Staff

Richard Roewer has dedicated his professional life to promoting democracy. He spent several years at the Leibniz Institute for Global and Regional Studies in Hamburg and at the University of Oxford researching the emergence of pro-democracy parties in authoritarian state systems and also wrote his doctorate on this topic. Following the guiding principle "theory needs practice", he organised a political education programme for junior politicians, coordinated knowledge transfer events, and advocated on behalf of members of the opposition in Myanmar, where he lived for several years.
 
Richard first learned about the Kreisau-Initiative through the Model International Criminal Court (MICC) programme, for which he worked for several years. Krzyżowa / Kreisau left a lasting impression on him as a "lively place of exchange for young people from Europe, but also as a place for addressing the important questions of our shared history and present". For Richard, the work of the Kreisau-Initiative is not only about providing opportunities for education but about a mutual process of learning that “enables us to strengthen democratic values together with young people". Courage is the central value for Richard, because courage is crucial for finding solutions together.

Frauke Haupenthal studied Political Science (B.A.) in Mannheim and Mexico City, as well as Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies (M.A.) at the Free University of Berlin. Before joining the Kreisau-Initiative as Executive Assistant, she worked as a controller for adelphi consult, as a scientific project coordinator for energy, transport and environment at DIW Berlin and as a project manager at RIFS Potsdam for the project “Social structural change and responsive policy advice in Lausitz”.

Elżbieta Kosek studied Economy in Berlin and Media Pedagogy in Rostock. From 2007 to 2012 she worked as a Programme Manager in the International Youth Center in Krzyżowa. In January 2013 she started her work for the Kreisau-Initiative.

Alla Bahlei studied politics in Chernivtsi (Ukraine), Słupsk (Poland), Brno (Czech Republic) and Athens (Greece). Now she is studying Middle- and East European culture and history in Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany. Since December 2022, she has been working as a project coordinator in the Kreisau-Initiative.

Pascal Goddemeier studied political science and economics in Potsdam and Bordeaux. Most recently, he worked as a consultant for (vocational) education for sustainable development at the German Sustainable Economy Association. Prior to this, he worked for several years at various levels with the EU Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programs, among other things as a trainer and educational coordinator for volunteer services.

Kerim Somun he has been working for the Kreisau-Initiative since February 2017. His main focus is the project Model International Criminal Court (MICC). He studied Public Administration at the University of Sarajevo and wrote his bachelor thesis on including youth in decision-making processes. His interests focus mainly on human rights, peace building, transitional justice and youth leadership.

During my studies of education, I focused on non-formal education and participation. I worked for organisations that promoted diverse forms of participation, e.g. StadtLabor in Graz or Wissenschaft im Dialog in Berlin. In the scholarship network of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, I organised events on current topics such as migration or feminist foreign policy.

As a volunteer in the Czech Republic, I had the opportunity to meet victims of forced labour during the Nazi times. Since then, I know that the key to an open society are encounter and communication.

In the Kreisau-Initiative, I want to give young people from Germany, Poland, Europe, and other parts of the world an opportunity to meet and learn from each other. I’m looking forward to inspiring them, encouraging them to take responsibility, empowering the educators and trainers, and learning from them in return.

For many years I have been interested in German-Polish relations and cooperation as well as in the history of National Socialism in German-occupied Europe, especially with a focus on the fates in Poland 1939-1945. For this reason, during my studies – Polish as a foreign language and history at the University of Potsdam and at the Uniwersytet Jagielloński in Kraków/Krakow – I completed various activities in German and Polish institutions that deal with the respective culture of remembrance as well as historical-political educational work (including the German Embassy in Warsaw, the German Historical Institute in Warsaw, the Polish Institute in Berlin). In 2020, I was awarded the "If not for those ten" prize by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum for my volunteer work there.

Studying and remembering the fates of the victims of National Socialism is a matter particularly close to my heart. I was further trained as an academic volunteer at the Flossenbürg concentration camp memorial for work at museums and memorials and was allowed to set my own content-related focus on Poland in historical-civil educational work.

I am very happy that I can now co-shape the educational activities of the Kreisau-Initiative and thus be a part of active remembrance and action in Europe.

Having studied media studies and online journalism, I am aware of the power of media presence and publicity as well as the tools to implement them. In my work I aspire and focus on promoting democratic processes and social participation through and with media and to inform about issues of social injustice.

Within the Kreisau Initiative, it is therefore important to me that my work serves as a mouthpiece for important voices. In doing so, I would like to highlight the culture of remembrance and issues of social togetherness and social grievances as well as to provide media support for specific projects.

I am currently studying Politics and Law in the 8th semester at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). Both professionally and privately, I am interested in human rights, especially the rights of children. That is why I wanted to get involved in the Kreisau-Initiative, which is also committed to human rights and international understanding. Furthermore, I am part of the board of UNICEF HSG Frankfurt (Oder) where I work as a social media manager. Since July 2024, I am working as a student trainee in the field of office administration at the Kreisau-Initiative.

Malwina Szczypta studied applied linguistics and intercultural communication in Poznan, Poland, Leipzig and Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. She joined the Kreisau-Initiative in August 2018.