Changes in governments, shifting geopolitical alliances, exponential growth in technology, and climate change are converging to change the world in unprecedented ways. On the heels of joining NATO in 2023, what is Finland’s role on the world stage now and in the future? How does its past shape its future?

Keynote speech by Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola in the form of a fireside chat. Introductions by Phil Hansen, the Executive Director of Global Minnesota. Fireside chat with Tom Hanson, Former US State Department Foreign Service Officer.

PRESENTERS:

Leena-Kaisa Mikkola is the Ambassador of Finland to the United States. She started in her role in September 2024. Prior to that, she served as the Ambassador of Finland to the People’s Republic of China from 2021 to 2024.

Ambassador Mikkola is a career diplomat, and she joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1992. She has worked with Middle Eastern and African Affairs, most recently as Finland’s Ambassador to Israel (2011–2016) and as the Director General for Africa and the Middle East (2017–2021). She has also worked at the diplomatic missions in Brussels, Canberra, Athens and Budapest. 

Born in 1962, Ambassador Mikkola is originally from Kaustinen, Finland. She holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Helsinki.

PHIL HANSEN, President, Global Minnesota
Phil is currently the President of Global Minnesota, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization, that advances international understanding and engagement. The majority of Phil’s 30-year career was with the American Red Cross where he served in executive roles in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.  Phil led efforts to deliver disaster relief, provide services for military families, collect blood, deliver international services, and provide safety education programs.  Phil was frequently deployed to help with recovery efforts for major disasters in the U.S. and beyond. 

Phil holds a B.S. in Public Administration and a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University. Phil completed training at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, a joint program of the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard & John F. Kennedy School of Government. Phil was recognized with the American Red Cross Presidential Award for Employee Excellence. In 2020, Phil was honored as the Hamline School of Business Alumni of the Year. He and his wife Linda, a metalsmith and jewelry designer, live in St. Paul with their wonderful dog Charlie.

Thomas Hanson is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State whose diplomatic postings included East Germany, France, Norway, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. He also participated in the opening of new U.S. embassies in Mongolia and Estonia, worked on the Foreign Relations Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and served as Director for NATO and European Affairs at the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hanson currently is Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and has taught diplomacy at Carleton College. He also serves as Chair of the Minnesota Committee on Foreign Relations and as Co-Chair of the Minnesota China Business Council. He is a past board member of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and Director at the Institute for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (IEECA). He is also a member of the U.S. Foreign Policy Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA) as well as the Council of Advisers at the Museum of Russian Art and the Minnesota Peace Initiative (MPI) at Norway House.