"The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change" Heraclitus

That is why we will with this post introduce you to new Boost Board! We are going to throw five quick curve balls and see how the board members reply!

Five quick questions for our board!

1. Tell us briefly about yourself?
2. What is your passion?
3. What was your dream job as a kid?
4. What are your plans with Boost?
5. If you could recommend just one book to our blog readers what would it be?

Sara Hoxhaj - Chairwoman of the board

1.
I’m a young student and entrepreneur with a growing enthusiasm for business, politics and international relations. I’ve been heavily involved in non-profits for the majority of my life and find it to be incredibly effective way to gather first hand knowledge and to learn how to work in diverse environments.

2.
People are my passion

3.
To be a secret agent

4.
Alongside our board and tram, I aim to make the community grow, not just for the students in the entrepreneurship field, but create possibilities for any young adult regardless of their field of studies or interests. Simulation have a motivated team of hard working individuals who enjoy spending time at Boost and most importantly boost the youth entrepreneurial spirit in our region

5.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Elias Savonlahti - Vice Chairman

1.
I have been a board member at Boost turku since last spring and am now the Vice Chairperson of the board. I was born in Rovaniemi, but have lived most of my life in Kaarina, Turku and Tallinn. I am currently studying business through open university at Turku School of Economics. Previously I studied international law in Tallinn. For the last couple of years I have been active in the business ecosystem of Turku. I was a community manager at SHIFT Business Festival 2017 and it was a project that I learned a lot from.

2.
My passion is most definitely entrepreneurship. My dream is to be an entrepreneur but I really love the work we are doing at Boost. Creating opportunities for students to make their dreams of entrepreneurship a reality. It so great to see teams and individual students get confidence and start to fly once they come to Boost.

3.
When I was a kid I played a lots of tennis and like many other kids, I dreamed of being a professional tennis player.

4.
I would like to do more collaboration with different student organisations. My goal is to get students to our association from as many different fields of study as I can.

5.
“How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. If you truly take the way of life it teaches you to heart, it will lead to great things in anything you do.

Severi Sopenlehto - Board Member, Treasurer

1.
Hi everyone! My name is Severi and I am the treasurer of Boost and studying economics at Åbo Akademi University.

2.
My passions are sailing, start-ups and making stuff happen.

3.
This is easy. Sea captain!

4.
My plans are to keep Boost’s treasury in great condition and accomplishing great stuff with the community.

5.
Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World – Journal of the first man who circumnavigated around the globe.

Shamil Alifov - Board Member

1.
I came to Turku to do Master's degree, which take quite a long time. During my studies I was hustling a lot, being active in various organizations and communities. About 3 years ago joined to Boost Turku as a member. After graduation couldn't get a job and started doing cleaning job, which I call a physical security job, because I have seen stuff, including passwords stored on sticker notes under keyboards. I am also founder of citysec group in Turku called TurkuSec and with the help of information security community of Turku we registered it as official association. At the moment I am working for a cyber intelligence startup and heavily involved with Boost Turku and TurkuSec.

2.
I really like the feeling of community and meeting new people. That's why I have volunteered a lot for different organizations and events. Another my passion is bushcrafting, being out there in the nature, not taking shower for couple of days, trying to learn some wilderness survival skills.

3.
I wanted to become a nature guard when I was a kid. So I could be all day in the nature and carry a gun :heart:

4.
The first idea on my plans with Boost was to destroy my liver, but I guess I'll skip the self-destruction. I am planning to contribute with my skills, network and time and specially focusing on Boost Academy development.

5.
The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll

Leevi Vähäkylä, Board Member

1.
I'm Leevi, I'm active, happy and a social person from Turku Finland. I enjoy buissiness, social situations and sports. I'm also keen on being effective in whatever I do.

2.
My passion is to learn something new every day, my passion is to do something good and meaningful in this life and work for it.

3.
When I was a child I wanted to be a lawyer.

4.
My plans with boost are to expand the community and make the events we organize work as well as possible.

5.
Book I recommend to anyone would probably be Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Ville Korpela

1.
My name is Ville, I am currently a graduate student at the Turku School of Economics. I have been a serial entrepreneur and a consultant for the last 10 years, mainly in the field of M&A, private equity and raising capital. I have lived in Finland, Estonia, USA, Russia, Germany, Cyprus and Albania.

2.
My passion is helping people in discovering and realizing their own passion and calling. That's why I love to mentor startup teams and connect them with financiers. I am very passionate about emerging markets as well and creating new opportunities.

3.
As a kid I wanted to be a professor and it was my nickname from the age of 4 to 12. Then I wanted to be a rock star. Now I want to become a kickass startup professor that rocks.

4.
I want to help connect Boost even more with with different international startup hubs and actively assist the local startup teams with their challenges.

5.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose by Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos. It's an amazing book on the challenges startups face and gives great advice on how to create a successful company culture. A book I believe every existing and aspiring founder should read.

That was just a brief introduction! Also helping the boards work is our two employees Community Manager Liisa Lehtonen and Network Manager Anssi Ketopaikka. Get to know us better by coming to our events!

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