Mikael Sokero

Mikael is a strategic advisor and a senior expert in governance innovation who helps societies navigate complex sustainability transitions — from the architecture of institutions to the cultures that sustain them.

His work sits at the intersection of governance design and systemic change. Colleagues seek him out when the challenge is too tangled for conventional solutions: how do you reform a public institution, align current challenges with future needs or future-proof a national strategy? Mikael has advised and designed governance models and reforms across a remarkably wide arc of contexts — Singapore, Latvia, Uzbekistan, South Sudan, Finland, North Macedonia, Bahrain, Bosnia & Herzegovina, the UAE and Brazil among them. He is drawn to the question of what it actually takes to make transformation stick, and his ambition is to push that work deeper into the systems that will define our shared future: the economy, the climate, the skills of people and capacity of institutions to lead societal change towards a sustainable, fair and joyful next era.

With an academic background in International Development, Mikael came to Demos Helsinki through entrepreneurship. He joined us when Demos Helsinki acquired the think tank Avanto Helsinki in 2015 whose co-founder Mikael was. That background sharpens his instinct for what works beyond the workshop room or planning desk.

At Demos Helsinki, Mikael’s fingerprints are on projects spanning business development for sustainability: circular economy, cleantech, and the strategic conditions that make green transitions viable, alongside deep work in capacity building and strategic foresight. He has designed and delivered training that shifts how organisations think, not just what they do.

If you’re not already excited enough to meet Mikael, you will be when you hear that his CV includes the prestigious position of Elf under Santa Claus!