The Taksvärkki ry Board for 2026 has begun its work. August Kiattrakoolchai from The Union of Upper Secondary School Students in Finland continues as the Chair for a second year. We asked August about the opportunities for youth to make a difference, Taksvärkki’s successes, and August’s hopes for 2026.
What motivates you to work in the field of global education and development cooperation with youth?
In this work, I am motivated above all by the belief that youth have a real ability to change the world—not sometime in the future, but right now.
Global education and the own initiatives of youth provide the tools to understand the world more broadly and to act in the name of justice and equality.
What fascinates me most about Taksvärkki is that youth are at the heart of our work. I consider it a great privilege to be part of bringing about long-term change both in Finland and around the world through Taksvärkki’s work.
We are building initiatives that create opportunities for youth to define for themselves what kind of world they want to live in and what they are willing to do to make it happen.
What kind of message would you like to send to student councils, student associations, and teachers in schools? Why should people participate in the Taksvärkki fundraiser and the “How Are You Doing?” campaign?
Participating in the Taksvärkki fundraiser is a concrete way to show that youth can be part of the solution to global injustices. Taksvärkki Day is much more than just a day’s work. It is a promise that youth want to build a more equal world and take responsibility for one another.
Our current campaign, “How Are You Doing?”, highlights an extremely important topic: well-being of youth. It provides tools to talk about coping, listen to others, and act as a community. The world changes when young people are doing well.
To students and student councils, I want to say: you are the heart of this movement. Every organized event, meeting, or campaign is part of a long continuum in which young people are changing the world. I want to thank the teachers for making participation possible—without you, Taksvärkki’s work would not be possible.
Which of Taksvärkki’s achievements or successes in 2025 are you particularly proud of?
I am particularly proud of how strongly we were able to achieve the goals in the final year of the program cycle that the four-year initiative was originally built around. The year 2025 was the culmination of long-term work centered on promoting youth rights, participation, and agency.
Taksvärkki’s approach to program work has been based above all on viewing youth as active agents of change within their own communities, rather than merely as the target group of projects.
Now we are seeing the results of our multi-year work. The capacity of partner organizations was strengthened, and youth were able to plan and carry out advocacy work themselves, build safer spaces in their daily lives, and challenge discriminatory structures in their communities. This growth in agency has been the most important goal of the program period.
I am also proud that, in the final year of the program, we succeeded in establishing practices that will carry forward into the coming years: models for participatory monitoring and evaluation, as well as strengthening disability inclusion in projects. At the same time, we have been able to support schools in Finland in global education in a way that meets young people’s growing need to understand the world critically and act for justice.
Furthermore, I am proud that we were able to operate during a financially and operationally challenging time without compromising on the quality of our work or the young people’s own ideas. This speaks to the entire organization’s commitment and our strong shared direction.
What are your hopes for 2026?
I hope this year will mark a strong start to the new program cycle—a year in which we can put into practice the empowerment of young people, the realization of their rights, and ensuring their voices are heard wherever decisions affecting their lives are made.
In particular, I want to see how the “Steps of Youth Participation Towards Sustainable Futures” program begins to take shape in partner countries under the leadership of youth-led groups and local organizations. I hope we can strengthen the role of youth as influencers in their communities.
I also hope that we can deepen the expertise of decision-makers so that the rights of the youth are realized more consistently in everyday life. The attitudes and expertise of decision-makers have a huge impact on well-being and participation of youth.
Here in Finland, I hope we can continue to support the growth of youth into active global citizens. The goal is ambitious: approximately 15,000 youth and 1,000 educators participate in global education annually through Taksvärkki. I hope they gain the experience that global issues can be influenced and that their own actions are part of a larger change.
Funding for development cooperation has been a hot topic. I hope that all decision-makers will come to realize the significance of our work. As an organization, it is important for us to demonstrate the kind of concrete work we do, the results it produces, and why it is worthwhile. Taksvärkki has just been awarded program funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the new term. This funding decision shows that our work has been evaluated as good and impactful.
Taksvärkki’s 2026 Board includes representatives from four different Taksvärkki member organizations as well as individual members. Who would you recommend Taksvärkki membership to?
I encourage everyone who believes in young people’s right to participate and make a difference to become a member. Individual membership is suitable for anyone interested in Taksvärkki’s activities and, for example, those who have already participated in our work through volunteering.
Membership is a great way to support Taksvärkki’s work—that is, young people’s own initiatives. At the same time, it allows you to join a community that works to ensure equality and human rights are realized around the world.
I especially recommend membership to those who want to be part of building long-term change: teachers, student council activists, young influencers, and organizations whose values align with Taksvärkki’s work.
Student organizations were instrumental in founding Taksvärkki, and Finland’s largest student organizations remain our members. When it comes to organizational membership, I particularly encourage student organizations to join. Taksvärkki’s work is very closely linked to their own field of activity. We strengthen young people’s agency and opportunities to influence, and we create a more equal, equitable, and just world on a global scale.
Taksvärkki ry Board 2026
In 2026, August Kiattrakoolchai (The Union of Upper Secondary School Students in Finland) will continue as chair of Taksvärkki’s Board. The vice chairs are Liisa Kerola (The Finnish Association for Children and Youth) and Theo Tyrväinen (individual member).
The other board members are Onni Montonen (The Union of Upper Secondary School Students in Finland), Elina Niinimäki (Peace Union of Finland) and Jarno Silvonen (The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK). Of them, Onni and Elina were newly elected to the board.
Want to learn more about Taksvärkki?
Find out more about the youth-led Taksvärkki fundraising campaign on the “How Are You Doing?” campaign page.
Learn more about individual membership in Taksvärkki (in Finnish). If you would like to know more about organizational membership, please contact puheenjohtaja@taksvarkki.fi or Executive Director auli.starck@taksvarkki.fi.
More information on Taksvärkki’s development cooperation.
More information on Taksvärkki’s global education.
Photos: Salla Merikukka
Translation from Finnish: Pamela Aranen