland

6 Ainomaija Haarla, Henri Hakala, Greg O'Shea, Re-imaging the Forest: Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development for Finnish Cellulosic Materials in Entrepreneurial, Innovative and Sustainable Ecosystems, pp. 191-214, Springer 2018

7 Miikka J. Lehtonen, Ainomaija Haarla, Masaaki Kotabe; Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan ; Asian Business & Management (2020) 19:505-529

8 Angel investor Ainomaija Haarla: This is how you build the perfect pitch , Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti ry, 2 2022, https://www.stjm.fi/fabmedia/raha/enkelisiijottija-ainomaija-haarla-nain-rakennat-taydellisen-pitchin/

9 CAETS 2020 Annual Meeting, Seoul Korea: Engineering Education for Future Smart Society , invited speech by Dr. Ainomaija Haarla, Academy of Technical Sciences Finland, Nov. 14, 2020  

10 Ainomaija Haarla, Working with startups: Rewards and challenges , FiBAN Member blog, www.fiban.org, January 9, 2022

11 Ainomaija Haarla, Board of Directors: a resource or a burden for a startup?, FiBAN Member blog, www.fiban.org, February 17, 2022

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