Mayor and Deputy Mayors

The mayor runs the city under the City Board. Kai Mykkänen (b. 1979) has been the Mayor of Espoo since the beginning of February 2025.

The Mayor leads the city under the City Board. The most important duties of the Mayor include the management of city administration, finances and other operations. In addition, the Mayor ensures that the matters handled at meetings of the Council and the City Board are properly prepared, appropriately tied together and implemented. 

The Mayor serves as the presenting officer in the City Board and its subcommittees – the Business and Competitiveness Subcommittee, the Corporate Group and Premises Subcommittee, and the Employment and Integration Subcommittee – as well as in the City Council’s Advisory Committee.

Deputy Mayors work under the Mayor. Social and Health Services, Education and Cultural Services, and Technical and Environment Services are run by their respective heads.

The duty of the Mayor's Office is to manage, supervise and monitor the entire Corporate Group of the city under the Mayor. The office is headed by the Mayor.

Images of the Mayor(external link, opens in a new window) (photographer: Kerttu Penttilä)

Olli Isotalo, Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment

Master of Laws, trained on the bench 1998

Secretary Nina Hellsten, tel. +358 43 8252645, nina.hellsten@espoo.fi

City of Espoo

• Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment 2021-
• Deputy Mayor for Technical and Environment Services 2015-2021
• Development Director 2007-2015
• Lawyer of the Section 2004-2007
• Lawyer, Building Control Department 1999-2004

Housing Fund 1999

Deputy Mayor Merja Narvo-Akkola

Master of Education (M.Ed.) and Teacher Qualification, University of Helsinki, 1989

Senior specialist Maiju Ilmavirta, tel. +358 40 6344681, maiju.ilmavirta@espoo.fi

• Deputy Mayor for Growth and Learning, City of Espoo, 1 Apr 2025 -
• Chief of Education Services, City of Järvenpää, 1 Feb 2021 – 31 Mar 2025
• Facility Development Manager, Education and Cultural Services, City of Espoo, 1 Oct 2018 – 31 Jan 2021
• Superintendent of Schools, City of Espoo, 1 Aug 2015 - 30 Sep 2018
• Lead Expert for the SAFEA Partnership Programme by EduCluster Finland, The King Abdullaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia, 1 Sep 2013 - 31 Jul 2015
• Program Manager, Educational Leadership and school development Programme, City of Espoo, 1 Aug 2011 - 24 Jan 2013
• Principal, Tähtiniitty Primary School and Tähtitarha Special School, City of Espoo 1 Jul 2000 - 31 Jul 2011
• Chairman of Finnish Association of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and Immersion Education 2009-2013
• Principal and Finnish Language Teacher, Finnish School in the Netherlands, The Hague, 1998-2000
• Class Teacher, City of Espoo, 1991-1998