Connecting Past and Future – Strengthening East Germany’s Next Generation
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Photo: Karoline Wolf
“There was a version of me who did not yet know any of this was possible.”
Theresa HannesManager Impact & Business Development, Program Management
Tenure at HPF: started April 2024
Theresa Hannes
I grew up in Thuringia and became the first in my circle to get a scholarship, study abroad, and work internationally. There was a version of me who did not yet know any of that was possible. She is who I think about at work today.
At the Hasso Plattner Foundation, I work with organizations that support children and young people in East Germany, through mentoring, mental health, digital literacy, creativity, and sports. Different themes connected through a shared goal: young people who know they belong and can shape their own path. My job is to find the right partners, and sometimes to build new initiatives from scratch – such as TUMO Potsdam, a center for Creative Technologies & Design for 12 – 18-year-olds.
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I came from impact consulting, where I learned how to solve problems structurally through building the right framework. However, handing the result over was where my involvement usually ended. Here, at the Foundation, it feels different. Working closely with our charitable projects has taught me that a framework is an important start, but only through the execution and the judgment calls that follow it can be decided whether something works. As an example, the idea to build TUMO Potsdam was based on a robust concept, but only executing the project, i.e. identifying a suitable location and its remodeling needs, hiring a strong Managing Director, building relationships with other actors in the educational field, I learned what is and what is not feasible.
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What I did not expect when joining the Foundation back in 2024 was how often this work would point back at where I come from. The young people in these programs are growing up in the same region I did. Having the opportunity to do this work with and at the Foundation is something I am genuinely grateful for.
September 2026
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