About us

Vesa (M.Soc.Sci) is the Managing Director of 4FRONT. He has over 15 years of experience in evaluations, impact assessments, and policy studies. Vesa has carried out numerous assignments for ministries, public agencies, EU institutions, and international organisations such as Nordic Innovation and the World Bank. His main areas of expertise include innovation, technology, and startup policies, as well as delivering complex evaluations and impact assessments that support future-fit governance and effective organisations. In his free time, he especially enjoys playing and watching football, and reading books.

Kimmo is a seasoned consultant in the field of research, innovation and business policies, he has over 25 years of professional experience from Finland and abroad.

Kimmo is a sought-after speaker and writer who has co-authored tens of publications on STI-related issues. Kimmo is often involved with evaluation projects and policy analyses of the company and is an energising facilitator at workshops. He holds a Lic.Tech degree in Industrial Management.

Jenna works as a consultant in 4FRONT, and she has gained experience in data collection and analysis, and project coordination in various research and evaluation projects, which have been conducted e.g. for public sector agencies, municipalities, regional councils and ministries. She holds a Master’s degree in General and Adult Education (MA) from University of Helsinki.

Jenna’s strengths in project work are focused on client work, facilitating collaboration, communications and workshop planning. Her particular interests are related to education politics, themes of training, adult education and lifelong learning, and policies and governance of basic and higher education. She is passionate about inspiring training and workshop events.

Hanna’s work at 4FRONT relates to project management, stakeholder interaction, communication as well as data collection and analysis. Over the past 15 years Hanna has been working in projects both at the national and at European level.

Hanna draws her inspiration from people and collaboration. She enjoys boosting stakeholder interaction and confirming smooth project management. Hanna is one of the backbones for systematic and unified internal processes at 4FRONT, especially in sales. Hanna holds a M.Sc. (in marketing) from the University of Tampere where she worked e.g. as a researcher before entering private sector.

In her free time, Hanna loves spending time in nature, especially wandering through forests and collecting berries. She also finds relaxation in knitting, visiting museums as well as in other possibilities to enjoy art and culture.

Fabian develops and coordinates 4Front’s EU and international projects. He holds a Master’s degree from Tampere University and University of Agder in administrative science (M. Admin. Sc./M.Sc).

Fabian has experience in working on policy studies, evaluations and impact assessment for the European Commission and other European and international organisations. In the past, he completed a number of projects and studies for clients such as the European Commission, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), Asian Development Bank and Interpol. This allowed him to develop a good knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as different evaluation methodologies, especially related to the Better Regulation Guidelines of the European Commission. Fabian’s interests primarily focus on improving European competitiveness, innovation policy, EU cohesion policy, and the European Structural and Investment Funds.

Heidi Uitto works as a senior expert at 4FRONT, specializing in the evaluation and analysis of public policies, particularly in the areas of research, development, and innovation (RDI) policy, enterprise financing, and emerging technologies. She has extensive experience in assessing the impacts of policy interventions and developing evidence-based insights to support strategic decision-making.

Heidi’s methodological expertise is grounded in quantitative research, including statistical analysis and econometrics, complemented by qualitative methods such as interviews and case studies. She also has a strong background in project management and data visualization, ensuring complex findings are communicated clearly to different audiences.

At 4FRONT, Heidi has contributed to several national and international projects for clients such as the European Commission, Business Finland, and various Finnish ministries. Her work has focused on areas such as sustainable development, innovation policy, and the regulatory environment for emerging technologies.

Heidi holds a Master of Science in Economics from Lund University, with a specialization in development economics.

Jaime works as EU Policy Consultant. In this role, he focuses on conducting research and analysis for policy evaluations and studies for clients like the European Commission and other EU institutions.

Prior to joining 4Front, Jaime worked as Junior EU Policy Specialist at the Climate Leadership Coalition, and he interned at the European Commission in the cabinet of the High Representative/Vice President. He is particularly interested in how to avoid that the socioecological crises exacerbate global inequalities and in the management of innovation to advance the green transition.

Jaime holds a Double Bachelor’s in Law and Political Science from University Carlos III of Madrid and a Master’s in EU International Relations from the College of Europe. In his free time, he enjoys hiking in the Finnish Lakeland or Northern Spain, learning about forests, and playing pond hockey.

Minna works as an advisor and her work is focused on labour market, education and well-being in society.

Minna has previously worked as a manager, lead specialist and researcher. She has led numerous research and evaluation teams. Minna has completed all her degrees in the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences (BSoc, MSoc, DSoc). She defended her doctoral thesis in 2017. Her main areas of thematic expertise include education and labour market policies, evaluation of services for the unemployed, workplace well-being and career guidance. Additionally, she has expertise from security issues, political aspects of environmental policies, development cooperation, and EU-level debt policies. She is also a board member of the Finnish Evaluation Society.

Anne-Mari has 25 years of experience in service business development, university-business cooperation models, regional innovation systems and programme based economic development policy. She has worked in various research, teaching and administrative positions in universities, as expert for planning and execution of innovation and economic development programmes in Finland and abroad, and different other roles in innovation and development.

Anne-Mari is passionate about systemic innovations, innovation platforms, sustainable societal development and facilitation methods. She holds Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration from University of Tampere.

Sari works as EU Policy Advisor, focusing on EU cohesion policy and regional development projects at 4Front. She is also working as a CEO and Senior Consultant in her own company, NordEval Oy.

Sari has studied International Relations at London School of Economics (BSc), Political Economy at University of London (MA) and Political Science at Central European University in Budapest (M.Phil). She is a senior expert in programme and policy evaluation. She has worked on numerous evaluations at European, national, regional, and local level. Her areas of expertise include the EU cohesion policy, regional development, rural development, and evaluation capacity building. She also has work experience from public administration both at the national and European level, and she teaches regional policy evaluation at the University Centre of Westfjords in Iceland.

Joona contributes as an EU policy advisor specializing in science, technology, and innovation policy. He holds a PhD from the European University Institute, where his research focused on the development of European venture capital markets. Previously, he worked as a Research Manager at PPMI, a leading European research and policy analysis centre, and has carried out various assignments for the European Commission, including evaluations of Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Currently, Joona works as an innovation specialist at the University of Helsinki.

Kristiina works as Developing Markets Advisor. She is also working as the CEO and Principal Consultant in her own company, Saliens Oy.

Kristiina has over 25 years of experience in innovation, entrepreneurship and private sector development in Finland and in developing markets. She has spent 7 years in Africa as a Team Leader of development projects, and after returning to Finland has continued to work with international development activities, from project design to implementation support and monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Kristiina is also active in the visual arts field both as an artist and as an activist, chairing the organization running a non-profit art gallery Kivipankki.

Kristiina holds a Master of Science degree in Technology and is currently working towards a Bachelor of Culture and Arts, Fine Arts degree.