Mari Kiviniemi

Mari Johanna Kiviniemi, deputy secretary-general of the OECD since August 2014, served as prime minister of Finland from 2010 - 2011, Finland's second female prime minister.

Kiviniemi was born September 27, 1968 in Seinäjoki, Finland. She graduated from the University of Helsinki with a degree in economics. She first ran as a candidate for member of parliament in 1991, garnering less than 5,000 votes, while serving as the secretary general of the Centre Party Student Union. The year after completing the work for her master's degree in social sciences, she ran again in the 1995 general elections, this time winning a seat from the Southern Ostrobothnia district with 9,350 votes. She was also served as a member of the Helsinki city council, in addition to her work in national politics, serving since 2005.

In 2003, Kiviniemi was elected to a leadership position within the Centre Party, serving as vice-chairman (one of three) until June 2008, when she was voted out of that position at that summer's party convention. She became a special advisor to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in 2004, and was twice appointed by him to serve as a cabinet minister: first in September 2005 on a temporary basis when the incumbent went on maternity leave for six months, and then on a full-time basis in April 2007.

Prior to her appointment as the prime minister, Kiviniemi was minister of foreign trade and development from 2005–2006 and minister of public administration and local government from 2007 to 2010.

Photo: Johannes Jansson/norden.org

Sources:

Council of Women World Leaders (n.d.). “MARI KIVINIEMI” Council of Women World Leaders. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/mari-kiviniemi.html

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (n.d.). “Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary-General” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development . Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.oecd.org/finland/mari-kiviniemi.htm

World Economic Forum (n.d.). “Mari Kiviniemi” World Economic Forum. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/people/mari-kiviniemi