Carina Halvord has moved between diverse branches. From furniture to make up; film and advertising; multinational organisations and smaller businesses. She has now found her place – in the role of CEO at the science centre Universeum.
Carina Halvord started off as a trainee at IKEA in Paris. Determined to stay at the company, she networked diligently. When the position of Product Manager came up, she applied and got the job. The small-town girl from Värmland went straight from being a trainee to becoming Product Manager, somewhat thanks to the School of Business, Economics and Law.
“Not only did my education spark a desire to learn, it also made me believe in my own ability,” says Carina Halvord.
After four years at IKEA, Carina left Paris for Stockholm to a job as Business Unit Manager at L’Oreal in Sweden – with valuable learnings within management at an incredibly entrepreneurial company. By the time to start a family, along with her husband getting a job in the Gothenburg region, she resigned and moved to the city – having nothing lined up.
“If you believe in yourself and your ability, you can be a little fearless. I have carried this attitude with me since my days at the School of Business, Economics and Law and my experiences since then”.
Making a difference for real
In Gothenburg, Carina Halvord started a film production company and worked at an advertising agency. But she longed for greater purpose than just the commercial. One day she saw that Universeum was looking for a Marketing and Sales Manager. Twelve years later, she is still at Universeum, now in the role of CEO.
“Going to work every day is fun. I feel like I am contributing to something positive, it is worth every single minute,” says Carina Halvord.
Universeum’s strives to be a public arena where children and adults use technology and science to explore the world, strengthening their creativity and innovation abilities, expanding their knowledge and activating critical thinking. The long-term goal is to motivate and challenge people to enrich their lives and act for a sustainable world. Carina Halvord also believes that even her personal sustainability skills has improved thanks to her job.
“Those of us who have the advantage of being well-informed have a vital task – making sure that more people make small, sensible everyday changes.
The most visited science centre in the Nordic countries. Founded by Chalmers, the Göteborg Region Association of Local Authorities, the University of Gothenburg and the Chamber of Commerce andWestern Sweden, in an aim to increase the interest in natural science and technology amongst children and young adults.
Studied International Business with a language orientation in French at the School between 1983 and 1986. During her studies, she started the student consultancy agency Internationella Ekonomers Business Assistance together with Filip Nilsson (later of Forsman & Bodenfors).
She has been entrusted with a series of tasks, including board member of the Rewilding Lappland Foundation, whose purpose is to contribute to “wilder” nature, recreate lost values, contribute to new business opportunities and promote European collaboration. She has also initiated the Universeum Academy project, a teacher training course included in the majority of the Teacher Education Programmes at the University of Gothenburg.