What are you working on today and what choices have led you here?
I have been working at the Right Livelihood Award Foundation for a year now. We support people and organizations that have found solutions to global problems. The Foundation awards the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize". Each year, three to four individuals or organizations are honoured with SEK 1 million each. What all the laureates have in common is that they are working in a visionary way to solve the greatest challenges of our time. Gynecologist Denis Mukwege (now also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate), whistleblower Edward Snowden and Syria Civil Defense (the White Helmets) are some of our 178 laureates from 70 countries. What sets us apart from virtually all other international prizes is that we offer lifelong support to all our laureates. We have special protection programs for endangered laureates.
My job is to work on branding, communication and the award ceremony. It was during my years at Faktum, Sweden's largest street magazine, that I realized that it worked well to take your experience in the business world into other industries.

How do the ways of working in a non-profit organization differ from the business world? How do organizational cultures differ between for-profit and non-profit organizations?
During my 23 years of working life, I have mostly worked in for-profit organizations such as Telia, Göteborgs-Posten and IHM Business School. Of course, non-profit organizations must also make a profit or at least at worst +/-0. The actual mission is not to generate profit, but, as at Faktum for example, to generate jobs and a context. But with a negative result, the business will not exist, so it is extremely important to keep track of the economy.
We work like everyone else on a budget that must be kept, but I would say that it is even more important that every penny is followed up when the margins are often small, which is the case in this type of business.
The creativity around business development and generating alternative revenue and smart partnerships is, I would say, the big difference. And it's important to build a strong brand and increase awareness, then it will be easier to find the revenue.

If someone wants to go the same way as you; what advice and tips would you give?
I am a trained economist specializing in marketing and did not think I would work with what I do today when I graduated. It was 1996 and the world had a different climate of conversation, it was very much about making big money, piling it up and thereby being considered successful.
Choose a workplace that stands for your values and make sure you get to work on what you believe in. It will give you energy and joy, and you will be able to work for a long time. Personally, I need to work in a context that helps make things a little better for someone else. It doesn't have to be about human rights or peace issues like I'm working on now. It can be green transportation, green energy, education or business development to reduce the impact on the earth's resources. But the business must contribute to a better world in some way.
Although I might have chosen a different education today, it is extremely good to be able to contribute in other industries by bringing your education as I did, all skills are needed even in non-profit organizations.