Mission statement

Finland Center Foundation (FCF) is the meeting point of Finnish and American culture, commerce and community. FCF supports the activities of Finnish-American organizations in the greater New York area, and Finnish values globally, in the present and for generations to come.

Vision

At FCF we strongly believe that no nation can fully celebrate its heritage unless its citizens are able to enjoy peace, human rights, relative prosperity, and most importantly, equality between men and women. Finland not only safeguards these rights among its citizens, but has become known for promoting these values through its peacekeeping and aid work in different parts of the world. Finland has also stood out for decades as one of the best places in the world to be a woman.

Finland Center’s vision is to continue to promote these values with the help of Finnish culture in New York City. Without women’s rights, the other values are not achievable either, and they are essential for rich cultural expression. FCF believes that working on the global arena for these values is one of Finland’s most important contributions to world culture, and our values should also be promoted in a visible manner in New York City, where the world’s cultures intersect. In the past several years, FCF worked intensively to establish The Kota Alliance, which has now established a Center for Gender Equity in West Harlem in its own building, the Kota Nest.

Going forward

Now housed at Kota Nest, FCF continues to do what we do best: bring our volunteers, interns from Finland, and showcase musicians and artists, etc. to share their talents in New York City.  We like arranging events and fundraisers, and welcome the involvement of all individuals and entities with a similar outlook wishing to join us in this endeavor. We are open to people of all genders and nationalities, who consider themselves Friends of Finland. We speak English at our events, but you might hear some Finnish or Swedish.