Maria Ohisalo

Personal details

Minister of the Interior, 10 December 2019 to present
Party Leader, Doctor of Social Sciences, Poverty Researcher, Member of Parliament
The Greens in Finland
Date and place of birth: 8 March 1985 Helsinki
Place of residence: Helsinki

Political career

Minister of the Interior, 10 December 2019 to present
Minister of the Interior (Rinne), 6 June 2019–10 December 2019

The Greens in Finland, Party Leader 2019 to present, Deputy Party Leader 2015–2019
Federation of Green Youth and Students of Finland ViNO, Chair 2013–2014

Member of Parliament, 2019 to present
Parliament work

Helsinki City Council, Member 2017 to present
Helsinki City Executive, Member 2017–2019
Uusimaa Regional Council, Member 2017 to present
Social Science Professionals, Council, Member 2013 to present
Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Board, Member 2014–2017
Helsinki University Hospital, Psychiatric Medicine Board, Member 2014–2017
Helsinki Youth Board, Member 2013–2014

Other work experience and societal responsibilities

Y-Foundation, Researcher 2017–2019
Kaksi Suomea - kasvaako eriarvoisuus (Two Finlands - growing inequality) project, Researcher and Project Manager 2015–2017
TITA project of the Academy of Finland, Strategic Research Council, Contact Person and Researcher of the University of Eastern Finland 2015–2017
University of Eastern Finland, Project Researcher, Project Manager and Doctoral Student 2013–2015
Centre of Excellence on Social Welfare in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Socca, Researcher 2011–2013 and Research Assistant (development project relating to reducing long-term homelessness) 2011
Centre of Expertise on Social Welfare Sosiaalitaito Oy, Coordinator 2008

National Sports Council, Deputy Member 2017–2019

Publications

Ohisalo, Maria, Kotro, Arno: Sinua on petetty - kirjoituksia sukupuolten tasa-arvosta (You have been deceived - writings about gender equality)
Salonen, Anna Sofia, Ohisalo, Maria, Laihiala Tuomo: Undeserving, disadvantaged, disregarded: Three viewpoints of charity food aid recipients in Finland 2018
Laihiala, Tuomo, Kallio, Johanna, Ohisalo, Maria: Personal and Social Shame Among the Recipients of Charity Food Aid in Finland 2017
Ohisalo, Maria: Murusia hyvinvointivaltion pohjalla: leipäjonot, koettu hyvinvointi ja huono-osaisuus (Breadcrumbs at the bottom of welfare state: bread queues, experiencing wellbeing and social disadvantage). Doctoral thesis 2017
Laihiala, Tuomo, Ohisalo, Maria: Leipäjonot sukupuolisen ja sosiaalisen eriarvoisuuden mittarina (Bread queues as an indicator of gender and social inequality). Sosiologia Journal. 2017
Laihiala, Tuomo, Ohisalo, Maria: Sosiaalipummit leipäjonossa, Kansalaisten käsityksiä huono-osaisten ansaitsevuudesta (Welfare bums queue for bread; Citizens’ views on what the disadvantaged earn) 2017
Laihiala, Tuomo, Kahma, Nina, Eskelinen, Niko, Ohisalo, Maria, Saari, Juho: Onko hyvinvointivaltiolla tulevaisuutta? (Does welfare state have a future?) Nuorten mielipiteet ja hyvinvointivaltion muutos (Opinions of the young and change in welfare state) 2016
Ohisalo, Maria, Laihiala, Tuomo, Saari, Juho: Huono-osaisuuden ulottuvuudet ja kasautuminen leipäjonoissa (Dimensions of disadvantage and how it accumulates in bread queues) 2015
Ohisalo, Maria, Laihiala, Tuomo, Saari, Juho: Huono-osaiset hyvinvoinnin keskellä: ruoka-avussa ja terveysneuvontapisteissä käyvien elämässä pärjääminen ja hyvinvointikokemukset (Socially disadvantaged in the midst of wellbeing: how people using food aid and health counselling points cope in life and experience) 2015
Ohisalo, Maria: Kansalaiskäsityksiä toimeentuloturvan marginaalista (Citizens’ views on income security margins) 2014
Ohisalo, Maria, Saari, Juho: Kuka seisoo leipäjonossa? (Wo queues for bread?) Suomalainen ruoka-apu 2010-luvulla (Finnish food aid in the 2010s) 2014
Muukkonen, Tiina, Nevanen, Saila, Ohisalo, Maria & Turunen Saija: Yksikin aikuinen riittää - nuoren sosiaalinen vahvistaminen ja voimaantuminen Luotsi-toiminnassa (One adult is enough - social support and empowerment of the young in Luotsi- activities) 2014
Ohisalo, Maria, Eskelinen, Niko, Laine, Jonna, Kainulainen, Sakari, Saari, Juho: Avun tilkkutäkki - suomalaisen ruoka-apukentän monimuotoisuus (Patchwork of aid - diversity of food aid in Finland) 2014
Ohisalo, Maria: EU:n ruoka-apuohjelman vaikutus ruoka-avun vakiintumiseen Suomessa (Impact of the EU food aid programme on establishing food aid in Finland) 2013
Koivula, Ulla-Maija, Ohisalo, Maria, Saari Juho: Tää on Tampereen paras paikka, Kyselytutkimus ruoka-avusta Tampereella (This is the best place in Tampere, Questionnaire study on food aid in Tampere 2013
Turunen, Saija, Ohisalo, Maria, Petrovskaja, Vlada, Tukiala, Anna-Kaisa: Kuka käy leipäjonossa. (Who queues for bread.) Pääkaupunkiseudun ruoanjakotutkimuksen tuloksia (Results of a study on handing out food in the capital region) 2012
Ohisalo, Maria: Ei kenenkään maalta, kaikkien maalle, Kohdennetun nuorisotyön Luotsitoiminnan arviointitutkimus (From no man’s land to every man’s land, Evaluation study of Luotsi-activities on targeted youth work) 2012
Kaukinen, Riikka, Koskimies, Paula, Mustonen, Esa, Ohisalo, Maria: Eläketaistelun tuoksinassa, Diskurssianalyysi Helsingin Sanomien pääkirjoituksista eläkeikäkiistassa keväällä 2009 (In the middle of pension battle, Discourse analysis on letters to the editor in Helsingin Sanomat during the pension dispute in spring 2009) 2009

Other information

Spouse: Miika Johansson
Language skills: Finnish, English, Swedish, French
Interests: cycling, collecting old video games

Profile

Maria Ohisalo was born in Helsinki on 8 March 1985.

She took her matriculation examination at Mäkelänrinne upper secondary school in Helsinki in 2004 and graduated with a Master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Helsinki in 2011. In 2017, she did her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Eastern Finland. Ohisalo has worked as a researcher at the City of Helsinki, the University of Eastern Finland, and the Y-Foundation.

Her priorities in politics include integration of social justice and ecological sustainability. She considers that the promotion of preventive measures and fight against inequality should be at the heart of all sectors of politics.

Ohisalo’s physically active lifestyle originates in her keen interest in sport as a child. Her hobbies then included athletics, football and scouting. As an adult, she has taken part in track cycling games and cycling continues to play an important part of her life. She is also interested in retro video games. Ohisalo is married to Miika Johansson.

She has been a member of the Green League since 2008 and was elected as its Party Leader in June 2019. She has served as chair of a working group and a board member of the Union of Green Youth and Students (ViNO) and chaired ViNO in 2013–2014. She was Deputy Party Leader of the Green League in 2015–2019 and deputised for the Party Leader in 2018.

Maria Ohisalo became elected to Parliament from the electoral district of Helsinki in 2019 and was appointed Minister of the Interior in June 2019.

Ohisalo is a member of the Helsinki City Council and Uusimaa Regional Council. She is also a member of the Council of Social Science Professionals and has held several positions of trust, including in the Board of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, and in the Psychiatric Medicine Board of the Helsinki University Hospital.

She has also served as a deputy member of the National Sports Council. As part of her voluntary work, Ohisalo has served as a member of Kallio parish board, member of the joint council of Helsinki parishes and a member of Paavali parish board. She has chaired a young people’s working group at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which debated the future of the Nordic cooperation. She has served as a board member of the Youth League of the Finnish Norden Association.