Board of Directors

The third Board of Directors was elected in March of 2009 for a two-year term. We may represent a wide range of industries and backgrounds reflecting the Chamber's diverse membership base, but we are all committed to AmCham's success.
We convene quarterly for a strategic and financial overview. Twice a year we participate in the AmCham Leadership Day that brings us together with the committee and network chairs and vice chairs.
Through AmCham, I have met companies driven to make the Finnish marketplace more efficient and exciting. Some companies came looking for a soft landing place and needed to look no further. Many are eager to boost their sales and connections.
AmCham Finland is truly an engine that makes business possible! We are working to keep it that way. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.

- Petteri Kilpinen, Chairman of the Board

Petteri Kilpinen is the CEO and Chairman of the Board at TBWA\Helsinki, the leading marketing consulting and planning group in Finland. He is also a member of the European Executive Committee of TBWA Global Network and a board member of L-Fashion Group and Thermidas Ltd. According to an advertising agency research, he is the best-known CEO and the most wanted partner within the industry in Finland. Kilpinen is a qualified trainer of top management groups and a popular guest speaker.
 

 
VICE CHAIRMAN Tomi Vahevaara is the Managing Director of Eli Lilly in Finland and the Baltic States. Eli Lilly and Company is one of the leading innovative pharma companies with global presence. Mr. Vahevaara has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical business and has held various leadership positions in a number of pharma companies prior to joining Eli Lilly in 1998. He is a Board Member of Pharma Industry Finland and Chair of the Lilly Foundation.

 

 

SECRETARY Risto Ojantakanen is a partner at the New York -based global law firm of White & Case LLP. He advises Finnish and international corporate clients, private equity houses and financial institutions on a broad range of M&A transactions, securities offerings and other finance matters. Mr. Ojantakanen also has significant experience in energy, insurance, financial restructuring, and insolvency law.

 

 

Mikael Anthoni is Senior Vice President of Cargotec Corporation, a global cargo handling company with operations in more than 40 countries. Mr. Anthoni has 20 years of experience in marketing and sales. Before joining Cargotec in 2004, he worked as Managing Director at Hymat, a company operating in hydraulic retail, wholesale and subcontracting. His other prior positions have been within the welding and paper machinery industries. He holds a degree in M.Sc. (Eng.) from the Helsinki University of Technology.

 

 

Will Cardwell is currently the CEO of Technopolis Ventures, the largest high tech business incubator in Finland, with offices in 9 cities and over 200 incubator clients. He is on the board of a number of Finnish companies, and has been living in Finland with his family for over 13 years. Prior to Technopolis, he was CEO of Valimo Wireless and a partner with Finnish venture capital firms Conor Venture Partners and Eqvitec Partners. Earlier, he was a lecturer of finance and a research director at the Helsinki School of Economics and at the Helsinki University of Technology. He holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Davidson College, and an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics.

 

Risto Honkanen is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales, at Mandatum Life. He has held several Executive Sales and Marketing positions in Sampo Group since 1985. Currently he is a Member of the Executive Board of Mandatum Life Insurance Company Ltd and a Member of the Board of the SE Sampo Life Insurance Baltic operating in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. He has and has had several positions of trust at various civil entities such as the Double Century Club, London (an organization of European pension insurance consultants and actuaries). He is also a Member of the Delegation at the Tax Payers' Association of Finland and Chairman of the Board at Nöykkiö High school in Espoo.

 

Risto Huvila is Chief Operating Officer at Enfucell Oy, a Finnish high tech company with a subsidiary in McLean, VA, specializing in development & manufacturing of disposable, eco-friendly and printed SoftBattery® power sources. Risto is in charge of Enfucell’s global sales and customer projects. Mr. Huvila has over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing management. Prior to joining Enfucell, he has worked as a management consultant and trainer at Cumulatum International, serving also as interim manager. Risto’s leadership experience includes companies like TeliaSonera, Sanoma Corporation and Tamore Group. Mr. Huvila is a member of the board of RFID Lab Finland, the leading Finnish application center for RFID technology. He has also served as a Board Member and Chairman of EuropartnersB and a Board Member at CBMC International, Inc.

Kari Laukkanen is the Citi Country Officer and Managing Director of Corporate Banking in Finland. Mr. Laukkanen has been with Citi for 17 years and has held a number of positions within the Corporate and Investment Banking division. He has extensive experience in managing global relationships with multinational customers and has been involved in a large number of financing transactions in multiple industries and businesses. Prior to joining Citi, he gained experience in accounting and auditing. He holds a master's degree from the Helsinki School of Economics. The business degree included a term in Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

 

Jari Miettinen is Vice President of International Operations at Lumon Group, and in charge of Lumon’s business internationally from North America to Asia. Before Lumon he gained 24 years of experience in American IT companies; most recently, he worked for Unisys Corporation for 12 years, in both international and Finnish country manager capacities, improving the company’s efficiency and creating a competitive edge for customers. In his career Mr. Miettinen has over nine years of global, large-scale business development experience, having headed the Unisys 3G Infrastructure Vendor program in Europe and having worked as the Unisys Global Account Director for Nokia business for four years, with Unisys serving Nokia in 50 countries. Mr. Miettinen chairs the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) of AmCham Finland.

 

O.P. Puikkonen, CEO of Marsh Oy, has worked in the field of risk and insurance in Finland and abroad for over 20 years. Outside of Finland, Mr. Puikkonen has worked in Atlanta, New York and London. Prior to joining Marsh and moving back to Finland in 2001, he held several marketing and management positions with Pohjola Insurance Company, Skandia Insurance Company and If P&C Insurance. Mr. Puikkonen is a member of the Board at the Finnish Insurance Broker Association (Chairman 2005-2007).

 

 

Elina Salo is Sales Manager at United Parcel Service (UPS) Finland and is responsible for the company’s business development in Finland. UPS is the world's largest delivery company. Prior to UPS, Mrs. Salo held various positions at Hewlett-Packard in Finland. She holds a master's degree in International Business from the Helsinki School of Economics and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

 

 

Juhani Talvia is Regional Vice President for Finland and the Baltic States at Chartis Europe S.A., the genaral insurance operation of the American International Group,Inc. (AIG). With a seasoned background in the insurance field, Mr. Talvia has spent two decades working as General Manager for AIG Finland and as President for AIG Russia. Before joining AIG, Mr. Talvia served as Department Manager for Foreign Services at Pohjola insurance company and Legal Counsel at Risk Management Ltd., a subsidiary of Sampo insurance company.

 

 

Alex Wawiluk is the CEO of Cocosmile International Oy. For 24 years Mr. Wawiluk worked for 3M Company in various Manufacturing, Technical, Sales and Marketing positions, as well as General Management. The entrepreneurial bug bit him and today he owns and runs five companies, two of which are in Russia and one in Finland. His Finland-based company is Europe’s first “Dental and Skin Care Spa” called Cocosmile.

 

HONORARY BOARD MEMBER Nicholas Kuchova