Theme: Unseen Forces

Step into a world where the invisible takes center stage. TEDxVaasa 2025 invites you to explore the unseen forces shaping our lives—forces that influence our decisions, shape societies, and drive innovation in ways we may not even realize.

From cultural undercurrents to technological revolutions, from unconscious biases to hidden networks, this year’s theme delves into the forces that operate beneath the surface yet hold immense power in defining our future.

Join us for an inspiring day of thought-provoking talks, groundbreaking ideas, and meaningful connections. Let’s uncover the invisible, challenge our perceptions, and ignite conversations that matter.

📅 Date: Friday | April 25, 2025
📍 Location: Wasa Innovation Center
🎟 Tickets are out now: https://tedxvaasa.com/

Come curious. Leave transformed.

Hashtags:
#TEDxVaasa #TEDxVaasa2025 #UnseenForces #IdeasWorthSpreading

Vaasa
Gerbyntie 16
Vaasa, Pohjanmaa, 65230
Finland

Andrew Agbaje

Professor, University of Eastern Finland

Prof. Andrew Agbaje is a world-class expert in early diagnosis and prevention of childhood obesity. His research has been featured on the BBC and CNN.

Anna Granskog

Partner, McKinsey & Company

Anna Granskog is a Partner at McKinsey & Company with 28 years of consulting experience. Her work centers around energy and industrial companies, with particular focus on strategy and organizational topics. Within McKinsey Sustainability, she leads our work in helping clients scale climate technologies.

Anna Häggblom

Entrepreneur, Aveo Home

AI is not just about technology—it’s about people. Anna Häggblom is a strategist, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker who challenges the way we think about AI in business and society. She believes AI should create space for creativity, well-being, and long-term success, rather than simply driving efficiency. With a background in finance and statistics, Anna has built businesses that integrate AI in a way that strengthens human potential. Through AveoAI, she helps organizations navigate AI adoption with a focus on sustainable growth and cognitive well-being. She is also a strong advocate for the four-day workweek, proving that innovation and productivity thrive when people have the time and energy to think. In her talk, AI for People and Profit – Beyond Productivity and Efficiency, Anna invites us to rethink AI’s role in our lives—beyond automation, toward a smarter, more human-centered future where businesses and people grow together.

Anu Ennelin

Entrepreneur, Vastuutakomo

Anu Ennelin is a Finnish sustainability consultant, HR leader and inspiring speaker. Her unique journey from chemist to HR leader to sustainability entrepreneur has shown her that real change happens when people are truly involved and empowered. As the founder of Vastuutakomo, Anu believes that anyone can be a sustainability hero—often making a bigger difference in their daily work than they realize. She helps bust business leaders listen, engage employees, and create workplaces where sustainability becomes a shared effort toward meaningful goals. Anu works with businesses that want to do good while staying profitable. As a Certified Change Leader in Sustainability Management, she helps teams and executives—primarily in SMEs—turn sustainability strategies into real actions that people believe in.

Christof Middeke

Wilderness Guide, NordicByNature

Optimistic human, Wilderness guide & sufficiency explorer, serving “us nature” by building bridges between humans & natural realties.

Elina Viitasaari

Special Youth Councelor (Youth Street Violence Prevention), City of Vaasa

Elina Viitasaari is an award-winning expert on sexual and gender-based violence, actively driving change from grassroots client work to global UN forums.

Kamilla Sultanova

Entrepreneur, ConnectUz

Kamilla Sultanova is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with an innate gift for bridging cultures and fostering belonging. A multilingual expert fluent in Danish and Finnish, she has embraced the Nordic "joy de vivre," hygge, and even its dark humor—turning challenges into resilience. Curious about why she connects where others struggle, Kamilla has explored how relationships flourish across industries from shipping to chemicals, and how corporate dynamics differ from startup culture. Her lifelong need to adapt to new environments became her superpower, transforming inclusivity into a strength she now wields as a DEI trainer, cultural gardener with local communities, and event host. An award-winning speaker with experience engaging everyone from presidents to startups, Kamilla inspires change by turning diversity into a strategic advantage.

Khin Phyu Cyn Kyi

Trainee for Marketing (Transformers Hub Europe) and HR (Finland), Hitachi Energy

Khin Phyu Syn Kyi, or K, is an aspiring youth who is passionate about community development and international collaboration. With a prior study background in Civil Engineering, she proceeded to study International Business at VAMK in Finland. K has been a representative of Myanmar in international diplomacy programs such as SSEAYP, AFMAM, AAYLF, and YSEALI, working together with young professionals from Japan, Australia, and ASEAN. She is also a certified trainer for Model ASEAN Meeting and a digital literacy advocate. Currently in Finland, she is working as an HR & Communications Trainee at Hitachi Energy Finland and a Student Ambassador for Study in Finland. To promote inclusiveness and a sense of belonging within the community, she is also part of the assoication Vaasa for All. Moreover, she blogs about her own experiences on her blog, The K Channel, to empower and support youths to achieving career goals and personal growth.

Leonor Carvalho

Entrepreneur, Leonor Coaching

Leonor Carvalho is a coach and hypnotherapist specializing in burnout, guiding others on how self-awareness and reconnection help restore balance and prevent burnout.

Lukumanu Iddrisu

Project Manager, Vaasa Spouse Programme

Lukumanu Iddrisu is a speaker, storyteller, and advocate for human connection, based in Finland. With a background in economic and business administration, he specializes in networking, relationship-building, immigration, integration, personal branding, and employer branding. Lukumanu is passionate about helping individuals unlock career opportunities through unorthodox approaches and hidden networks. As the project manager of the Vaasa Spouse Programme and a part-time lecturer at Vaasa University of Applied Sciences, he actively supports workforce integration and career development. His thought leadership has reached thousands through speaking engagements, career initiatives, and his 16,000+ LinkedIn following. At TEDx Vaasa, Lukumanu will shed light on the unseen forces that shape our careers and communities — challenging audiences to rethink networking, embrace diversity, and harness the invisible power of human connections.

Meghadipa Goswami

Content Creator & Marketing Specialist, Couple of Expats

Megha Goswami is a marketing professional and digital creator passionate about storytelling and cultural connections. Originally from India, she spent parts of her childhood in the US before her family returned to India. When choosing where to pursue her master’s studies back in 2018, she took an unconventional route that none of her classmates understood—choosing Finland over the US. In Finland, she co-founded Couple of Expats with her Latvian husband, a platform that helps individuals embrace Finnish life through an immigrant’s lens. Through their digital content that has reached 20M+ people, they share insights on cultural adaptation, work-life balance, and the quirks of life in the happiest country in the world. With a background in science and marketing, Megha helps businesses and individuals connect with audiences authentically. Whether through digital content, consulting, or speaking engagements, she is dedicated to making Finland feel like home—one story at a time.

Pauliina Ståhlberg

Executive Director, Helsinki International Film Festival

Pauliina Ståhlberg is the executive director of the Helsinki International Film Festival, which includes the biggest film festival in Finland called Love & Anarchy. She is experienced in the management of cultural organizations and an expert in cultural export, being the former Director of the Finnish Cultural Institutes in Madrid & London. She is also an audiovisual producer whose best known series is the Nordic Noir police series Deadwind/Karppi for Netflix. In her free time she watches films, scuba dives and trains karate.

Petri Uusikylä

Research Director, University of Vaasa

Petri Uusikylä (PhD) works as a research director at the University of Vaasa (Public Policy and Governance/Preparedness and Resilience Platform). Petri has around 25 years of public policy, evaluation, and complexity-related research expertise. Along with working as a consultant, public speaker, and advisor for various governments in Europe and the Global South, he has been a founder and CEO of several start-ups. He has an extensive list of publications in the fields of innovation policy, systems analysis, complexity, resilience, and social network analysis. His new, co-edited book, “Information Resilience and Comprehensive Security— Challenges and Complexities in Wicked Environments,” was published in December 2024 by Palgrave Macmillan (https://link.springer.com/book/9783031661952).

Ulla Kruhse-Lehtonen

CEO, DAIN Studios Finland

Ulla Kruhse-Lehtonen is a leader in data and AI strategy, dedicated to helping companies unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence for real business impact. As a co-founder of DAIN Studios, a Finnish-German AI consultancy, she has shaped and executed AI-driven transformations across industries, guiding organizations into the future. Before DAIN, Ulla served as Vice President for Consumer Analytics and Insights at Sanoma Corporation, where she led the Analytics Center of Excellence supporting Sanoma’s media and learning businesses. Prior to that, she headed Nokia’s global Consumer Analytics department. Ulla holds a PhD in Economics from Aalto University and continues to shape the conversation on AI, data, and the future of work.