In June 2018 the CHANCEN eG team grew again: Dr. Annette Littmann now supports us in investor relations. After completing a banking apprenticeship and business administration degree in Berlin and Cologne, she gathered work experience in the fields of investor relations, journalism and PR, financial markets and accounting. She was a senior manager with leadership responsibilities at listed banks, mid-size companies, and municipal organizations. In addition, she has more than five years of experience as a board supervisor. Annette brings this rich experience to the CHANCEN eG and tells us in an interview what she brings to the CHANCEN eG, the challenges of working in a young, modern team, and why she values the cooperative model.
Dear Annette, welcome to the CHANCEN eG! What are your responsibilities in the team
Thank you! I am enjoying the new challenges in the CHANCEN eG team. In order to invest in the education of young people you need to have money; the refinancing of the loans needs to be guaranteed. I am responsible for contacting and maintaining relationships with investors. Till now I’ve done this for “traditional” companies; in this respect, a social enterprise is something a bit different for me. It’s an interesting task.
Who are CHANCEN eG’s investors?
Till now our investors have been mainly private citizens and foundations. We want to expand our circle and address so-called “family offices.” These are mostly small teams that invest family assets and therefore have more freedom than traditional investment companies. There are certainly some of these offices here that want their investments to have a certain social impact while yielding satisfying, if not the highest possible, returns. These are worth talking to.
Which criteria are important for the CHANCEN eG when considering a cooperation with investors?
The wish to make a social impact should play an important role for the investors, as well as the desire to have influence and help make decisions as co-owner.
What are going to be the biggest challenges for you?
The CHANCEN eG is a relatively young and still little known company. Investors look more closely at such companies, because of the concern about investing money in something meaningful that turns out not to work. An additional challenge is that an impact investment in the CHANCEN eG, one that supports something meaningful as well as bringing a return, is very long term.
What helps me is the growing feeling of being a “wanderer between worlds.” What I mean is that I’ve gathered experience in very diverse areas of the economy- in banks, the media, politics, and mid-size companies. The contrasting values propagated there primarily aim at reducing complexity- or perhaps satisfying the top managers’ desire for prestige. It is never black and white; compromises and cooperation bring value.
In addition, the legal status of a registered cooperative is ingenious: here it’s really possible to find a sustainable common denominator in the interest of both investors/co-owners and supported students.
You raise the average age of the team considerably and therefore bring a lot of life and professional experience with you. What have you done up to this point?
After my apprenticeship, I started working as a business editor. In this role I interviewed, by the way, the founding president of the University Witten/Herdecke, Konrad Schily, about a potential move of the university to Baden-Wuerttemberg. Most recently, I was responsible for financial reports, capital markets law, and investor relations at a listed mid-size company in the Ruhr region. Recently I’ve felt an increasing desire to do something new and meaningful. I’ve been familiar with cooperatives since my time at university; cooperative banks were a focus. However, directly after university I found journalism even more interesting.
What are your impressions so far, after your first few weeks in the new team?
Very different from my previous experiences. The IT is totally different- I feel like a dinosaur, because I only know the traditional office procedures with internal server, office software, and a lot more paper. Of course it’s strange for me- but that’s ok. Because the point of view, “We’ve always done it like this,” especially in the understanding of habitual workflows and environments, is not very helpful in a rapidly changing world. And the team is patient with this IT dinosaur… (laughs)
