Dr Mari K. Niemi works as a director at E2 Research, an independent, multi-disciplinary Helsinki-based research organization. It produces timely research and policy recommendations for decision-makers, in collaboration with stakeholders. Mari's work includes close collaboration with variety of partners from public and private sectors, government and media. Building impactful research projects and consortiums, engaging widely across society and communicating about research results and policy recommendation also in novel, innovative ways, are at the core of her work.Previously, Mari has worked as the founding director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship InnoLab at the University of Vaasa, and as a senior researcher in the Centre for Parliamentary Studies at the University of Turku. She has also been a visiting scholar at the University of Strathclyde, University of Gothenburg, and University of Valencia. Mari has published widely in the fields of politics, media, and communication. Themes she currently works on include improving Finnish working life (e.g., talent attraction and retention) and the use of new technologies in the workplace. Mari’s latest publication (co-edited with V. Manninen and A. Ridge Newman, Pagrave Macmillan, 2022) is “Futures of Journalism. Technology-stimulated Evolution in the Audience-News Media Relationship”. For her active role and achievements in research communication and public discussion, Mari was awarded Academic of the Year in 2015 by The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers.