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Heiða Kristin Helgadóttir (born 20 April 1983) is an Icelandic politician and entrepreneur. She founded and led two political parties: the Best Party and Bright Future.

Early life and education

Helgadóttir was born in Washington, D.C. in the United States. She earned a BA in political science from the University of Iceland.

Career

After graduating from university, Helgadóttir worked in an artificial intelligence laboratory. While there her friend Gaukur Úlfarsson introduced her to the comedian Jón Gnarr. Amid the Icelandic financial crisis they created the Best Party in 2009 with the original intention to parody political practices in Iceland. In 2010, Helgadóttir ran the Best Party's campaign in Reykjavik's election, resulting in a shock win which made Gnarr mayor of the city. During Gnarr's tenure as Reykjavik mayor, which ended in 2014, Helgadóttir was his close confidante and advisor and served as CEO of the Best Party.

In 2012, Helgadóttir founded the political party Bright Future, the successor to the Best Party, with Guðmundur Steingrímsson. She served as chairman of the party from its founding through December 2014. In the Bright Future's first election in April 2013, the party received 8.2% of the general vote, giving it six out of the 63 seats in Iceland's parliament. In 2015, Helgadóttir served as a parliamentarian for Bright Future in place of her colleague Björt Ólafsdóttir while she was on maternity leave.

In 2015, Helgadóttir hosted a weekly political news show on Iceland's Channel 2.

In 2015, Helgadóttir co-founded the Reykjavík-based startup incubator and marketing firm EFNI with American entrepreneur Oliver Luckett. They are the co-founders of Niceland Seafood.

Personal life

Helgadóttir is the mother of three children. She is married to Guðmundur Kristján Jónsson.

References

1. "Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir" (in Icelandic). Althing. 2 December 2015.
2. ^ Pendakis, Andrew (2012–13). "Joking Seriously: The Artful Political Science of Besti Flokkurinn: An Interview with the Best Party's Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir". Meditations: Journal of the Marxist Literary Group. 26.
3. "Iceland is on top of the world for women's rights". Irish Examiner. 9 March 2014.
4. Lansford, Tom (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. CQ Press. ISBN 9781483371559.
5. "Icelander's Campaign Is a Joke, Until He's Elected". The New York Times. 25 June 2010.
6. "For a Free-Form Radio Conference, a Kindred Spirit". The New York Times. 30 October 2011.
7. "Did politics ruin 'the world's coolest mayor'?". Toronto Star. June 23, 2014.
8. "Who Else Were You Going to Vote for?". The Yale Globalist. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
9. "New Party Coming Up Strong". The Reykjavík Grapevine. 3 December 2012.
10. "Heiða Kristín hættir sem stjórnarformaður" (in Icelandic). Bright Future. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
11. "Iceland vote: Centre-right opposition wins election". BBC. 28 April 2013.
12. "Nauðsynleg hreinsun átti sér stað". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 22 August 2015.
13. "Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir með nýjan þátt um þjóðmál á Stöð 2". Kjarninn (in Icelandic). 12 January 2015.
14. "Fresh from Iceland: Bounty of fish about to land in Denver, with a story to tell". The Denver Post. June 11, 2018.
15. "Oliver Luckett Helps Icelandic Brand Inklaw Set Up Pop-up Atelier in New York". WWD. March 4, 2016.
16. "Fish company from Iceland opens US headquarters in Denver". Denver Channel. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
17. "Jón Gnarr gifti Heiðu Kristínu og Guðmund". Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 2015.

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