Katharina Beck (*1982) is a senior manager at Accenture Strategy and consults firms, foundations and public organisations in sustainability management. Previously she was the Director of the Institute for Social Banking and the President of oikos International.
You have joined the supervisory board three years ago. What brought you to CHANCEN eG?
I was approached directly by the chairman of the supervisory board at the time. They were looking for someone to join the supervisory board with a solid knowledge of companies and of networking and alumni organisations. My professional background in both were a perfect fit and luckily there was good chemistry in the first round of talks with me and the board as well. Talking names, it was Caspar-Fridolin Lorenz who approached me. We knew each other through my former position at the Institute for Social Banking / GLS Bank.
What is your role as member of the supervisory board? Do you have particular focal points?
At the supervisory board we discuss regularly short and long term budget and strategy goals. Even though we all have our focal points, these are the topics that require most of the time. One of my focal points is a certain standardization/simplification of processes. In regards to networking, we have organized a great workshop together with Nathalie Hubschneider (Head of Community Management) at the last Annual General Meeting. Another big topic for me personally is impact measurement at CHANCEN eG. To show the social or even ecological impact besides the financial value, in a quantitative form, is a great means to operate a social enterprise like CHANCEN eG according to its mission and to communicate what we actual mean by social enterprise. Another point, which I couldn’t contribute so far, but which is also not my role as part of the supervisory board, is the personnel and personality development.
Which event in the course of the past three years as supervisory board member at CHANCEN eG do you especially remember?
There is not so much that one event, but there are many great memories in between start-up, social business and professionality. For example: to issue the 13 million bond and also how we once even discussed approaching our relatives because of 14,000 euros, or how an idea to publish an announcement in a newspaper actually brought the positive turn around in the kind of applicants we wanted for a senior position; how the supervisory board developed with its new members in the past years; how difficult to understand the ISA business model is at times, but then again wonderfully explained through its impact; how the team is growing – even if I only observe that from far; how humor plays a big part, e.g. at the panel discussion “May the force of education be with you”. And so forth 😊
Why are you running again for a position on the supervisory board? What would you like to put into practice in your next mandate?
I would love to contribute my experiences with impact measurement and precise-positive communication and my consulting abilities incl. organisational development and my knowledge of networking. As deputy chairman of the supervisory board I always like to use my moderating skills. As supervisory board, we are a joint committee, where not every individual is implementing their projects, but where we give advice to the executive board on equal footing and co-define budgets. Therefore, these are all possible accentuations we bring forward together when there are no financially and strategically highly relevant topics occupying our time.
Where do you see CHANCEN eG in ten years?
My vision for 2030: CHANCEN eG is the leading and fairest financial provider of tuition fees and living expenses in Germany, Europe (as far as legal conditions allow), and Africa – and a political advocate for educational justice.
What does freedom mean to you?
To decide on my own what I want to do. To be free of social conventions or to make a conscious decision for the one or the other. To apply my life for what I stand for. To be able to say no, to live in peace with other people, to practice love, to respect the natural basis of life. So far so good… I recommend as food for thought e.g. the little booklet by Joachim Gauck “Freiheit als Verantwortung” (freedom as a responsibility). And there are of course many more big books on that topic. 😉
