Committees

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

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 **	Zoran Dimov	Sophie Voets-Hahne
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	Dr. Andrij Melnyk
Belarus	N.N.	Anshelika Anoschko
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)***

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:

Dr Wolfgang Weiler (chairman), President of the German Insurance Association (GDV)
Jörg Eickhoff, Head of Department for Investment Strategy Implementation/AI, Federal and State Government Employees Retirement Fund (VBL)
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
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.