Published annually, Talouselämä’s Power Women list (FI) recognises leaders based on the scope of their responsibilities, the scale and complexity of the businesses they lead, and their broader impact on industry and society. This year’s list once again highlights how influence is increasingly created in areas such as renewable materials, circular solutions and business transformation.
For Johanna Hagelberg, the importance of such lists lies above all in what they signal about competence, diversity and representation.
“Promoting diversity and equality is always important. It’s a recognition of the fact that we are using the best competences for the job and mirroring the society where our customers are, to better understand their needs today and tomorrow,” Hagelberg says. “A list like this highlights exactly that.”
Hagelberg leads Stora Enso’s Biomaterials Business Area, which focuses on developing renewable material solutions that help customers move away from fossil‑based alternatives and meet their sustainability objectives. For her, leadership is closely connected to purpose and to creating tangible value in everyday life.
“Serving people with products made from renewable materials that help make everyday life better is very rewarding already in itself,” she says. “If I can also be a good role model for present and future generations, and continue to help the people around me to grow and develop, it would make me very proud.”
Photo: Caroly Wagner (left) and Johanna Hagelberg (right).
Carolyn Wagner highlights another dimension of recognition: visibility. While rankings are not the goal in themselves, she believes that visibility still plays an important role for both organisations and society.
“Lists like Talouselämä’s Power Women still matter, not because titles or rankings are the goal, but because visibility matters,” Wagner says. “When people see women leading large businesses, industrial companies and transformation agendas, it helps make that leadership feel normal and expected.”
According to Wagner, this visibility can have a clear internal impact, providing relatable examples for current and future leaders and reinforcing the idea that leadership can take many different forms. It can also influence how traditional industries are perceived externally.
“It helps modernise perceptions of industries like packaging, which have often been viewed through a more traditional lens,” she says. “More broadly, these recognitions can start conversations about progress, representation and what kind of leadership is needed in the future. Hopefully one day they are no longer necessary, but today they still have an important role to play.”
As head of the Packaging Solutions Business Area, Wagner leads work that touches everyday life at scale. She sees her long‑term contribution in both advancing solutions that help customers achieve their sustainability goals and in strengthening leadership culture.
“Packaging is part of everyday life, so even small improvements at scale can have a meaningful impact,” she says. “At the same time, strong businesses are built by people who feel trusted, challenged and able to grow.”
Together, Hagelberg and Wagner represent an approach to leadership where business performance, responsibility and people development go hand in hand. Their recognition on the Power Women 2026 list reflects not only individual achievements, but also the direction in which modern industrial leadership is evolving.
