Leena Harkimo ( Alamäki; born 28 March 1963) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

business executive and ex-politician.

Political career

In 1999, Harkimo was elected Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

from the Uusimaa constituency, representing the centre-right

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

(''Kokoomus''). She was re-elected at the 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections, serving a total of 16 years, but chose not to contest the 2015 election.

Business career

Prior to entering politics, Harkimo served from 1991 to 1999 as the CEO of the Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its h ...

, owned at the time by her then-husband, Hjallis Harkimo. During her leadership, Jokerit won the top-level ''

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding lea ...

'' national championship four times. She also sat on the Board of ''Liiga'' for much of that time. After leaving Parliament, Harkimo joined the Finnish Fur Breeders Association, FiFur, in a lobbying role. She also served for many years on the

Supervisory Board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

of WWF Finland, stepping down to take up the FiFur post.

Personal life

Leena and Hjallis Harkimo were married 1989—2003, and have two children together. The couple co-judged the 2010 season of ''Diili'', the Finnish version of the reality TV series ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

''. Leena Harkimo's brother is the multiple Finnish and European rallycross champion .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkimo, Leena Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–11) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) Finnish business executives Finnish ice hockey administrators People from Pori 1963 births Living people