South Ostrobothnia Social Act of the Year Award | Anja Mäntylä Fund
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South Ostrobothnia Social Act of the Year Award

The Anja Mäntylä Fund (Anja Mäntylän rahasto) is accepting nominations for the organisation to receive 2026 South Ostrobothnia Social Act of the Year Award. The purpose is to highlight the diverse activities in the social sector and innovative practices that are important to their target groups. The best social act will be awarded a prize of 2,000 euros.

Criteria for awarding the prize

Criteria for making a nomination proposal

  • A nomination may be submitted by any employee, volunteer, client, or relative of a client of the nominated organization, or by anyone else familiar with the activities for which the organisation is being nominated.
  • Proposals must be submitted using the online form available here(Opens in a new window) by 30 September 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Late nominations will not be considered when the award is presented.
  • Nominations may be submitted in Finnish or English.

Criteria for the recipient of the award

  • The recipient must be a registered organisation (association, company, etc.) with a business ID. For tax reasons, the award is not granted to individuals.
  • Since Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences Ltd. administers the Anja Mäntylä Fund, the award will not be granted for activities that can be directly or indirectly interpreted as being part of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences’ operations.

Criteria for award-winning activities

  • The activity to be recognised, or at least part of it, has taken place or is taking place during 2026.
  • The activity to be recognised takes place in South Ostrobothnia.
  • The activity to be recognised can be interpreted as social work (in the broad sense).
  • The activity to be recognised promotes the special theme set for the 2026 award, which is Strengthening inclusion.

Awarding the prize

The recipient of the award is selected by an evaluation panel consisting of members of the Anja Mäntylä Fund’s board of trustees:

  • Tua Niemelä, Head of Degree Programme, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (Chair of the Board)
  • Johanna Hietamäki, Senior Researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
  • Johanna Säilä-Jokinen, Administrative Director, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences
  • Timo Toikko, Professor, University of Eastern Finland.

The secretary of the evaluation panel (without voting rights) is the fund’s agent, Mervi Lehtola, Development Manager, HR at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences.

In making the selection, particular attention is paid to the following questions:

  • How does the activity nominated for the award support the inclusion of its target group?
  • How does the activity address an existing or anticipated need?
  • How broad is the target group, and what are its specific characteristics (e.g., people in vulnerable situations)?
  • Can the activity nominated for the award be characterised as innovative, and does it offer something new?
  • To what extent could the model be replicated?
  • How comprehensively and clearly has the nominated activity been described in the proposal?

The award recipient will be announced at an event to be held on 20 October 2026.

The award recipient is responsible for ensuring compliance with tax regulations; more detailed information is available from the tax authorities.

More information

Agent, The Anja Mäntylä Fund
Mervi Lehtola
mervi.lehtola@seamk.fi
tel. +358 40 830 2365

Submit a nomination proposal here (Opens in a new window)