IN SHORT
- Member of Finnish Parliament and Helsinki city councillor, The Left
- Master in Environment and Development, King’s College London
- Born in Helsinki December 1982
- Mother of two
- An activist, a feminist and a vegan
ABOUT
I am Mai Kivelä, Member of Parliament, City Councillor and a long term political activist from Helsinki. My Party is The Left Alliance. At the Parliament I am a Member of the Environment Committee and the Commerce Committee. I live in Arabianranta, Helsinki with my partner and our two kids.
I have been into political activism since I was a 9 years old. At that time I joined Greenpeace after seeing a TV-program about whale hunting. I have been actively involved in numerous different environmental and social movements and organizations for more than a decade.
Before politics I used to work as the Executive Director of Animalia, a Secretary General of the Left Youth of Finland and several years for Greenpeace. Furthermore, I have experience in working in the development field and with trade unions. Before NGOs and during my studies I worked as a ticket seller in a movie theater, a lifeguard in a swimming pool and as a catering staff to name a few.
I have a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from King’s College London. I wrote my master’s thesis about the relationship between water resources, international trade and food security. I have also studied sociology at the University of Tampere and civic activities in Humak University of Applied Sciences.
I believe that most of the problems and injustices our society is facing stem from political choices. Consequently, we need strong political resolve and activism to solve issues such as climate crisis, biodiversity loss, erosion of human rights and financial crises.
The main themes of my campaign are environmental and social sustainability combined with a multi-level participatory approach to politics.
Main campaign agendas:
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS NEEDS TO BE SOLVED
The current environmental crisis is the most important political issue of our times. The most pressing manifestations of this crisis are climate crisis and biodiversity loss. My main goal in politics is to work towards creating an ecologically sustainable society.
FEMINISM
I want Helsinki to actively work for reducing inequality and poverty. All policy should be in line with feminist goals.
CREATIVE HELSINKI
I want Helsinki to be a lively, colorful city that enables peoples ideas to flourish. City where on top of basic functions people can also enjoy life and each other. A city that appreciates creativity and culture.
COST OF LIVING NEEDS TO REDUCED
It is becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable housing in Helsinki. Furthermore, homelessness should not exist in a civilized society and everybody should be able to afford a home. In other words, having a home should be a fundamental human right.
Contact information: https://maikivela.fi/yhteystiedot/
