Tiina-Maija Toivola to plan Kone Foundation’s new work on youth and minority participation

In Kone Foundation’s updated strategy, a new multi-year focus area has taken shape alongside the funding of research and art: the societal participation of young people and minorities. In autumn 2026, Tiina-Maija Toivola, an advisor to the Foundation, will plan the implementation of this initiative together with the Foundation’s board and staff. Representatives of young people and various minority groups will be invited to take part in the discussions, along with researchers, artists, civil society organisations, foundations and other experts.

The aim of the planning process is to determine whom the new focus area will involve, and through what kinds of actions Kone Foundation will carry it out.

“Finland has the potential to do better: to have better conversations, to engage more openly with different perspectives, and to create ever more compelling research and art. With a new strategic dimension, Kone Foundation is extending its work towards civil society. In today’s Finland, societal participation deserves careful attention. It’s not just about having a voice in shared matters and being heard. It’s also about, for example, access to knowledge and cultural life, or the feeling of being accepted as a member of a community. If exclusion becomes more widespread, the best qualities of Finnish society will erode too: mutual trust between people and regarding one another as equals,” says Ilona Herlin, Chair of the Board of Kone Foundation.

Collaboration with stakeholders

Over the course of this year, the new strategic initiative has been outlined within the Foundation, and the planning will now continue with Tiina-Maija Toivola, together with the Foundation’s staff and board, as well as external stakeholders.

Toivola has extensive experience with organisations and foundations working with young people. In recent years, she has worked as CEO of the We Foundation (Me-säätiö), which aims to improve the inclusion of children and young people and to reduce inequality. Toivola’s work has focused on promoting the well-being, participation and equal opportunities of children and young people in vulnerable positions. She also has a background in education, as well as in promoting young people’s civic skills. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and a Master’s degree in Education.

“I’m delighted to start work on such a timely and entirely new strategic initiative together with Kone Foundation. The Foundation’s expertise in research and the arts can bring enormous added value to work carried out with young people and minorities, and I’m looking forward to finding the most fitting ways for Kone Foundation to work in this field,” says Tiina-Maija Toivola.

“As the world continues to change, it’s important for the Foundation to remain ready to try new things and respond to needs it identifies. The concrete ways of working will become clear as the planning progresses, but research and art will also have a role to play in this initiative,” Ilona Herlin notes.

Funding for research and art continues

The new focus area will not affect the funding awarded through Kone Foundation’s general grant call, which funds academic research and professional artistic work.

The Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative, which funds forest-related research, art, journalism and activism, as well as other forest-related projects, will also continue its operations.

More information:

Tiina-Maija Toivola

Advisor (societal participation for young people and minorities)

+358 (0)40 6412 673 tiina-maija.toivola@koneensaatio.fi