Irina Niinivaara appointed Chief Operating Officer of Akordi

Irina Niinivaara joined Akordi’s team in the summer. As Chief Operating Officer, the baton will pass from Emma Luoma to Irina, and Emma will be able to deep dive into a more specialist role in environmental conflict mediation.

Irina brings with her fifteen years of experience in responsible business development and environmental management roles.

In her previous roles, Irina has been responsible for coordinating and developing business collaboration with the environmental organisation Baltic Sea Action Group. At Helsinki Region Environmental Services, she has been responsible for the Ekokompassi environmental management Service, and at SOK and Inex Partners for environmental responsibility in the grocery trade and logistics. She has experience in network management and building platform collboration. Irina has a master’s degree in recycling engineering.

At Akordi, Irina’s role is to ensure that the work processes are efficient, i.e. that the work of Akordi’s team of experts is as smooth as possible. Irina’s expertise also strengthens Akordi’s communication.

“In my role, I can contribute to increasing the impact of Akord’s specialised work and help the team to flourish. It is very rewarding and inspiring,” Irina says.

Thanks to her work experience, Irina has an understanding of interdependencies and the nature of systemic change. Systems thinking and the acceptance of complexity are necessary starting points in preventing environmental conflicts related to the green transition, for example. As in regenerative business, the place, its people, its livelihoods and its ecosystems form the main reference framework.

“This new start inspires and excites me! I am impressed by the work of Akordi in environmental mediation and I know that there is a great need for it in the sustainability transition. I’m so proud to be involved in this kind of work,” Irina rejoices.