Funding Management

Jamila Adler studied sociology in Marburg and Frankfurt, specialising in anti-racist migration research and women’s and gender studies. In Mainz, she worked as deputy director of a migrant self-help organisation on state and federal migration policy projects. She then worked as a process consultant for an educational provider, responsible for the intercultural integration of public administrations and SMEs, as well as for the vocational training of refugees. Most recently, she supported young adults in voluntary service as an education officer. Since 2013, she has also been a freelance trainer on anti-discrimination and diversity-oriented topics. Since 2021, she has been a project officer at the Crespo Foundation for our “SABA” project.

Archive, Art Collection, Glenkeen Garden

After graduating from school and training as a bilingual secretary/PA, Renate Bacher worked for various international consultancy companies and law firms. In 2012 she became Ulrike Crespo’s PA and managed her private office. This role included administering Glenkeen Garden in Ireland. After Ulli Crespo’s death she was responsible for implementing the terms of the will and administering the estate. In 2021 she oversaw the transfer of Ulli Crespo’s office to the Crespo Foundation and has since supported the foundation’s supervisory board and executive board.

Funding Management

Cultural Education & Arts

Federica Cuticchio studied Cultural Anthropology, European Ethnology and Romance Studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Her studies focused on migration research and urban culture. After graduating, she gained a wide range of experience in the fields of concept development, communication, public relations and event management. She then worked as a freelance manager for female artists. Other career milestones included a project management role at the Youth and Social Services Department in the field of political and cultural education. Since 2025, Federica Cuticchio has been working in grant management in the Cultural Education & Arts department at the Crespo Foundation.

Executive Assistant

Kader Dengel studied Business Administration (VWA) part-time at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. She began her career in procurement as a wholesale and foreign trade clerk in administrative processing. She then spent over two decades working for an American air freight company, initially in Customer Financial Services and later in Customer Support. Further roles took her into claims management at a financial services provider and into accounting in the banking sector. She has been working as an Executive Assistant since 2026, supporting the Executive Board with organisational and administrative tasks.

Grant Management

Impact, Development & Educational Opportunities

Natalie Failla-Grahn studied sociology at the Universities of Mainz and Malta and obtained her PhD from the University of Vienna with an empirical thesis on the integration processes of refugees. Since 2008, she has held senior positions in the field of migration and integration at non-profit organisations with up to 330 staff members. In 2016, she took over as head of the Asylum Department within the German administration and was responsible for its strategic development. She has been part of the Crespo Foundation since 2018, initially taking responsibility for an operational programme. Since 2023, she has been involved in setting up the funding management department. At the same time, she is further developing the organisation’s internal impact management. Her focus lies on strengthening individual educational opportunities and on a trust-based, impact-oriented approach to funding that combines strategic management with organisational learning.

Office Management

Finance & HR Administration

After completing her A-levels and training as a hotel manager both in Germany and abroad, Katrin Frank gained her first professional experience working in the front office of various hotels. She subsequently worked for various companies across different sectors as an executive assistant, office manager, administrative assistant and in accounts. She has been employed by the Crespo Foundation since 2022 and is responsible for finance and HR administration.

Funding Management

Cultural Education & Art

Erik Gebbert studied Fine Art and Art Education (Diploma) at the Braunschweig University of Art (HBK) and has been a master student of Asta Gröting (Sculpture) since 2015. During his studies, he worked, amongst other things, as a research assistant at the HBK Braunschweig in the departments of ‘Fine Art’ and ‘KUNST.Lehramt’. He worked in several museums in Leipzig as a freelance art educator and supported a non-profit association for political art in securing funding. Since 2022, Erik Gebbert has been employed by the Crespo Foundation in the culture and education department and is responsible for “Das fliegende Künstler:innenzimmer”.

Grant Management

Organisational and Process Development, Digitalisation & Mental Health

Anna Häßlin studied Business Administration at Münster University of Applied Sciences and subsequently held senior positions at two NGOs for several years. She then spent over seven years helping to build up the Schöpflin Foundation’s grant-making division, where she was responsible for the Migration & Integration department and, from 2022, the Infrastructure & Relations department. She brings with her many years of experience in organisational development and the development of funding strategies for civil society organisations. A central focus of her work is building and maintaining trusting relationships with funding partners. She combines strategic thinking with a practical approach and is committed to impact-oriented funding practices. Since November 2024, she has been part of the Crespo Foundation’s team in grant management. There, she is responsible for organisational and process development, as well as grant partnerships in the areas of digitalisation and mental health.

Grant Management

Maria-Elisabeth Harz studied art history and social and cultural anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Aesthetics, specialising in philosophy, literature and theatre, at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. She has been working at the Crespo Foundation on the ‘WORTMELDUNGEN – The Literary Prize for Critical Short Texts’ project since summer 2022.

Funding Management

Educational Opportunities & Women*

Nillufar Hossaini studied Economics at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Iranian Studies at Philipps University of Marburg. She has many years of professional experience in foreign cultural policy, political education and the field of ‘refugee and migration issues at home and abroad’. In 2019, she completed further training as an anti-discrimination advisor. Most recently, Nillufar Hossaini worked as an education officer and advisor for victims of right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence at the “Anne Frank Educational Centre” in Frankfurt am Main. Since 2021, she has been responsible for grant management for education and women* at the Crespo Foundation.

Executive Assistant

Head of Office Management

After completing her A-levels, Maren Hünnerscheidt obtained a diploma in European Secretarial Studies and completed training as a Foreign Language Secretary and Business Assistant. Her professional journey began in Frankfurt in 2001, where she gained her first insights into administrative roles within the hotel industry. Since then, she has worked as an Executive Assistant in various national and international organisations (ranging from start-ups to large corporations), gaining experience across a range of sectors. Her professional responsibilities have always centred on assisting the management and the respective teams. She has been with the Crespo Foundation since 2024 and, as Executive Assistant to the Board, supports the Foundation’s committee work and is responsible for internal organisational projects.

Office Management

Accounting & Office Organisation

Guriya Ismailova obtained a state-recognised diploma in “Business Administration, Bookkeeping and Accounting” between 2009 and 2011 at the Republican College of Industry and Economics in Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan, Russia. After moving to Germany, she completed her secondary school leaving certificate between 2015 and 2016 as part of the SABA scholarship programme run by the Crespo Foundation. From 2017 to 2020, she completed a part-time apprenticeship as an office management assistant with the VbFF Association for the Professional Advancement of Women and the partner organisation AWO Hessen Süd e.V. in Frankfurt am Main. She has been working in the Office Management department at the Crespo Foundation since 2021.

Funding Management

Cultural Education

Jason is originally from Rochester, New York, and worked internationally as a professional dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. In 2014, he completed the MA in Contemporary Dance Education at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK). In 2022, he earned an Executive MBA from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and founded the health-tech start-up DanceBreak. From 2023 to 2026, he served as Interim Professor of Contemporary Dance at HfMDK Frankfurt. His current work focuses on the intersection of art, education, and society. Since March 2026, he has taken on the role of Grants Manager for Cultural Education and Child Empowerment at the Crespo Foundation.

Funding Management

Arts & Cultural Education

Hanna Knell studied theatre, film and media studies, visual anthropology, and theatre and orchestra management in Frankfurt am Main and Seville. Since 2010, she has worked in various capacities as a cultural manager, dramaturg and press officer, including at the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt, the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, and within the independent dance and performance scene. In 2018, Hanna Knell was the artistic and organisational director of the site-specific performance festival IMPLANTIEREN and headed the experimental production venue Frankfurt LAB from 2018 to 2021. Since 2021, she has been working at the Crespo Foundation in grant management within the field of art and cultural education.

Funding Management

Laura Kurtz studied cultural, theatre and orchestra management in Freiburg, Breda (Netherlands) and Frankfurt am Main. During her time as a student, she worked for the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Department of Vocal and Musical Theatre at the University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), and as a freelancer and project coordinator for the Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft. After completing her Master’s degree at the HfMDK, she served as director of several productions at the 2016 Wiesbaden Biennale at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. At the same time, she took up a position as a cultural education officer at the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, where she led and further developed the ‘Kunstvoll’ funding programme for children’s and youth projects for over four years.

Open Space

Jan Lotter studied art at the Offenbach University of Art and Design. A significant part of his artistic practice takes place – sometimes announced, sometimes unannounced – in social spaces and is characterised by a strong, collaborative exchange with people. This has given rise to initiatives and venues such as the Club der Schulden, the Nachtküche and a beehive for people. From 2021 to 2023, he worked as an artistic collaborator in the Experimental Spatial Concepts department at the HfG Offenbach, where, together with Prof. Heiner Blum, he led the projects DIAMANT – Museum of Urban Culture and UND, two community-building, participatory, inner-city cultural formats for and with the urban community. In 2018/19, he was the first artist in the “Flying Artists’ Room” and, since 2023, in his role as Community Manager at the Crespo Foundation, he has acted as a sort of Corps Diplomatique, creatively and atmospherically choreographing all encounters and gatherings at the Crespo House.

Funding Management

Partnerships, Educational Opportunities & Mental Health

Nicole Lustig studied Educational Sciences, specialising in adult education and out-of-school youth education, with a focus on counselling, at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. During her many years of professional experience in the fields of education, career and employment counselling, she was entrusted from 2009 onwards with various management roles in the areas of vocational, general and consumer education. She has been part of the Crespo Foundation team since 2020. In grant management, she supports funding partnerships in the areas of educational opportunities and mental health.

Funding Management

Partnerships: Educational Opportunities & Mental Health

Yvonne Nünlist studied General History at the University of Zurich. Her career path took her from working as a cantonal equal opportunities officer and research assistant on a Swiss vocational training project to cultural management. In Zurich, she was press officer at the Theater am Neumarkt, worked as a production manager on numerous theatre and dance productions in the independent scene, and was responsible for the Tanztag Zürich. Most recently, she was a project manager at a renowned Frankfurt-based artists’ agency. From 2021 to 2025, Yvonne Nünlist was in charge of a programme in the field of migration at the Crespo Foundation; since 2025, she has been working in grant management for educational opportunities and mental health.

Funding Management

Education & Child Empowerment 

Marie Ortsiefer studied Media Studies at the University of Siegen and Clinical Social Work (MSW) at Saint Louis University in the US. After working as a journalist at Hessischer Rundfunk, she shifted her focus to impact-oriented work in education and the social-profit sector. At Stiftung Zuhören, she was responsible for public relation and marketing for a nationwide program supporting listening skills and language development in early childhood education. She then supported a fellowship program at Stiftung Bürgermut focused on scaling social-profit organizations. At coach@school e. V., she led the development of the nationwide Bücherkoffer Program, promoting multilingual reading and language skills in early childhood and all-day school settings. Alongside this, she works as a photographer focusing on women. Since 2026, she has been part of the grant management team at the Crespo Foundation, with a focus on literacy and child empowerment.

Head of Funding Management

Maja Pflüger studied German language and literature and geography in Tübingen and Hamburg. She gained her initial professional experience in publishing and theatre. After completing a PhD in theatre studies, she spent three years working as an editor for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), specialising in German literature and language, at the University of Toruń in Poland. She subsequently headed the ‘German as a Foreign Language’ department at the University of Ulm. From 2000, she headed the International Cultural Exchange, International Education and Immigration Society teams at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. She undertook further training in process consulting and coaching in an agile environment. Since 2022, Dr Maja Pflüger has been Head of Grant Management at the Crespo Foundation.

Office Management

Accounting

Ana Phuladze studied Business Administration & Finance at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she moved to Germany in 2011, where she took the German Language Test for University Admission (DSH). In 2014, she began studying Sociology and Economics at Goethe University in Frankfurt and, in 2023, specialised through further training in SAP ERP 6.0 Controlling (CO) with an additional qualification in Financial Accounting (FI). She has been working in Office Management at the Crespo Foundation since 2023.

Grant Management

Art, Literature & Reading Promotion

Sandra Poppe studied Literature, Romance Languages and Book Studies in Mainz and Dijon. After completing a PhD in Comparative Media Studies, she worked as a research assistant and as a lecturer in General and Comparative Literature at the University of Mainz. There, she most recently served as Executive Director of the Media Convergence Research Centre. At the same time, she completed an intensive course in foundation management at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel. Since 2013, Dr Sandra Poppe has been a project officer at the Crespo Foundation. There, she oversees programmes and funding partnerships in the fields of art, literature and the promotion of reading.

Open Space

Following a commercial apprenticeship, Ingrid Pradler studied interior design in Wiesbaden and Palma de Mallorca. From 2003 to 2008, she worked in various roles within the art and design sector, specialising in interior design as well as event and exhibition management. From 2008 to 2011, she worked as a freelance project and exhibition coordinator for the MMK Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, coordinating, among other things, the overall construction project to convert a vacant office building for the special exhibition marking the museum’s 20th anniversary. From 2014, she was employed as a project and exhibition coordinator at the MMK Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt. Since 2025, she has been working for the Crespo Foundation on the Open Space project.

Funding Management

Educational Opportunities & Women*

Olivia Sarma studied cultural anthropology, Romance languages and art education at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and at Sapienza Università di Roma. She has been working on the issues of racism, discrimination and empowerment since 2010; she is a qualified trainer specialising in migration and diversity, as well as a systemic consultant (DGSF). After many years in youth and adult education, as well as in the development and management of publicly funded projects, she has been working at the Crespo Foundation since 2020 in grant management for educational opportunities and women*.

Funding Management

Literature & Digital Media

Katja Schaffer studied theatre, film and media studies as well as cultural anthropology in Frankfurt am Main and Seville, and also has a background in business administration. During her professional career, she has worked in various sectors in the fields of communication, marketing and event management. In 2018/19, she completed the ‘Book and Media Practice’ further education programme at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Following freelance work in cultural management, including for the City of Frankfurt’s Cultural Office, she has been part of the Crespo Foundation team since 2020. There, she oversees programmes and funding partnerships in the fields of literature and digitality.

Head of Funding Management

Art, Cultural Education & Digitalisation

Friederike Schönhuth studied Visual Communication, specialising in sculpture, at the Offenbach University of Art and Design, as well as Art History and Sociology, specialising in urban development, at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. After working as a freelancer in Frankfurt’s foundation and museum sector during her studies, she went on to become a consultant for visual arts and curator of the ‘ars viva’ prize at the Cultural Committee of German Business within the BDI in Berlin. From 2010 to 2016, she headed the Cultural Education department of the Art and Nature Foundation at its sites in Bad Homburg and Munich. Since 2016, she has worked for the Crespo Foundation, initially as a project manager responsible for project conception and implementation in the key areas of aesthetic education and art, whilst also actively running her own agency for art and cultural education, RED PONY, until 2020. Since 2020, she has been responsible for the development and expansion of existing programmes in the fields of art, cultural education and digitalisation as Head of Grant Management.

Open Space

Exhibitions, Partnerships, Art

Lena Sobczinski studied German Studies and Empirical Linguistics (BA) in Frankfurt am Main. Between 2017 and 2020, she worked in events and visitor management at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. This was followed by roles in events and fundraising at the MMK Museum of Modern Art, as well as in the communications department of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. Following freelance work for the Crespo Foundation during the pilot phase of the Glenkeen Garden Residencies, she joined the Foundation in 2023 as an executive assistant. Since summer 2025, she has been working as a consultant for art and exhibition management at the Crespo Foundation.

Head of Funding Management

Education & Empowerment

Cora Stein studied Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology, as well as Romance Studies and Historical Ethnology, at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and at La Sapienza University in Rome. In line with her academic focus on migration research and urban culture, she has worked on various intercultural projects as well as in integration and social work. In 2006, she took on the role of project manager for ‘SABA – Educational Scholarships for Migrants’. In the years that followed, she served as a programme officer responsible for the design and implementation of the Crespo Foundation’s programmes in the areas of educational support, family and aesthetic education. Since 2020, as Head of Grant Management, she has been responsible for the development and expansion of existing programmes in the field of education and empowerment.

Funding Management

Cultural Education & Empowerment

Jana Weyer studied European Art History and English Language and Literature (BA) in Heidelberg and Leeds, and Cultural Education (MA) in Ludwigsburg. During her studies, she worked, amongst other things, as a research assistant at the University of Stuttgart and as a working student at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. She has worked as a freelancer in art education at several museums. Following a one-year traineeship at the Crespo Foundation in the field of culture and education, she worked at the German Children and Youth Foundation (DKJS) from 2022 to 2025. Since 2023, Jana Weyer has been working in grant management in the field of Cultural Education and Empowerment at the Crespo Foundation.

Funding Management

Assistant Impact & Development

After completing her training as a foreign-language secretary, Nina Zitter began her career at a major international law firm in Frankfurt. This was followed by several years in investment banking, where, as an executive assistant, she primarily supported divisional and senior management. One of the stops during this time was a posting in London. Back in Germany, she moved to a family office, where she took on the role of Personal Assistant to one of the family representatives. Even in this position, she was able to follow the work of the Crespo Foundation at close quarters. Since September 2024, Nina has been supporting the Impact and Development team in grant management as an assistant.