People

executive director, Maecenata Stiftung; director, Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society (www.maecenata.eu)

Rupert was born in 1947, and grew up in Argentina, Italy, and Germany. He studied at Colgate University, USA, served in the German Army and continued his studies of Political Science and History at Munich University. His career included serving at headquarters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Rome, as Regional Director of the Order of Malta German Ambulance Corps, and as President of The Duke of Bavaria’s Administration.

Since 1987, he has worked as professional consultant, academic researcher, and policy advisor on philanthropy and civil society. He was vice president of German Caritas, served on a Parliamentary Commission on Voluntary Action, was Council Member of Europa Nostra and member of the Commissione Centrale di Beneficienza of the Cariplo Foundation. He teaches and lectures regularly and has published widely on philanthropy and civil society issues. (www.strachwitz.info)

secretary general, European Cultural Parliament

The European Cultural Parliament (ECP) is the only Pan-European forum for cultural personalities of all sectors of arts, which Karl-Erik co-founded in 2002. It has 160 members from 43 European countries and initiates projects and workshops, meets in plenary session in different European cities each year and discusses broad European themes, such as democracy, intercultural dialogue and, European cohesion.

As a Swedish diplomat for 30 years Karl served in Moscow, Peking, Geneva and Rome, dealing mainly with foreign policy, trade negotiations, cultural affairs, development cooperation and the United Nations. As Ambassador since 1989 he was posted in Spain and was the Swedish commissioner general at EXPO 92 in Seville.

Karl-Erik has also been an opera soloist and is the author of more than 30 books, covering subjects such as democracy, world population, Germany, China, India, UN, theatre, opera, design, food, European identities and football, and currently lectures at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Berlin. He participates in public debates in Swedish, German, British, Scandinavian and other international media and is a member of several International boards in London, Cambridge, Berlin, Sofia, Stockholm, and Biella. He is married to German opera singer Doris Soffel, has two children and lives in Stockholm and Berlin.

speaker and trainer, Berlin Speaking

Pascal Heymann is an internationally distinguished speaker, event moderator, and public speaking trainer. During his high school days, Pascal was an active and enthusiastic participant of the annual international Berlin Model United Nations conference at the John F. Kennedy School Berlin. As a trainer, he now empowers everyone from high school students to CEOs to confidently communicate their ideas, generate interest for innovative concepts, and convince their audiences with engaging stories.

student, Imperial College London

Julia enjoys debating and has been involved with Debating Matters Berlin since the inaugural competition, in which she was on the winning team. She was then a part of the team that successfully defended their title in the second competition, and who went on to win the 2017 International Final. Outside of debating, Julia is interested in physics, especially theoretical physics, which she studied at Imperial College London, completing her MSci in 2023.

Head of Product, GoVolunteer e. V.

Mónica is a computer engineer at GoVolunteer e. V. Mónica develops improvements and new features on the platform as well as leading the team and the projects that have to do with the platform. In her free time she enjoys making things, such as furniture, and also knits and sews. Mónica also loves sports, especially swimming, bouldering and yoga, and also enjoys going to the movies and playing board games.

business English language and skills trainer; speaking coach

As a business English language and skills trainer for over twenty-five years, Khushi worked with professionals to develop a standard of language fitting to their position and responsibilities. The target was confident, clear communication and intercultural competence.

For the past ten years, Khushi has been an active member of Toastmasters International – an educational organization which, since 1924, has been dedicated to developing quality communicators and leaders. Currently she serves as Toastmasters Club Growth Director for Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. A winner of European speech competitions, Khushi coaches speakers, delivers workshops and uses story to inspire and motivate.

staff reporter; editor, Science and Education, Der Tagesspiegel

As a staff reporter and editor, Tilmann covers a wide range of topics such as higher education, humanities and social sciences. He also works for Queerspiegel, the LGBTI section of Der Tagesspiegel. Tilmann studied history and theatre at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universiteit van Amsterdam.

editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung

Barbara is a journalist with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Before joining the paper in Munich in 2017 she worked for the Berliner Zeitung and spent almost seven years in the UK as a London based political correspondent.

Ideation & Prototyping Lab Lead Data scientist, Technologiestiftung Berlin

Sebastian Meier is an entrepreneur and data scientist. He works at the Ideation & Prototyping Lab at the Technologiestiftung Berlin, a non-profit foundation and think-tank, supporting science and technology. He graduated in Communication and Interface Design and completed his PhD in Geoinformatics at Potsdam University. Before joining the Technologiestiftung Sebastian was a consultant and project lead, working for research institutions, companies and design agencies. For almost a decade Sebastian has been a lecturer at universities throughout Germany, bridging the gap between design, technology and society. His projects focus on data driven innovation, data analytics and visualization as well as human-centered perspectives on software interfaces. Sebastian is involved in meetups and conferences throughout the metropolitan area of Berlin.

district council administrator, Reinickendorf

Tobias was born in 1973 in Wolfenbüttel. He studied law at the University of Trier. Since 2016 he has been district council administrator in Reinickendorf, responsible for youth, family, schools and sport.