Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees decides on all fundamental questions that are part of the remit of the EVZ Foundation.
It determines the focuses of the Foundation’s funding and activities, and establishes guidelines for the use of the resources. The Board of Trustees is international, and its current 28 members are delegated for four-year terms, for example, by the German Bundestag and Bundesrat, German economic players, and the states and organizations involved in the international negotiations that led to EVZ’s establishment. The Board of Directors is responsible for current business activities of the EVZ Foundation and implements the resolutions of the Board of Trustees.

CV Annette Schavan

Members of the Board of Trustees

Organization Member of the Board of Trustees Deputy
Chair Annette Schavan, Bundesministerin a.D. Dr. Jörg Freiherr Frank von Fürstenwerth

Foundation initiative

Dr. Jörg Freiherr Frank von Fürstenwerth Dr. Dirk Förterer
Foundation initiative Christoph Kübel Dr. Helen Müller
Foundation initiative Thomas Wessel Andreas Klugescheid
Foundation initiative Prof. Dr. Susanne Sophia Spiliotis N.N. 
Bundestag (CDU/CSU) Karin Maag Martin Patzelt
Bundestag (CDU/CSU) MdB Stephan Mayer MdB Andrea Lindholz
Bundestag (SPD) MdB Dietmar Nietan MdB Marianne Schieder
Bundestag (FDP) MdB Renata Alt Ulla Ihnen
Bundesrat StM Lucia Puttrich  StS Dr. Mark Speich
Bundesrat Sawsan Chebli Secretary Birgit Honé
Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) MDgin Petra von Wick RDn Barbara Busch
Federal Foreign Office Ralf Beste Ambassador Dr. Robert Klinke
Jewish Claims Conference Greg Schneider Rüdiger Mahlo
Sinti and Roma **   Jonathan Mack
Israel Arie Zuckerman Dr. LL.M. Avraham Weber
USA Ellen J. Germain Mary Swartz
Poland Paweł Kuglarz Jakub Deka
Russian Federation Vladimir P. Lukin Aleksei Korliakov
Ukraine Dr. Anton Drobovych Oleksii Makeiev
Belarus Maryna Artsiomenka Maksim Misko
Czech Republic Botschafter Dr. Jiři Šitler Dr. Tomáš Jelínek
Plaintiff's Attorney USA Monica Dugot Christiane Reeh
UNHCR Katharina Lumpp Dr. Roland Bank
International Organization for Migration N.N. N.N.
Bundesverband für NS-Verfolgte (Federal Association of NS Persecutees) Dr. Jost Rebentisch Svetlana Fourer
  MdB Ulle Schauws (MdB – Member of the German Bundestag)***  

* updated 1st August, 2023

** These staff functions will be carried out namely as of 15 November 2016.

*** Co-opted since 9th June, 2021

Annette Schavan

The EVZ’s founding history challenges us to raise awareness of the responsibility we have where reservations lead to denial, marginalization, and violence. It challenges us to work for a new phase of remembrance culture: First, it should do justice to the victims of the Shoah – we want to be there for them, take care of them, and keep their memory alive. Second, we want to enhance the impact of historical education and help a young generation assume an active role in shaping remembrance culture themselves.
Annette Schavan
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for current business activities of the EVZ Foundation and implements the resolutions of the Board of Trustees. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Andrea Despot is responsible for designing the Foundation’s strategy, developing the organization, and ensuring its resources are used for the designated economic purpose. The Board of Directors represents the Foundation in and out of court and was appointed on March 4, 2020, at an extraordinary meeting of the international Board of Trustees. The Director took office in June 2020.

The international Board of Trustees of the Foundation EVZ elected historian and science manager Jakob Meyer as a member of the Board at its meeting on May 16, 2022. He took office on July 1, 2022.

CV Dr. Andrea Despot

CV Jakob Meyer

Financial committees

The EVZ Foundation has two financial committees: The asset advisory committee generally meets once a year and provides the Board of Directors of the Foundation with advice regarding strategic matters and topics. Operational decisions relating to the management of the EVZ Foundation’s assets are made by the investment commission. The Directors bear full responsibility for the decisions made by the body.

Asset Management Advisory Committee

The asset advisory committee generally meets once a year and provides the Board of Directors of the Foundation with advice regarding strategic matters and topics. Operational decisions relating to the management of the EVZ Foundation’s assets are taken by the investment commission. The Directors bear full responsibility for the decisions.

The current members of the committee are:

  • Jörg Eickhoff, Head of Department for Investment Strategy Implementation/AI, Federal and State Government Employees Retirement Fund (VBL) 
  • Harald Epple, Member of the Management Board, Gothaer Finanzholding AG
  • Dieter Lehmann, member of the management board and head of asset management at the Volkswagen Foundation
  • Wiebke Merbeth, Head of Public Affairs & Sustainability, BayernInvest Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH
  • Rupert Schaefer, Chief Executive Director Strategy, Policy and Control, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BAFIN
  • Martin Wieland, Head of Market Analysis and Portfolio, Bundesbank
  • Professor Dr Uwe Wystup, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management – Centre for Practical Quantitative Finance.

Investment Commission

The Investment Commission is responsible for tactical investment decisions.

Members, Investment Commission:

  • Dr. Andrea Despot, Chair of the Board of Directors, EVZ Foundation
  • Jakob Meyer, Director, EVZ Foundation,
  • Dieter Lehmann, co-managing Director and Head of the Assets Department, Volkswagen Stiftung


Information about investment strategies as well as facts and figures under Finances and Transparency.

Project funding figures

  • 6,238 projects

    have been funded by EVZ Foundation since its establishment

  • € 189,887,656

    is the total funding volume so far

Contact people

Monika Bertele

Executive Assistant to the CEO

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-80
E-Mail: bertele@stiftung-evz.de

Martin Bock

Consultant to the Board of Directors

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-48
E-Mail: bock@stiftung-evz.de

Portaitfoto von Dr. Andrea Despot

Dr. Andrea Despot

Chief Executive Officer

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-80
E-Mail: despot@stiftung-evz.de

Portrait-Foto von Jakob Meyer.

Jakob Meyer

Director

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-89
E-Mail: meyer@stiftung-evz.de

Corinna Raß

Executive Assistant to the Director

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-80
E-Mail: rass@stiftung-evz.de

Maria Wilke

Lead EVZ Academy

Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 92 97-92
E-Mail: wilke@stiftung-evz.de