This year's MBA scholarship application, organized in cooperation with koulutus.fi, was open from April 30 to June 13. Over a hundred people applied for the scholarship, and two advanced to the final round of interviews.
Joonas Keskinen, Master of Philosophy and Manager of the Taidetestaajat (Art Testers) program of the Association of Finnish Children's Cultural Centres, was chosen as the receiver of the 2023 MBA scholarship.
“With his positive and inspiring personality and strong motivation for MBA studies, Joonas made a big impression on the committee. When choosing a scholarship student, the main reason was how significant work Joonas does in the field of culture and art for the benefit of all eighth graders nationwide and how much impact his MBA studies can have on Finnish children and the whole culture and art field more broadly in the long run”, explains Kerttu Kuokkanen, Director of Degree Programs at Aalto EE.
Keskinen has worked for fifteen years with children's cultural education, enabling children to have equal rights to culture and art. Taidetestaajat is the largest culture education program in Finland, offering all 8th graders and their teachers annual visits to esteemed cultural institutions.
“In my current job, I am aiming for every child's right to art and culture to be realized. It is great to have new expertise from the business side to support that work,” Keskinen explains.
The desire for lifewide learning and competence development inspired Keskinen to join the MBA program. Above all, he expects the program to provide confidence and robustness in decision-making, practical tools for his work as a leader, and eye-opening and insight-generating conversations with other MBA participants.
“I am inspired by the idea that Aalto MBA studies are challenging because I genuinely want to learn and understand new things. There will certainly be tough periods, but I am committed to my studies. The most motivating part is that all the things that will be studied are things that have some practical function and use in my own life and work”, Keskinen says.
In the Aalto MBA studies, sustainability and sustainable leadership are core themes that follow throughout the program. Keskinen emphasizes that sustainability is a very meaningful theme for him.
“The theme is important to me personally. I am looking forward to seeing how it is implemented into business management studies and in what new ways I can connect it to different art and culture projects.”
The scholarship committee consisted of Tom Lindholm, Managing Director at Aalto EE and Head of Lifewide Learning at Aalto University; Kerttu Kuokkanen, Director of Degree Programs at Aalto EE; Anne Nylund, Program Director of Aalto MBA; Marleena Aarikallio, the MBA scholarship student of the year 2021; Max Lundberg, Managing Director at koulutus.fi, and Emma Niemi, Communication Manager at koulutus.fi
Further information on the MBA scholarship and the selection process:
Kerttu Kuokkanen
Director, Degree Programs
Aalto University Executive Education Ltd
kerttu.kuokkanen@aaltoee.fi
Tel. +358 10 837 3754
Aalto University Executive Education Ltd
Aalto University Executive Education Ltd (Aalto EE) consists of five separate brands and solution portfolios. Aalto EE offers thought-provoking leadership development services, Aalto PRO professional development services for experts and managers, and Aalto ENT development services that help entrepreneurs create new business models and opportunities. Finva serves the insurance, banking, and finance sector as well as individuals and organizations in need of financial training, and our newest brand, Aalto ACCESS, offers inclusive, low-threshold programs and courses that are easily applied to an individual’s work combining the portfolios of Aalto EE and Aalto University.
Aalto University Executive Education’s strengths lie in its global operating model and diverse offering. Aalto University brings to our offering a multidisciplinary approach, together with innovative learning methods; this provides a unique combination of practical expertise with the latest research. In addition to Finland and Singapore, Aalto University Executive Education Ltd offers education programs worldwide. As a part of Aalto University, it holds three respected business university accreditations – AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS – which places it among the top 0.5% of institutions in the world.