Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson

Swedish People's Party of Finland

Ministry of Education and Culture

Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson heads the Ministry of Education and Culture. In accordance with the division of responsibilities agreed by the Government, she is responsible for early childhood education and care, general education, vocational education and training and religious affairs. She is also responsible for matters related to Nordic cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Profile

Anna-Maja Henriksson (née Forss) was born in 1964 in Jakobstad, where she still lives. 
In 1982, Henriksson completed her matriculation examination at Jakobstad’s general upper secondary school, before moving to Helsinki to study law. She graduated with a Master's degree in Law from the University of Helsinki in 1987. 

Henriksson is married to Janne Henriksson and they have two daughters. At home, Henrikssons speak Finnish and Swedish.

Henriksson's political career began in 1996 when he was elected to Jakobstad City Council. Four years later she became chair of the City Executive. From 2003 to 2004, Henriksson was special adviser to Coordinate Minister for Finance Ulla-Maj Wideroos at the Ministry of Finance. 

Henriksson entered Parliament in 2007. During her first term in office, she was vice chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and member of the Employment and Equality Committee. Outside Parliament, she chaired the Swedish Assembly of Finland (Svenska Finlands Folktinget) from 2009 to 2011. Henriksson was elected vice chair of the Swedish People's Party in 2010. 

Henriksson was elected to Parliament for the second term in 2011. At that time, she was also appointed Minister of Justice for the first time. Since then, Henriksson has served as Minister of Justice for eight years in several governments. In 2011–2015, she also served as the minister responsible for Åland.

In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Henriksson was elected for the third term and became chair of her parliamentary group. In 2016, she was elected chair of the Swedish People's Party. She again served as the minister responsible for Åland from 2019 to 2022.

During her time off, Anna-Maja Henriksson enjoys spending time at her summer cabin in the Finnish archipelago. She likes doing sports and physical activity, including cross-country skiing and ball games.