Pirita Näkkäläjärvi

Pirita Näkkäläjärvi is a Sámi with a unique profile combining high-profile international business career and indigenous rights advocacy. She works as a Director at EY-Parthenon. Pirita is an elected member of the Sámi Parliament in Finland and a member of the Inari municipal council from the Greens’ list (ind.).

Pirita has a long career working along the Mergers & Acquisitions lifecycle at Merrill Lynch, Nokia, Booz & Company, Metso, Strategy&, PwC and Helen Ventures. She worked as the Head of Yle Sápmi (the Sámi-language operations of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle) in 2012–2016.

Pirita holds MSc in Economics from Helsinki School of Economics and MSc Media & Communications (with Distinction) from London School of Economics. She wrote her LSE MSc Dissertation (2017) on the freedom of speech of the Sámi in Finland. Pirita is a supernumerary PhD student at Sibelius Academy researching Sámi yoik and cultural appropriation.

Pirita was named the Sámi of the Year in 2017. She is one of the founding members of the Fáktalávvu blog.

Pirita yoiked and acted in the short film The Killing of Čáhcerávga that was part of the art work that represented Finland in the Venice Biennale 2019. in 2018 and 2019 Pirita yoiked in and consulted the feminist concert series Blood, porn and propaganda, GODDAMMIT! that was awarded with the Phenomenon of the year award in the 2020 Ethnogala.