What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

My role involves staying updated on legal, risk, compliance, and integrity related topics, alongside ‘that tend to be overlooked. This can be both interesting and challenging in a rapidly growing and evolving organisation that is rapidly growing and evolving and occasionally requires inventing the wheel in completely different areas.

Since I joined the IKEA Foundation in 2019, our annual budget and spending doubled, our workforce increased by roughly 60% and we supported much more complex projects and initiatives – two of which involved the establishment of a new (charitable) legal entity.

Making sure these tasks were responsibly carried out required a lot of resources, dedication, and tenacity. It also made me more willing to learn from the experience of others and use it to strengthen and mature our organisation and my department.

Do you have an example of a time when you have come up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works that did not result in a large expense?

When I started at the IKEA Foundation, there was no legal department or a dedicated secretary for the legal team. For the newly established legal department to be efficient, I had to be innovative and determine and how to optimise processes. This involved tailoring templates, documentation, policies and tasks. I also established a good and efficient e-signature solution – a truly valuable addition, despite its low cost.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

Before moving to a not-for-profit organisation in 2019, I worked for a multinational company for almost 20 years. While some aspects of my responsibilities differed, the same qualities were necessary for success as an in-house lawyer. It is important to build trust, be dedicated, provide solutions, and display a high level of integrity. Being a good in-house lawyer also requires setting boundaries and managing expectations – which will be easier to do if trust has been established.