Johanna Laisaari is a lawyer specialised in child law, a Master of Laws and a substitute counsellor in the City Council. Laisaari is being transferred to the position of a Deputy Mayor from that of a Senior Specialist of the National Child Strategy.
- I want to use politics to highlight the rights of children and the participation and inclusion of children and young people. A child-friendly municipality is not only close to my heart but also at the core of my professional competence. I want to contribute to the development of the Education Division so that equality and the well-being of children and young people increase in Helsinki, Laisaari says.
Laisaari will start as a Deputy Mayor on 20 June 2023.
In accordance with the City of Helsinki's Administrative Regulations, there are four Deputy Mayors who act as the chairs of the division committees as well as members of the City Board.
A Deputy Mayor is a full-time elected official. Deputy Mayors are selected by the City Council from councillors and substitute councillors for the council’s term of office.
The Education Division is responsible for the City of Helsinki’s early childhood education, pre-primary education, basic education and upper secondary education, Finnish-language vocational education as well as liberal adult education. The division has more than 14,500 employees, which is almost 40 per cent of all city personnel.