Julia Jousilahti

Julia is a social scientist working in Demos Helsinki’s Emancipatory Economy team. As the economy is a man-made system and not a force of nature, Julia is convinced we can build a better economic system – one that admits the fundamental interconnectedness with nature and guarantees the basic assets of a good life for all –  if we just want to do so. In the team, she leads projects and is in charge of the acquisition of new partnerships. 

In addition, Julia is forever curious and has for a long time worked with questions related to the future of work, civic participation, and just transition. She has extensive and versatile work experience on these topics with Ministries, Foundations, and NGOs.

Julia’s recent work includes running a co-creative foresight process for challenging and rethinking the fundamental assumptions, myths, and narratives on which our economic system is built with the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.  She led two large research projects for the Finnish Prime Minister’s office, one on the state’s role in steering the economy in the polycrisis (ECONCHANGE) and one on the skills and education needs in the green transition (VISIOS.) She was in charge of a landscape analysis on New Economic Thinking in Europe for the Laudes Foundation.

Julia is genuinely impact-driven and always aims to find the sweet spot where bold ideas meet feasibility. She is an experienced project team lead and a professional facilitator of demanding stakeholder and co-creation processes, as well as an experienced speaker and panel host on various topics. She is well-networked and is a New Economy Leaders Academy alumni.

In addition, she has accumulated diverse experience in organizational development and impact models.  She has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Demos ry and as a member of Demos Helsinki’s executive team. Before joining Demos Helsinki in 2016 Julia worked at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra’s foresight, strategy, and training unit. Julia holds an MSc in political science from the University of Helsinki and Cértificat d’Études Politiques at Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Other dear things to Julia are spending time in nature – hiking on land and sailing on the seas, ashtanga yoga, dancing, and reading lots (female artist biographies trending at the moment.)