The world has long been hurting and seems to become an increasingly violent place to many of us. We are not all touched equally at all by this violence, but may we all come together in hope, resistance and radical love. May ETMU conferences continue being a source of hope, resistance and love. I wish also this Award ceremony can give us all a space for that.
As you may know, the ETMU Award is given annually, based on the suggestions of ETMU members, to a person/organization/collective who has promoted good ethnic relations and cultural diversity in Finland and/or internationally. This person may be a researcher or a person with other merits in the field of ethnic relations and international migration, speaking more from a researcher’s position or as a more societal actor.
This year’s ETMU Research Award recipient has a PhD with extensive experience working on immigration, equality and diversity. She has served in many positions of trust, including the national Steering Group for Working Life Diversity Programme, as a member of the Advisory Board of Crush Movement, as part of the jury of The Migration Institute of Finland, electing the best doctoral dissertation related to migration and ethnic relations completed at Finnish universities, as an independent consultant for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This year, she was awarded the State Awards for Public Information for her constructive and research-based contributions to public discourse on racism and inequality.
From the message that proposed her candidacy:
[Hän on tehnyt] todella paljon tutkimusta ja myös julkaissut laajasti monilla eri foorumeilla aina vertaisarvioidusta setistä valtioneuvoston selvityksiin … hän on osallistunut myös todella aktiivisesti ja näkyvästi yhteiskunnalliseen keskusteluun. Hänen teksteissään ihailtavaa on kyky yhdistää arjen kokemukset kompleksisiin teoreettisiin käsitteisiin äärimmäisen lukijaystävällisellä tavalla. … hän tekee suomalaisen yhteiskunnan eriarvoisuutta ja moninaisuutta näkyväksi.
She worked at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) from 2010 to 2024, and she participated in building THL’s team on cultural diversity and establishing national practices in migration research. Recently, she resigned from her position as Research Manager at THL to start working as an entrepreneur. She continues research collaboration with THL as a Visiting Researcher.
The board and I fully agree with who suggested her that ”hän olisi mitä oivallisin valinta ETMU-palkinnon saajaksi”.
Please join us in celebrating this year’s wonderful ETMU Awardee, Dr. Shadia Rask.