Marja is the founder and owner of Gimara. She also works as an Areal Research and Development Specialist at Brahea Centre at the University of Turku and does her doctoral studies in Software Engineering at LUT University. Her main areas of interest are interaction and accessibility in online solutions, creative and proactive problem solving, social inclusion and entrepreneurial thinking. She has considerable experience in immigrant integration training, online language teaching (Finnish as second and foreign language for professionals), team building, pedagogy, methodology and new product development. She has a particular passion for producing new types of educational innovations that promote social inclusion and educational equality in the world, especially in third countries. She specializes in producing technological educational innovations for international operating environments. Research is an important part of producing high-quality educational innovation ideas.

Dr. Afnan Zafar works as a Head of Development and Internationalisation at Gimara. Recently, he also worked as an RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences. Previously, he worked as a coach and company coordinator at Arffman (Barona). He has Post-Doc in Sustainable production and Innovation from Sweden and a PhD in Product Development and Innovations from Finland. He has a Finnish Pedagogical Teaching Qualification from Finland and holds a Bachelor’s degree (PharmD) in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Punjab, majoring in production. Afnan can take a holistic approach to innovation throughout any product and service development lifecycle. He can understand the market needs and develop a product that the market wants.

Janni Kotilainen works at Gimara as a learning developer-coordinator and Finnish language teacher. He is responsible for the Finnish language team’s practical arrangements and digital concepts’ promotion. Janni has a master’s degree in information management and has experience in entrepreneurship and service conceptualisation. He is also a user interface designer and business coach, and facilitator. In addition to everything, he has taught Finnish and done humanitarian work, e.g. In Greece, Lebanon and Serbia. Janni speaks Finnish, English and Arabic.

Mari Kokkonen works as a Head of Pedagogy at Gimara. She also is developing and producing Gimara’s study materials. She is a versatile and creative professional in teaching and communications. She graduated from the University of Turku and worked as a mother language teacher, journalist and second language teacher, especially as an online teacher in integration courses. She also has vocational degrees in marketing and communications online and a Second language teaching degree from the University of Jyväskylä.
At Gimara, Mari provides pedagogical support for online teachers to make studying at Gimara practical and valuable. As an entrepreneur, she offers Finnish language classes and YKI training online courses such as Ope Mari.
Mari has native Finnish, and she speaks well English and Swedish. She has also studied some Arabic, French and Estonian languages. Living a simple life near nature and working for other people to be able to shine are her joys in life.

She has been teaching Mandarin Chinese for over 10 years. Since completing her MA for teaching Chinese as a second language, she has been teaching in universities, secondary schools and language schools in China, Taiwan, Germany and the UK. Besides sharing her own language and culture with the world, she is also passionate about learning other languages. She speaks Mandarin, English, German and she is learning French and Spanish. They have not only helped her in her career, but also open her mind to the wider world. Meeting different cultures and people are the most exciting experiences for her. She has joined Gimara to be part of a forward-thinking concept of language teaching, an educational ethos to which she adheres.

Irina Gorobey  is a qualified Finnish and English language teacher. She speaks also Russian and Ukraine. She has over 10 years experience of teaching languages (Finnish, Russian and English). Irina’s creative approach allows not only to improve the language skills of students, but also to reveal their other abilities. Being an empathic person, she easily adjusts her teaching methods, tools and style to the demands and mood of the audience, in order to enable the effectiveness of a studying process.

Kseniia Afanaseva is experienced trainer-teacher of Finnish and Russian. Kseniia has a strong grip on pedagogical methods and delivering online lectures. She has the ability to prepare interactive materials to engage students to learn the language.

Anna Kilpiö teaches Finnish in Ukrainian at Gimara. She is also a teacher of English and Hebrew as well as philosophy and Jewish history. She speaks Ukrainian and Russian as her mother tongue. She has four years of experience teaching language in Ukraine and she has been as teacher in Finland since 2020. She has also capabilities to do graphic design and marketing related tasks. Anna is a bold and insightful teacher and instantly gets students inspired about their subject. It is always easy to work with Anna and create something new – and think about philosophical questions, too!

Aleksi Sipilä is a Swedish and Finnish as a second and foreign language student. He has completed the teacher’s pedagogical basic studies. He also studies in a bachelor’s program in agricultural economics. He has a passion for learning new and foreign languages, of which he has basic knowledge, such as French and Russian. He works at Gimara as a Swedish and Finnish trainer.

Daria Pavlova is studying to become a Finnish and Russian language teacher. There is not much experience of being a teacher yet, but there is even more enthusiasm for the profession. In addition to studying languages, Daria is interested in sports, especially soccer. She also has experience about work in restaurant. She works at Gimara as Finnish trainer. 

Mariette Oksanen is a Finnish language bachelor student. She also studies literature and Spanish, which she speaks fluently. Alongside these studies, she is studying basic pedagogical studies for teachers. She also has teaching experience in English. She works at Gimara as a Finnish trainer.

Noora Perttunen  will graduate as a Finnish language teacher in the spring of 2023. She has a pedagogical qualification as a Finnish language teacher. She works at Gimara as Finnish trainer-teacher.

Emilia Vanha-Uotila studies Finnish language, communication, educational sciences, Swedish and theology. She has been volunteering as a Finnish language trainer and has many years’ experience in journalism. Emilia speaks Finnish, English and Swedish and is also learning German and French. She works at Gimara as a Finnish trainer.

Anastasia Lagoyko is a Finnish language bachelor’s student. As a Finnish teacher, she is constantly developing and enthusiastic. She can create a dynamic and joyful learning environment, and I give, at the same time, there is room for the learners’ initiatives. She works at Gimara as a Finnish trainer.

Kateryna Dmytroshchuk is responsible for spreading the social media channels and producing visual material for Instagram a few times a week. He can also work as a producer and draftsman of visual material as well as a creator of animations.

Dmitrii Rabtsevich has been Gimara’s trusted grafic designer for years.

Aleksanteri Ahola designs and produces animations for Gimara.