Speakers for the 2024 Fulbright Leaders for Global Schools Program

Tapio has worked in the field of teaching in Espoo for more than 20 years. Previously he has worked e.g. as a principal of comprehensive and upper secondary education for more than 8 years, and thereafter as a superintendent of educational administration as well as executive superintendent of general upper secondary education.

Teijo Koljonen holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Helsinki. He has worked as a teacher, deputy-head and head of school. Currently he is working in the Finnish National Agency for Education as a Senior Adviser in Education with issues related to national curriculum development, teaching of STEM subjects, assessment criteria for learning outcomes and evaluation of grant applications.

The Finnish National Agency for Education is the national development agency responsible for early childhood education and care, pre-primary, primary and secondary education as well as for adult education and training.

Principal Ilkka Laasonen (M. Sc. principal of the University of Helsinki Viikki Teacher Training school, secondary school) has broad experience of developing and leading schools in Finland. He has worked both in municipality and University schools. He has graduated as a physical education teacher at the University of Jyväskylä in 2006 and graduated from Advanced Educational Leadership-program at the University of Jyväskylä in 2011. Ilkka has worked as a principal for nearly a decade. His first position as a Principal was in municipality of Juuka year 2009. Ever since he has worked in the city of Vantaa as well as getting international experience as a PhD-fellow in the University of Oslo.

Helena Mikkola (Ms.)  has 25 years of experience in International Affairs in education sector.  25 years ago she started as International Coordinator in Turku Vocational Institute. Since 2011 she has been in charge of International Affairs in Turku City’s Education Services. The Education Services of the City of Turku include early childhood education, basic education, upper secondary education, vocational education, and liberal adult education centers. Education services are offered in Turku in both Finnish and Swedish.

She holds Master’s Degree in Political Science (University of Turku) and also Pedagogical Qualification for Teaching. Helena Mikkola has completed a Specialized Vocational Qualification in Management.

In Education Services/City of Turku, Helena Mikkola is responsible for strategic development and operational planning in international cooperation. She leads the international and global education team. She is also involved in various projects. These projects are used for different types of project funding, such as the EU's Erasmus funding. Organizing and planning the program of various visits is part of her team's work.
 

Work experience

City of Espoo

• Director of Education and Cultural Services, 1 Feb 2019–
• Deputy Director of Education and Cultural Services, 10 Dec 2018–31 Jan 2019
• Principal, Etelä-Tapiolan lukio upper secondary school, 2001–2018
• Deputy Director of Education at the Finnish Education unit, 1 Sep 2014–31 Aug 2015
• Censor, Matriculation Examination Board, 2001–
• Full-time teacher of History and Social Studies, Etelä-Tapiolan lukio upper secondary school, 1996–2000
• Full-time teacher of History and Social Studies, Karakallion yläkoulu secondary school, 1988–1996 

Jenni Sipola is a master of education, a 5th grade teacher and a tutor teacher with 21 years of experience in the Finnish public school system. She is a recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching (Arizona State University) and Finnish Cultural Society Grant for her the Embrace your Roots project in Lehtikuusi school.  She has also been involved in several Erasmus projects, which foster international collaboration and exchange among educators. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, learning new things, volunteering for various causes, and travelling to different countries.​

Ami Toikka is currently working as a coordinative team leader of international affairs team in Helsinki Vocational College and Adult Institute, Stadin AO. Her work consists of international cooperation, projects, and development of processes related to international operations. Her work also includes collaborative development of other strategic themes of Stadin AO, such as future foresight. She has an international background with Master of Arts in educational leadership, and has participated in Teachers without borders work developing career guidance and counselling materials in Myanmar upper secondary education context.

Mr. Valkila is the Administrative principal of the Teacher Training School in the Faculty of Education, University of Turku. Earlier on he worked as a principal of Turku International School for 16 years. He also has a long experience as a history and social science teacher in an IB Diploma Programme schools both in Finland and in Belgium. While he has been working for the Teacher Training School, he has also been a lecturer in the Faculty of Education. Mr. Valkila is specialised in school leadership and management, professional development programmes for teachers and principals and international education programmes. He has been giving various international lectures arranged through the University of Turku.

Anu Warinowski is a PhD and docent/associate professor, who works as the Head of Faculty Development in the Faculty of Education, University of Turku. She has extensive expertise on teaching and teacher education, including working as a class teacher for several years. Warinowski has especially been involved in two national teacher education development projects. She is the operational director of the national Finnish Teacher Education Database (FinTED) and she was the director of the OVET project (2017–2020), which created national aptitude testing for Finnish teacher education. 

Elizabeth Whitney teaches in the City University of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College. She was a Fulbright Scholar at University of Turku (2015-2016) and her research on arts communities there is published in SQS: A Journal of Queer Studies in Finland and Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies. Her forthcoming autoethnography, Fire & Ice, is about ice swimming as a grieving ritual after her brother’s death from alcohol use disorder. www.elizabethjwhitney.com