Development Consultant with Global Experience
I was born in 1946 in Finland, raised in a forest-rich, rural environment and graduated in 1974 from Helsinki University, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry with M.Sc. (For.) degree, major in Marketing of Forest Products.
After having worked in Finnish Lapland and specialized in training for 7 years, my journey in the developing world started in late 1980 from Mozambique. The trek continued to Zanzibar, Kenya, Nicaragua, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, and finally back to Mozambique, where I lead the Forestry Entrepreneurship and Joint Forest Management Project from 2004 to 2008.
Multidisciplinary and multinational teams under my leadership have included village leaders, NGO activists, academics from anthropologists to economists, consultants from sociologists to civil engineers, development bankers and people from all major religions and cultures – Animists, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims…
During my career I have had working level skills in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Swedish, German and Kiswahili, and have been sensitised to Thai, Lao and Bangla languages, having worked several years in those countries. At present I am comfortable in Finnish, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish-speaking working environments.
Some of my experiences gained and skills obtained during the last 28 years in developing countries, in Asia, Africa and Latin America, may be of use for your esteemed organization. In that case, don’t hesitate to contact me. I would be pleased to deliver references and my CV on request.