Entrepreneurconsultant, M.Sc Maria Sillanpää died of a serious illness in Dubai on December 5, 2023. He was 59 years old, born in Alajärvi on March 19, 1964.
Sillanpää was a globally respected pioneer in the field of corporate responsibility and sustainability. He dedicated himself to the industry for more than 30 years and saw its relevance even before environmental and especially corporate responsibility issues came up in the general discussion.
Bridgehead was a farm daughter who learned entrepreneurship at a young age. Sports and music filled my childhood and youth. My worldview expanded during summer jobs in Sweden and during an exchange student year in the United States.
After high school, studies continued at the University of Tampere, where Sillanpää wrote his groundbreaking thesis in 1990 The concept of corporate social responsibility and its implications for the company's strategic decision-making. An example in the study was The Body Shop, where only a few years later Sillanpää worked as the head of the responsibility team, chosen by the founder Anita Roddick.
of the 1990s Finland at the beginning was too narrow for Sillanpää's expertise and vision. His mission was to blaze a trail internationally. Before founding his company Sustainability Advisory in 2007, Sillanpää played significant roles in addition to The Body Shop at KPMG and AccountAbility, promoting global method development in corporate responsibility. Sillanpää was one of the founding members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and is building the responsibility reporting standard (GRI). Co-written with David Wheeler The Stakeholder Corporation -work was one of the first works to broadly open up the theme of responsibility in its publication year of 1997.
Sillanpää not only adopted corporate responsibility in his work, but also changed the direction of the entire industry. His network extended to more than 30 countries on all continents and several industries. His courage to question traditional business models and look for sustainable solutions left a lasting impression on people and organizations around the world.
Although Maria lived abroad for more than 30 years, including the last 17 years in Dubai, she regularly returned home to South Ostrobothnia. Maria valued the peace of Finland's pure nature and enjoyed it immeasurably.
Maria was a beloved daughter, sister and aunt to her family. As a friend, he was loyal, warm and wonderfully funny. The party with her was special and memorable, Maria was the soul of the party. We miss him immensely.
Maria's example calls each of us to do more and better for a sustainable future and a better world. Every day.
Päivi Myllykangas
Tuula Sillanpää
The authors are Maria Sillanpää's friend and sister.
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