Aleksandra communicates for WHO and opens a museum: - My innovative mindset helps me
Aleksandra Olsen got hired as a communications consultant at WHO straight after finishing her Top-up Bachelor’s degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Cphbusiness. She rethinks the organization's way of communicating - and alongside her job, she is opening her own museum.
23 April 2021
- It has always been my dream to work for an UN organization like WHO, but it is not easy to get in. I did not expect to get a job like this so soon after graduating, says 31-year-old Aleksandra Olsen.
She graduated from the Top-up Bachelor's degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Cphbusiness in 2019 and was then hired as a communications consultant in WHO, where she was an intern during the study programme.
Today, she works with communication planning and project management at the WHO's Regional Office for Europe in the UN City in Copenhagen.
Got to try out new ideas
Aleksandra Olsen was born in Russia, grew up in Cyprus and studied in Paris. She moved to Denmark in 2015 and was enrolled at the study programme Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2017.
At the Top-up Bachelor's degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, students get tools to start their own business and to work with innovation in established companies. And although WHO is an organization from 1948, Aleksandra Olsen quickly benefited from her competencies in innovation.
- Already during the internship, I got to try new methods in the organization's communication. I came up with a new view, and my bosses and colleagues appreciated my input and ideas, she says and continues:
- For example, I used a program to create graphic content on social media, which I later introduced to the WHO's departments in, among other places, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, where they do not have as many resources for communication. They were very grateful for that.
31-year-old Aleksandra Olsen works in the UN City in Copenhagen, where the WHO's Regional Office for Europe is located.
Corona required innovative thinking
During the corona crisis, there has been a lot to do in WHO, Aleksandra Olsen says. She came back to a hectic and changed work office when she returned from maternity leave in March 2020.
- We had to communicate at a higher pace and in new ways. It has been a tough but also an exciting time. Fortunately, the skills I gained at Cphbusiness have helped me to quickly adjust to new ways of thinking and working, says Aleksandra Olsen, who because of her Russian roots is responsible for a large part of the WHO's communication in Russia.
Read about the Top-up Bachelor's degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship here: Innovation and Entrepreneurship | Cphbusiness
Stevns Folklore Museum opens soon
When Aleksandra Olsen is not working in the UN City in Copenhagen, she lives in Stevns with her husband. Here, she unfolds her inner entrepreneur by establishing a museum in the couple's home.
The museum is called Stevns Folklore Museum and it is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021.
- Stevns Folklore Museum will exhibit local folklore from Stevns. I got the idea last summer, and this summer we will open with an interactive exhibition, which Stevns Municipality has supported with 60,000 kroner, she says and continues:
- It is fun to start up something completely new, and my innovative mindset helps me both in WHO and in my museum project.
Read more about Stevns Folklore Museum at folkloremuseum.dk here: Stevns Folklore Museum – The magic of Stevns, or visit the museum's profile on Instagram here: Stevns Folklore Museum • Instagram
Read about Cphbusiness' study programmes here: Study programmes | Cphbusiness
In the home in Stevns, Aleksandra Olsen is preparing to open Stevns Folklore Museum, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021.