I was just about to receive my MA when I married and moved to Southwest Finland to become a farmwife – a great shock for my friends and relatives in Helsinki. My doctoral dissertation on että-clauses (subordinate that- clauses) and participle structures seemed to be hardly progressing as I was the mother of two small girls.

When I began work as chairperson of the board of the Kone Foundation a little over ten years ago, the world of foundations was masculine and conservative. The founding charter of the Council of Finnish Foundations was signed in 2003 by 52 representatives of various Finnish foundations, two of whom were women.

In recent years I have worked as the director of the Saari residence, which is maintained by the Kone Foundation. Leading the residence for artists and researchers is wonderful work, and I’m worried how I will ever be able to give it up when I reach retirement age.

After matriculating, I had to think for a year before I dared begin studying Finnish, but after that, starting university felt wonderful. In the phonetics, morphology and syntax courses of my fresher year, it was thrilling become aware of the principles of language that had been completely unmentioned at school.

I have just turned 60 and I don’t particularly dream, but perhaps I could wish for something. I would like to be able to lead the Kone Foundation in a direction that my successor could easily continue. The organisation should be light and flexible so that in the future those who will decide on the course of the Foundation’s activities will be able to do so free of burdensome structures.