Co-Founder

I have a B.Sc. in Sustainable Development and have become increasingly involved in global agricultural change in recent years. I became part of the founding team of OnTop and established the first rooftop farm at a German university.

As I find that creating meaningful projects gives me energy and that I have always followed my visions, I started the Master programme Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation at the HNE Eberswalde in September 2022. I have always enjoyed fruitful meetings and closing beneficial deals that create social impact, such as in my previous position as a sales manager at a social impact startup.

My parents fled the civil war in Sri Lanka and I was born in Germany. My strong roots in Tamil culture led me to volunteer in development cooperation in Sri Lanka.

Co-Founder

I started my professional career with a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Management while working for the international wholesale group METRO AG in Düsseldorf.

After moving to Berlin, I worked as a Project and Investment Manager to gain experience in long-term, complex and high-volume projects. In this positions I developed the necessary skills to overcome challenges in fast moving environments.

To dive deeper into leadership and sustainability, I decided to start my master’s in Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation at the University for Sustainable Development (HNE) in Eberswalde.

A visionary leader with a proven track record of pioneering innovations in sustainable fashion and creative industries. As the Co-Founder of the Institute for Future Creations and Chief Innovation Officer at Selyn Exporters, he has led transformative initiatives that have reshaped markets and fostered positive social impact globally.

His expertise lies in driving strategic partnerships, market insights, and value chain management from concept to consumer. With a passion for sustainable development, he is committed to creating a lasting impact through innovation, creativity, and leadership.

A strategic design leader with strong expertise in building digital business models & products in diverse industries. Formerly an Executive Creative Director in a digital consultancy, now an Advisor, Dustin helps us strategically build a holistic brand and customer experience for tara.

He stands for creating user-centered digital experiences and is convinced that combining sustainability with digital creates impact that really matters – for a better tomorrow.

Hannes’ passion are people and relationships and he strongly cares for our planet. He is an entrepreneur and communicator focusing on technology to drive financial inclusion and a just economic transition within planetary boundaries.

A Franka is a UX Researcher, UX Consultant and Design Thinking Coach with a soft spot for multilingual work environments and a lot of curiosity to get to the core of what moves and motivates people.

She finds real user problems, co-create ways to solve them and work as a coach to make user-centred work accessible to everyone. Her toolkit for this consists of quantitative and qualitative user research methods, interface design skills, data expertise and workshop facilitation experience. After years of working with social startup founders and NGOs, she became an expert in innovations that harmonize business and social impact.

Mohan Dhamotharan has worked over four decades in the area of international cooperation for various organisations such as FAO, SNV, GIZ, APO, Humboldt Foundation, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. He had the opportunity to design more than 50 learning events focusing on Social Innovation, Leadership, Project Management, Integrated Community Development etc. In his long working career, he has facilitated several hundred events ranging from 10 to 500 people and has published around 10 books and manuals for international agencies.

Since 10 years he is engaged with his company i-Kolam in designing and producing sustainable veg. tanned leather products with craftspeople from India. His passion is in crafting powerful collaboration networks enabling a transformation towards sustainability.

Mark Kwami is a designer, business development consultant, and social entrepreneur with extensive international experience. He has collaborated with numerous international development organizations across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia, focusing on developing export value chains in the artisan sector and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in designing products for international markets.

In addition to his consultancy work, Mark has held various teaching positions, including several assignments as a visiting professor of Design at the University of Anhalt in Dessau, Germany, where he led a master’s studio course in Social Impact Design.

Since 2017, Mark has served as the Design Lead for MADE51, an initiative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Operating in over 23 countries, the program aims to integrate refugee artisans into global artisan value chains.

Mark is a firm believer in the role and responsibility of design to contribute to meaningful solutions for the myriad of global challenges we face today.

Alina Serban has a background in philanthropy programme management. She has been working at ERSTE Foundation for 8 years focusing on community development, social entrepreneurship and collaboration with communities in CEE. She founded CORIZOM Verein in 2018 and has been managing its development ever since. Her work focus lies on co-design, the commons, human-centered and participatory development – engaging with diverse stakeholders, analyzing complex societal issues, or crafting innovative solutions. She believes in collaborative efforts aimed at achieving social and environmental change.

co/rizom Verein has been engaging and working with artisan communities in Europe and beyond, implementing an incubation and capacity building programme, safeguarding the knowledge of traditional crafts and artisanship, and creating new forms of educational tools. It curates work sessions with designers, experts, entrepreneurs and artisans for collection development by offering access to technology for craft production, access to renown external creative and market expertise, access to business development, financing tools and global exposure at relevant international events.