The Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation is developing its internal operations and board work
The development of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation’s internal operations has been one of the main priorities of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation since 2024 and one of the most important themes of the current board term. The development of operations concerns, among other things, board work, internal administration, employment relations, the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation’s values and communications. The aim of the development activities is to build the work and operations of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation on a sustainable basis, so that the continuity of operations in the future can be ensured and the operating conditions and opportunities of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation can be improved over the long term.
As part of the development activities regarding employment relations, the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation has clarified the job descriptions of its personnel, which has also changed the job titles of the foundation’s employees. As of 21.4.2026, the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation will have an Executive Director (Finnish: toiminnanjohtaja) and a Financial Administration Expert (Finnish: talousasiantuntija). The Board of Directors of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation decided to change the job title of the Agent (Finnish: asiamies) to the Executive Director already in the autumn of 2024, but the implementation was delayed until the job descriptions were updated at the contract level. The title of agent dates back to the old Foundation Act, but the update of the law in 2015 has enabled the job title to be changed to the Executive Director, which better describes the job. In the future, cooperation with different organizations will also be smoother when the job title is more relevant to the times.
In early 2026, the Board of Directors of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation decided to change the project-based position, previously held under the title of Executive Assistant (Finnish: talous- ja toiminta-assistentti), to a permanent employment relationship as a Financial Administration Expert. The change came into effect in connection with the recruitment of a Financial Administration Expert in January-February 2026. Making the position of Financial Administration Expert permanent will provide continuity and certainty to the operations of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation.
The goal of developing internal governance and board work is to further commit the Board to the Foundation’s operations and to streamline the Board’s decision-making and work at an administrative level. To achieve this goal, good governance guidelines will be drawn up, which will create clear lines of action for both the staff and the Board to facilitate and enhance work at many different levels.
Development work on values and communication go hand in hand and are constantly evolving. The key goal of value work is to gain a clear understanding of the principles guiding the operations of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation; the values guide the organization’s operations and also communicate externally about the organization, its operations, operating methods and matters relevant to it. Value work has been started among the staff in the fall of 2025 and will continue next fall. Both the Board and staff of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation will participate in the value work in the fall, and in addition, the Skolt Saami community will also be involved in the value work. The goal of community involvement is to create values for the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation that the community also considers important and in which the community believes.
The development work on communications is based on the 2025 action plan, which outlines the development of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation’s communications strategy. The communications strategy outlines the Foundation’s goals for communications in both external and internal communications. In accordance with the action plan, the development of the communications strategy began last year, and it defines, among other things, the current state of communications and development targets, communication channels and media used, goals, and cooperation and target groups. However, the development of the communications strategy needs to be supported by the definition of values, according to which the key core messages of communications can be defined.
The staff and the Board of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation have worked on the development of different areas in close cooperation.
Personnel and contact information of the Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation
Composition of the Board of Directors of Skolt Saami Cultural Foundation for the term 2025–2028