Eeva was born and grew up in Finland. She studied Finnish Language and Literature at the University of Helsinki, earning an MA, which was followed by a Teacher’s Certificate from the Department of Education also from the University of Helsinki. For the first ten years of her career, she was a teacher of Finnish at various sixth form and comprehensive schools (Imatra, Hyvinkää, Lapinlahti, Vieremä) in her native Finland. When she married an Englishman, Eeva moved to the UK where she continued teaching at leading IB Schools including Sevenoaks, the ACS International School in Hillingdon and at Southbank International School. She has also worked as a visiting lecturer of Finnish at the University of Westminster, and as an external examiner of Finnish Language at the University of Edinburgh and the University of East Anglia.
Simultaneously, Eeva has had a long association with the Finn-Guild (Finnish Church Guild), a Finnish expatriate organisation based in London where she coordinated the Finnish Saturday School programme for children throughout the UK and organised adult Finnish courses in the UK and Finland, edited the Guild’s magazine and website and produced other publicity materials, and served as regional coordinator.