JCI Senate in Finland :: The history of the JC Senate in Finland

The history of the JC Senate in Finland

In the spring of 1954 a group of young men gathered Helsinki
to discuss JC-principles and the possibility of establishing
the new organization in Finland.
As a result, Junior Chamber Finland was established in April 1955. The first president was Klaus Juva #17167.

Activity began in Helsinki 1956
when Curt Vasström #1521 from Hanko came back from Sweden,
where he was trained and learned by doing
what Junior Chamber really meant.
He was also one of the charter member of Sweden Jaycees.
Nils Elfving #3440 from Helsinki was chosen the first secretary.
Actually Curt did not know
that Klaus Juva had already formed a group in Finland
but the world President Peter B. Watts advised him to contact Klaus Juva and so the activities started quickly.
After Helsinki two more chapters were established
in Tampere 1956 and Lahti 1957.

The central organization The Finland Junior Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1957. Curt Vasström was naturally the first President of the organization and Nils Elfving was chosen secretary.

Junior Chamber International Senate in Finland

JCI Senate in Finland was established 1962 only 5 years after foundation of the national organization. Curt Vasström #1521 was elected first senate President. There were less 20 members at that time.

A Senatorship can be granted for good and valuable JC-work. It can normally be awarded during the year the member turns 40. The precondition is that the member has successfully functioned in responsible Junior Chamber offices for several years. Nomination for senatorship is made by the board of the national or local organization. The President of the JCI makes the final decision on the Senatorship after consultation with the national President. The members of the Senate who are no longer active JC-members are free to participate on invitation the activities of the national or local organizations and may on request speak but not vote. Therefore senators over 40 years of age cannot be elected into any office of the national or local organization but can act in an advisory capacity.

The idea of making the Senate a registered organization
was suggested already in 1989.
From time to time the idea has come out
but it was not the time for that kind of change.
The main reason was the basic philosophy of Senatorship
to belong to a voluntary organization.

In 1996 when the number of members approached 900
President Harri Sandelin #8899 proposed the general assembly in Oulu to change the Senate into registered association.
The suggestion was accepted.

The original organization, which includes all individual Senators,
had become too large.
Part of the senators took another kind of view
and considered Senatorship their last JC-identity.
They were not interested in post-time members connection.
This has made the responsible board members
to work very hard and uneconomical.
The Senate's services was offered to everybody,
also to those who didn't want them.

The Association was filed with the Association register 11.08.98.
In the next annual-meeting the accounting period was decided
to be between annual meetings.
The term of the President is the same.
For this reason Martti Jaakkola installed Jorma Sovinen
in his office immediately after the annual meeting of 23.8.1998.
This procedure has continued since.

According to the rules the purpose of the association is
to support the activity of Jaycee in Finland
and to maintain friendship within its members.

Attached is a list of
the Presidents of the JCI Senate in Finland from 1962 to 2005.

1962 Curt Vasström
1963 Pekka Haarla
1964 Gustav Rosenlew
1965 Nils Elfving
1966 Ilkka Äijälä
1967 Yrjö M. Lehtonen
1968 Simo Kaskimies
1969 Kari Bergholm
1970 Tuomas Massinen ( Tot. 96 Senators)
1971 Risto Rytökoski (111)
1972 Rolf Zachariassen (129)
1973 Olavi Rautio (146)
1974 Juhani Linkosuo (168)
1975 Pekka Ström (193)
1976 Bengt Fagerlund (216)
1977 Erkki Koivisto (244)
1978 Ilmari Hietasalo (272)
1979 Arno Leino (303)
1980 Asko Brax (334)
1981 Seppo Järvinen (367)
1982 Juhani Raunemo (402)
1983 Paavo V. Suominen (430)
1984 Carl Jurgen von Essen (469)
1985 Voitto Talonen (498)
1986 Folke Sjölund (532)
1987 Keijo Ketonen (564)
1988 Veli Suvanto (603)
1989 Armas Tyrväinen (638)
1990 Simo Westerback (678)
1991 Heikki Pelkonen (704)
1992 Veikko Manninen (721)
1993 Ossi A. Saarinen (768)
1994 Thorbjörn Andersin (803)
1995 Juhani Lunden (840)
1996 Harry Sandelin (871)
1997 Harri Kainulainen (904)
1998 Martti Jaakkola (943)
1990-1999 Jorma Sovinen (991)
1999-2000 Osmo Korvo (1026)
2000-2001 Kai Uotila (1064)
2001-2002 Timo Rajakaltio(1089)
2002-2003 Jorma von Wehrt (1096)
2003-2004 Leena-Maija Sandholm (1126)
2004-2005 Martti Kainulainen (1148)
2005-2006 Harri Leino (1162)
2006-2007 Asko Männistö (1154)
2007-2008 Jan-Erik Elfving (1126)
2008-2009 Jarmo Talasrinne (1160)
2009-2010 Risto Jukarainen

The foundation of JCI Senate in Finland.
A foundation to encourage and help the international activities of the chapters has been planned for a long time. In December 1998 under Jorma Sovinen's presidency the board of the Senate decided to establish the foundation. The board authorized Martti Jaakkola to act the councellor.

The purpose of the foundation is to develop and encourage the value of Finnish Junior Chamber activity especially abroad. In addition the aim is to promote the possibilities of Finnish business life.