Nicehearts ry

Nicehearts was established in 2001 with the aim to produce community-based activities for girls and women of different ages and backgrounds. Our mission is to enable girls and women to find their own place in society as its equal and unique members. All Nicehearts work is based on strong gender and culture sensitivity. We prevent social exclusion by strengthening girls’ and women’s opportunities for participating in community activities and by advancing their career and educational paths. We encourage and educate girls and women to become agents of change in their own communities. We operate in Vantaa, Espoo, Helsinki, Lappeenranta and Imatra.  We currently employ 30 professionals from different backgrounds, and have very diverse partners across the country and internationally. Our values are based on equality, sense of community and joy. Our activities create strong networks and opportunities for daily encounters between girls and women, while advancing a culture of peace and tolerance in our society. Gender and culture sensitivity is at the core of all of our activities. Gender sensitivity refers to encountering and accepting people without preconception. Gender sensitive approach aims at broadening and reconstructing expectations and behavioural models related to gender. Gender sensitive work identifies different ways of manifesting gender but does not reproduce them without questioning. Culture sensitivity refers to an ability to take into account special attributes related to different cultures. Also, it recognizes differences between people representing the same culture. The concept of multiculturalism also recognizes different cultures within a nation, since people in general tend to view their own culture as an unquestionable norm. A culture sensitive and norm critical viewpoint challenges one to recognize and deconstruct invisible models and expectations related to one’s own culture.