About me

Initially having studied German & Russian languages and literature, Wiebke felt she had to find out how this ‘new world’ functions, which presented itself to her after the wall came down. She subsequently studied business administration with majors in marketing and event management. The common thread running through her career is the attempt of building bridges between the private and not-for-profit sector in both of which she worked extensively as internal and external consultant.

However, both sectors left her feeling unsatisfied – one because of it’s lack of social responsibility and the greed for ever increased profits, the other because of its lack of professionalism, efficiency and executive managers removed from the base on which it stood. In 2002 she came across a network of social entrepreneurs in Australia and with this young movement, an astonishing amount of evidence for social responsibility and economic efficiency going hand in hand.

Returning to Germany in 2004, she started the first network for social entrepreneurs and values-driven leaders (Social Entrepreneurship & Leadership Foundation – self) – a cooperative completely independent of government and donors. As an initiative of self eG, she co-created the Hub Berlin, a space for social innovators and changemakers to work from, learn and support eachother. (Hub Berlin was lasting a short, long, sweet and tough 2 years and is now being continued as Impakt Berlin by www.iq-consult.com. The cooperative self did not have the financial breath to lead the Hub to financial independence and let go of it – an emotional and financial loss many of the founders had a hard time coping with. Yet, there is many things they did achieve and they continue to be proud of…)

Wiebke is currently on a journey learning to utilize her skills and experiences to facilitate community development in ways that are sustainable not only for the planet and the people around her but also herself. In this capacity she co-founded the glass half full in support of ProtoVillage, an initiative of the Indian-based InteGreater Foundation. She also teaches Strategic Management at various German business schools in cooperation with Sunderland University (and sometimes wonders, what entitles her to do so)….