https://www.facebook.com/theshortcut/
Areas of expertise: fundraising strategy and communications.
Job title and organisation: Founder, Member of the Board, The Shortcut, Helsinki, Finland.
The Shortcut is a non-profit organisation owned by Startup Foundation sr, and a sister organisation to Slush and Startup Sauna.
About the organisation
The Shortcut is a community driven organisation that promotes diversity as an engine for growth.
We inspire and empower our community through gatherings, workshops, trainings and programmes that help people explore ideas, share knowledge and develop skills to enable new talents required in the startup life.
We want more people from diverse backgrounds to consider creating or working for a startup to best utilize their skills and aspirations.
The main criterion for participating is ATTITUDE: if you are curious about technology and entrepreneurship, you are welcome to join us. This is your starting point to take an active role in (re)building your future.
About their manifesto
They believe that immigration is a massive growth opportunity for Finland.
Many different kinds of people have underutilized skills and resources, and if they were better able to participate in Finnish life, they would rise to their full potential. Society as a whole would reap the benefits.
This is true of first and second generation immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, foreigners, young people with a multicultural background – and anyone else wanting to integrate in this country.
Technology has no colour and no boundaries.
It’s particularly suitable as a place to work for people who are not well-rooted in the local society, due to its international character, cross-cultural markets and mobility of applications. Tech startups have a high multiplier effect in terms of revenues and employment, and there is growing demand from Finnish technology companies for new talent.
In times of crisis, Finnish resilience has always made great things happen. Since the financial crisis of 2008, one of the most vibrant startup ecosystems in Europe has been created. Now we are extending this community and making it more inclusive by lowering the barriers to participation.
The mission of The Shortcut is to empower as many different people as possible to create and work for high growth companies.
Through the optimal allocation of human resources, we can contribute to a more economically and culturally flourishing society in a fast and sustainable way. Technology entrepreneurship is a proven, powerful tool to do it.
About our structure and family of organisations
The Shortcut has been running community activities since February 2016 and was officially established at the end of April 2016.
The Startup Shortcut Oy is a subsidiary of Startup Foundation sr and a not-for-profit sister organisation to Slush and Startup Sauna. All the activities of The Shortcut are run by The Shortcut independently.
It works closely with its network of collaborative partners which represents all relevant areas of society.
The Shortcut has a board, consisting of co-founders, representatives of the Startup community, private sector management, serial entrepreneurs and investors, civil society advocates and social and cultural experts.
It has been kick-started through a volunteering movement, based on the lessons learnt from similar ventures such as Aaltoes, Junction, Team up, etc.
