New additions to the advocacy team – Rico Martikainen and Totti Korpua join AYY

Before joining AYY as Manager of Advocacy and Communications, Rico Martikainen was active in the student movement, serving as Vice Chair of SAMOK, the National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences and as Advocacy and Influencing Specialist in Helga, the Student Union of Haaga-Helia. He has graduated as a community educator (South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences) and will soon complete an MBA in Change Management (Metropolia University of Applied Sciences). 
 
‘I want to help build more strategic advocacy and communications and ensure that AYY’s voice continues to be heard effectively both within the academic community and beyond. I’m especially looking forward to work related to the parliamentary elections’, Martikainen says. 
 
Totti Korpua, the newly appointed Advocacy Specialist for education policy, describes themselves as a ‘traditional product of the student union’s education policy wing’. Totti is a familiar face from the 2023 AYY Board and later went on to serve on the Board of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL). Korpua holds an MA from Aalto University and has previously served as Board Chair of TOKYO, Students of Art, Design and Architecture in Aalto University and as Board Chair of Kooma subject association.  
 
‘I want to ensure that all members of the Aalto community can study in peace, grow as individuals, participate in different communities, and make a broader impact on society in ways they find meaningful’, Korpua says.  

 
Both Martikainen and Korpua have had a fast-paced start in their new positions. They see AYY playing an important role both as a community and as an advocate for students.  

 
‘We have an active and distinctive way of making an impact, and I believe we need to hold on to that. Working at AYY also means working with a large group of volunteers, which is wonderful’, Korpua says.