The Alfred Kordelin Foundation

The purpose of the Foundation is to promote and support Finnish science, literature, art and public education.

Alfred Kordelin’s (1868-1917) idea, written down in the bylaws of the Foundation in 1918, was that ‘work for Finnish culture must be granted support in order to strengthen and deepen it internally, and also to represent Finnishness amongst other nations.’

Since 1920, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation has provided uninterrupted support to Finnish science, arts, literature and public education.  In 2018-2019 we supported science and culture with the total amount of € 5,2 million.The Alfred Kordelin General Progress and Education Fund, established in 1918, is one of the oldest foundations in Finland operating in the Finnish language.

The Foundation’s Chairman of the Board is Mikko Kosonen, M.Sc. (econ.) and Managing Director is Erik Båsk, M.Sc.

The Foundation’s administrative bodies consist of the  Managing Director, Board of Directors, the Financial Committee, and the sections for science, literature, arts, and public education. The experts of each section assess the applications received by the main fund, and make proposals on grant recipients. The Board of Directors makes the final decisions on grant recipients.

The Alfred Kordelin Foundation is a member of the The Association of Finnish Foundations and the Association of Finnish Fine Arts Foundations. We adhere to the guidelines for good governance in foundations Hyvä säätiötapa -ohjetta.