Team
Get to know the people behind the Global Society Institute, passionately bringing our vision and mission to life.
Team
Dr. Christoph A. Geisler
Director
Christoph A. Geisler studied computer science, business administration and general management (MBA) and earned his doctorate in economics with a focus on organisational psychology.
From 2011 to 2015, he was programme director at the Institute for Organisation and Management at Steinbeis University Berlin, where he was also a lecturer with a teaching assignment until 2021. Since 2021, he has been appointed to the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College for the topics of organisation and artificial intelligence.
Since 2009, he has been Chairman of the Executive Board of an internationally active group of companies, including in the area of digitalisation and sustainability. Prior to that, he held various management positions in multinational corporations for over twelve years, most recently as Vice President for Information Technology, Processes and Quality at Deutsche Telekom.
Since 2017, he has led the non-profit organisation for science, education and global society to support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
His professional focus is on the interdisciplinary area between information technology, human sciences and society.
Rüdiger Kruse
Director
Rüdiger Kruse is Chairman of the Stiftung Unternehmen Wald (Forest Enterprise Foundation), which he founded in 2006. From 1989 to the end of 2020, he was Managing Director of the Hamburg regional association of the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald e.V. (SDW). Under Rüdiger Kruse as Managing Director, SDW Hamburg opened the Wälderhaus in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, became the North German sponsor of the Regional Sustainability Strategies Network (RENN) and founded the International Sustainability Acadamy (ISA) in 2019. Rüdiger Kruse was a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly appointed for the first time in 2019.
Rüdiger Kruse was a member of the German Bundestag from 2009 to 2021, where he was a member of the Budget Committee and the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, among others. In addition, Kruse was a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development and the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy. From 2015 to 2021, he was the CDU_CSU parliamentary group's commissioner for the maritime economy.
Before his time in the German Bundestag from 2001 to September 2009, Rüdiger Kruse was a member of the Hamburg Parliament, where he chaired the Budget Committee and was his parliamentary group's spokesman on development policy, finance, budget and sustainable development.
Since January 2023, he has been an advisor on issues related to sustainability.
Barbara Makowka
Chairwoman GSI Hamburg
Barbara Makowka has been Managing Director of the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald Landesverband Hamburg e.V. since 2020 and is head of the WÄLDERHAUS, a sustainably built multifunctional building in Hamburg Wilhelmsburg. The WÄLDERHAUS is a project of SDW Hamburg and also the office and headquarters of the Global Society Institute. Since 2018, she has also been the director of the International Sustainability Academy (ISA), a scholarship programme for sustainably committed young professionals from emerging countries.
After studying business administration in Hamburg, Barbara Makowka gained initial experience as a consultant in international companies in France and England. In 2004, she founded her own communications agency in the field of environmental technologies and sustainability issues, specialising in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Her expertise ranges from sustainable project management and corporate governance with a strong focus on the social and global aspects, to climate and environmental protection.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Aulinger
Chairman Research
Prof. Dr Andreas Aulinger has held the Chair of Organisation at Steinbeis University since 2005. Since 2011, he has headed the Institute for Organisation & Management (IOM) there, which he founded. He also leads the international online study programmes of the Schools of Next Practices at Steinbeis University.
After studying industrial engineering at the TU Berlin, he began his professional career as an employee of the management consultancy Management Partner and later as head of the organisation department of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Munich. In 1996, he completed his doctorate externally at the Chair of Corporate Management and Corporate Environmental Policy of Prof. Dr. Reinhard Pfriem at the University of Oldenburg, where he also habilitated in 2004.
In addition to basic works on the organisation of institutions, his publications cover, among other things, corporate networks, social capital and collective intelligence.
Prof. Dr. Oliver Schwarz
Research
Oliver Schwarz is a senior researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart in the two departments Biointelligent Production and Biomechatronic Systems.
Since 2007, his speciality has been bionics in medical technology, which he has also been teaching at the University of Stuttgart since 2012. Since 2016, biological transformation - the close linking of biology, technology and information technology -- has been added as a research area, which he shapes through his own research projects and initiatives.
Oliver Schwarz studied Technical Biology, History of Science and Technology at the University of Stuttgart, Economics in the postgraduate programme at the Fernuni Hagen, and General Management at the School of International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE) of the Graduate School for Leadership & Management at Steinbeis University.
After his first degree with majors in biotechnology, immunology and ecology, he worked at various institutions with different focuses: at the University of Stuttgart in biophysics as a doctoral student, at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart as a scientific volunteer, at the State Institute of Apiculture in Stuttgart Hohenheim in residue analysis and bee research. At AnyCare GmbH in Stuttgart, he was project assistant and later product manager for telemedicine before moving to Fraunhofer in 2007. Schwarz headed working groups there with various focuses on biomechanics, orthopaedic technology, bionics and drive technology, bionics and medical technology.
In 2022, he was appointed honorary professor by the University of Stuttgart.
Since 2012, he has headed the vdi working group for bionics in Stuttgart, which he founded.
In 2017, he was appointed to the Bionics Advisory Board of the VDI Society Technologies of Life Sciences.
Oliver Schwarz is a founding member of the Biointelligence Competence Centre e.V.
Vladimire Mahah
Education
is the Scientific Project Coordinator at the International Sustainability Academy (ISA) in Hamburg, Germany since 2019. She also holds the role of Supervisor of its Alumni Network. Prior to this, she served as the Head of the Department of Environmental Education at the African Conservation Foundation since 2014, where she also worked as a consultant for their international volunteering program.
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Vladimire Mahah began her career as the Assistant Coordinator of the Environmental Education Department at the The Environment and Rural Development Foundation in 2010. Within a year, she emerged as the Head of the department and the Coordinator of the International Volunteering Program. In pursuit of further knowledge, she moved to the City of Greifswald in 2013 to complete a Masters of Science in Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation. It was during her time in Greifswald that she actively joined African Conservation Foundation.
Throughout her professional journey, Vladimire has successfully contributed to several sustainable development projects across Africa. Her expertise lies in the fields of sustainable project development, nature conservation, environmental education, and social entrepreneurship.
Dr. Teresa S. Catalá
Chairwoman GSI Tarifa
Teresa Serrano Catala started her research career in 2007 characterising dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic environments using spectrophotometric techniques and participated in several international scientific cruises and projects. In 2016, she obtained her PhD in chemical oceanography and published her research in several high-impact scientific journals.
Since 2017, she has focused her research on the potential benefits of marine dissolved organics for humans.
Since 2022, she has been a member of the Organisation for Science, Education and Global Society as science coordinator for natural science projects supporting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Guido Kemper
Research
Dr Guido Kemper has been managing partner of proMetis Consulting since 2004, and of ValueData since 2019. The focus of both companies is on the implementation of data-driven projects in industry and research, in particular also with a focus on the development of artificial intelligence applications in the BioTech sector.
After studying physics and mathematics, he completed his doctorate in 2000 at the Cologne Institute for Nuclear Physics at the chair of Prof. Dr. Peter von Brentano with longer research stays in Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Padua, National Institute for Nuclear Physics. Inspired by an exchange with Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schmidhuber, the first applications and development of neural networks took place. In addition to publishing technical books on the topic of "Big Data", he is the author of the white paper "Artificial Intelligence and Responsibility", 2020.
Guido Kemper has been initiating projects in Germany and Italy in the field of sustainable and ethical housing since 2019.
Benjamin Probst
Economy
Benjamin Probst has been working as a management consultant and interim manager for almost 20 years. After completing his banking training and studying business administration at the universities of Kiel and Gothenburg, he worked in auditing and consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers AG and Capgemini Consulting. Since 2020,
Benjamin Probst has been working independently in the areas of digital transformation, risk & compliance, lean management as well as project and interim management.
Ronny Hauf
Economy
Ronny Hauf has been involved in various digitalisation projects and initiatives since 2005. After studying economics at the University of Wuppertal, he began his professional career as a consultant for a multinational corporation.
Since 2014, he has been managing director of various consulting companies, focusing on cyber security and artificial intelligence, among other things. Since 2019, he has been building up business areas in the fields of life science and process mining and has worked for these topics in various public business formats of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Since 2017 in Ronny Hauf has been a member of the Organisation for Science, Education and Global Society in support of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Rea Fraser
Education
Rea Fraser studied geography and environmental science in Canada and began her career in forestry management. In 2001 she completed a Masters in International Business Administration, moving into project management of environmental stewardship projects.
Rea is the founder of the association Strait Up, dedicated to non formal education and intercultural learning in the Mediterranean. Her work is focused on international capacity building collaborations, intercultural dialogue, and connecting underserved youth to educational opportunities.
She has been active in volunteering and nonprofit administration for 30 years.
Sabrina Förster
Education
After completing her first state examination at the University of Würzburg for teaching languages and P.E. at the high school level, Sabrina underwent her preparatory service from 2017 to 2019. In 2018/19, she wrote her thesis for the second state examination on the topic “Teaching Sustainability – Educating for Sustainability through an Interdisciplinary Project in Middle School” in English.
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Since November 2023 and in addition to her role as a teacher at the German School of Málaga, Sabrina has been overseeing the education sector at the Global Society Institute in Tarifa.
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Since 2020, Sabrina has also focused on making the principles of classical personal development more accessible to young adults. She is especially dedicated to the tailored support of highly interested, exceptionally talented, and motivated young individuals because she believes that the key to solving today’s global challenges lies in the hands of these future decision-makers. For her, channeling the enthusiasm of our youth before it fades and thus contributing to a better world for all is her heartfelt mission.
Joan Ubide
Technical Communication
Joan Ubide has focused his career on the distribution industry and the retail channel, specifically within the sports sector. His experience includes implementing teams, processes, strategies and opening sales network in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
Since 2021, he has been a member of the Organisation for Science, Education and Global Society supporting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Matthias Brönhorst
Facility Management Floating House
Matthias Brönhorst has been working as a universal craftsman since 2009, with a focus on wood, electrical and façade.
Since 2022, he has expanded his expertise to include regenerative power generation systems. He is also a wood artist and awareness philosopher.
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Since 2021, he has been a member of the Organisation for Science, Education and Global Society supporting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Council
Dr. Christoph A. Geisler
Barbara Makowka
Prof. Dr. Andreas Aulinger
Dr. Teresa S. Catalá
Prof. Dr. Oliver Schwarz
Rüdiger Kruse