February 19, 2024

House of Many Voices 2024 – A magical night of inspiring talks and encounters

Last Thursday our Stockholm office was transformed into an inspiring space for interesting insights, new perspectives, delicious food – and laughter.

House of Many Voices is a platform for open dialogue, with over twenty invited guest speakers representing a wide range of fields both in the public and private sectors. The topics focused among other things on Nordic safety, green transition, equality, and AI.

The evening kicked off with welcoming words by Johan Sidklev, Partner and Chair of the Board at Roschier. “This event now feels extra important with the tension and troubles that are out there at this moment. We hope that these discussions can work as a catalyst towards something better in the future,” he said.

The time of uncertainty we live in, and the question of polarization were reflected in many of the conversations during the evening. Other timely topics were Swedish defense and its future, the relationship between Finland and Sweden, and equality and diversity, which were discussed from a variety of angles.

Gunvor Kronman, CEO of the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre and Ewa Skoog Haslum, Marine Chief of the Swedish Defense Force, discussed the importance of a joint Nordic defense and the logistical importance of the Baltic Sea. “As the Baltic Sea region can easily be isolated, the horizontal connections between Finland and Sweden are of utmost importance,” Gunvor said. Ewa Skoog Haslum continued with the same topic, adding that 90% of imports to Sweden come by sea. It was clear from the participants that the speakers’ insights provoked many thoughts and underlined how important the exchange of information is between our nations, not to mention the significance of NATO membership.

Social entrepreneur Binette Seck and BNP Bank CEO Eirik Winter, together with Martin Andreasson, State Secretary to the Minister for gender equality and working life, tackled the topics of diversity and equality. Binette, a renowned tech expert, suggested how diversity could be improved in the field of technology. Reflecting on her own background, she said that children and young people must be provided with role models, networks, competence, and opportunities to be able to believe in their ownership in processes and jobs related to technology. With AI quickly growing as a field of business, the need for talent is also growing, she said. “In the world’s largest continent, Africa, the majority of the population consists of young adults. When these people are given these four building blocks, they can start thinking that their input matters. We should be able to do this also in Sweden. The question I will leave you with is how to let young people in Sweden know that they matter? How can we turn them from just consuming technology to producing and developing it?”

The discussion by Eirik and Martin continued the theme of equality in the private sector. Martin highlighted the role of hiring practices and stated that Sweden is risking being seen as self-righteous when discussing equality as it is leading the global equality statistics. Eirik agreed and said: “The Nordic countries have come far when it comes to politics and the public sector, but they are not the ones that steer the world. The issues lie within the private sector, and there we still have a long way to go when it comes to equality and diversity.”

We want to extend our thanks to everyone who participated for creating so many meaningful and engaging encounters and providing food for thought for future conversations.