Fiona Helminen and Janne Salokoski now serving as the substitutes for the communications specialist and the specialist in organisations!

Our group of specialists was reinforced at the beginning of January with two new employees: Fiona Helminen and Janne Salokoski begun work as substitutes for Communications Specialist Janne Kajander and Specialist in Organisations Jaakko Kalske, who are currently on study leave.

As our substitute communications specialist, Fiona Helminen works with advocacy work communication in particular. Together with Communications Specialist Vilma Viertola, she is responsible for our daily communication, the development of communication and supporting the people of the Central Office with their communication work. Fiona has accumulated experience of campaign communication from the Representative Council elections and the municipal elections, and she is excited to get to participate in planning the campaign for next autumn’s Representative Council elections, with work on the campaign starting early this year.

In her studies, Fiona, a student of politics, media and communication at the University of Helsinki, is especially interested in political communication and aspects of political participation. She has previously worked with communication in various student organisations. The transition to specialist status has been fluid, as Fiona was also in charge of communication on HYY’s Board last year.

‘It is amazing to get to continue to conduct student advocacy work in a work community as awesome as this. I am eagerly awaiting getting to make HYY’s advocacy work even more visible to our members’, an excited Fiona muses.

In her spare time, Fiona enjoys movie nights and is currently very into crocheting. She dreams about getting a dog as well as a new film camera.

Janne Salokoski, who began work as our substitute specialist in organisations, is in charge of supporting and advising organisations, developing and maintaining organisational premises, and keeping our coronavirus instructions proportionate. In addition to the Tuning Day, Janne is currently dealing with the lift renovation of the New Student House, among other things.

Janne studies in the Faculty of Theology and is especially interested in exegetics and practical theology. He has accumulated work experience with parishes, running confirmation camps and officiating church services. ‘The intersections of society, culture, people, experiences, history and worldviews both in the past and in the present interest me and hopefully also provide me with perspective for the duties of the specialist in organisations’, Janne ponders. Last year, Janne acted as the person in charge of organisations on HYY’s Board, and before that, he held various positions in Kymenlaakson Osakunta.

‘It is nice to get to look at HYY and the operation of the organisational sector from yet another new point of view. Having observed HYY as a student, a member of the Board and now an employee, it always seems slightly different from a different role’, Janne ruminates.

In his spare time, Janne enjoys cooking and, weather allowing, frisbee golf: ‘When you find yourself closing festive premises for the second spring in a row, occasionally throwing plastic discs at trees is a suitably therapeutic pastime.’

Jaakko Kalske returns from his study leave on 28 February 2022 and Janne Kajander on 7 March 2022.