Trainee story: meet impact trainee Hissu Takala

Hilja-Maria (Hissu) Takala joined Finnfund as an Impact Trainee at the beginning of April 2024. Hissu is currently pursuing her master’s degree in economics at Aalto University where she previously completed her bachelor’s degree in the same major. Prior to joining Finnfund, she has worked as a research assistant, executive assistant and a data analyst intern.

Value alignment and opportunities to learn

Hissu explains she first became interested in the traineeship at Finnfund because it perfectly aligned with her values and passions. Her main interest is in development economics, and she had been exposed to this through her prior research role and recent studies. At Finnfund, she has been able to gain a new perspective of development economics from the financing side. She says, “Development finance and impact investing is a very multifaceted, layered process, and it has been interesting to learn about all the different aspects of it”. 

As an Impact Trainee, Hissu is responsible for the annual monitoring and reporting of Finnfund’s portfolio companies. This involves being in touch with companies, tracking reporting statuses, collecting and sorting through data, and conducting sanity checks.

Closeknit culture

Hissu says her start at Finnfund was very smooth because everyone on her team, and in the entire office, is warm and welcoming. She says, “It has been a really great experience. Everyone in the company is very supportive, nice, and fun. The community feels very closeknit and it makes you excited to go to work and see your friends”.

One of her favourite memories was a collaborative team day with the Impact, Compliance, and Environmental & Social groups. Each group built an activity to demonstrate their work, which was then completed by the others. These tasks allowed her to learn more about what the other teams do while getting to know her colleagues better.

Built on trust

When asked if she would recommend a traineeship at Finnfund, Hissu said, “Yes, absolutely. It’s a very supportive environment, and people are rooting for you and want to support your growth. The work is very interesting and rewarding. As a trainee, your work is quite hands-on and you’re trusted to take on responsibilities. This makes the traineeship an excellent opportunity to build confidence in your abilities – an invaluable ingredient for a bright future career”.

When asked if she would recommend a traineeship at Finnfund, Hissu said, “Yes, absolutely. It’s a very supportive environment, and people are rooting for you and want to support your growth. The work is very interesting and rewarding. As a trainee, your work is quite hands-on and you’re trusted to take on responsibilities. This makes the traineeship an excellent opportunity to build confidence in your abilities – an invaluable ingredient for a bright future career”.