A historic day:  On Tuesday 10 December 2019, the President of the Republic appointed Finland’s 76th Government. On the same occasion, the world got its youngest serving prime minister and Finland a coalition government where all party leaders are women. Something only possible in Finland? Well, at least true to the “trend” established some 115 years ago, when in 1906 Finland became the first country in Europe to give women the right to vote.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Board of ATA Gears had appointed Hanna Miettinen (born 1977, M. Sc. in Materials Engineering) CEO of ATA Gears as of 1 August 2018.

With previous ATA experience in the company´s sales and purchasing 2002-2018, Hanna is the company’s first female CEO. By comparison, according to the latest statistics, only two of the 40 biggest companies in Finland have a woman as CEO.

The conclusion? At least we at ATA Gears can claim to be forerunners in a development which history would suggest is only natural.

Empowering makes it sustainable

For a leading power transmission company to have a female CEO is in Hanna’s opinion not so strange. ”Although the business cultures may still be conservative, I’m definitely not alone in this sector. We have great customers led by women, and there are scores of female students of mechanical engineering in the leading technical colleges and universities. But, of course, it all depends on the women themselves, too, what kind of jobs we apply for and show interest in.”

Hanna is clearly determined to excel at her job. ”To promote and accelerate the change we are in the middle of,” she says is her main purpose.  ”There is so much know-how, and a great feeling of enthusiasm, and my job is to tap into all that great potential, make sure everybody’s efforts count and pay back,” she continues.

At ATA we hope to see more companies follow suit and find more women in leading positions!

Can you agree?