Esko Aho

Esko Aho served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 1983 to 2003. He led the Centre Party from 1990 to 2002 and held the office of Prime Minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995. Under his leadership, Finland joined the European Union.

After his political career, he served as President of the Finnish Innovation Fund SITRA from 2004 to 2008. From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Aho served as Executive Vice President for Corporate Relations and Responsibility at Nokia Corporation and was a member of its Executive Board. Furthermore, he served as elected member of the Executive Board at the International Chamber of Commerce from 2013 to 2019. Currently, Mr. Aho is Chairman of the Board of China Office of Finnish Industries Oy. He was a member of JPMorgan’s Advisory Council for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from 2019 to 2024.

Throughout his career, Mr. Aho has been active in the world of academia. From 2000 to 2001, he spent a year as a Fellow and adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and again from 2012 to 2014, he served as a senior fellow at Harvard University. From 2015 to 2022, Mr. Aho served as an Executive in Residence at Aalto University.

In addition to his work in politics, business, and academia, Mr. Aho is also an author and publisher. He has published 15 books and is the author of eight books.