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Organizing Committee

Co-Chairs

  • Cecile Meier-Scherling

    Cecile is a Ph.D. student in Computational Molecular Biology at Brown University, aiming to research the evolution of diseases, such as cancer and malaria, to investigate therapy resistance and potential innovative therapeutics using machine learning and computational tools. Alongside that, she is currently developing a tumor evolution model at Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School. In her free time, Cecile enjoys doing trips such as hiking in the White Mountains or going on bike rides. She has been part of the GAC team since 2019.

  • Linn Bieske

    Linn is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School. Within her studies, she focuses on cybersecurity, national security, and international relations. As co-chair of the German American Conference 2022, she hopes to create space for dialogue and to strengthen the transatlantic relationship. Before coming to Harvard, Linn has worked for McKinsey Digital & Analytics, where she served clients across three different continents and in more than 10 different countries.

  • Maike Sieben

    Maike is a McCloy Fellow and Master in Public Administration Candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She focuses her studies on public sector development, change management in religious organizations, and foreign and security policy. Before coming to Harvard, Maike worked at Boston Consulting Group, where she mainly supported clients in the public and non-profit sector. Maike holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, and has lived in Chile, Kenya, Jordan, England and the United States. In her free time, she likes to sing, discuss (church) politics, and bring together diverse people for weekend brunches.

Team Heads

  • Elisa Becker-Foss

    Joint Head of Innovation Lounge

    Elisa is currently studying a Master of Finance at MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to this, she studied Physics and Business in Frankfurt, Germany. She is very interested in AI and crypto. In her free time, she runs and plays piano.
  • Jan Peters

    Joint Head of Logistics

    Jan is a research assistant and second year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the Institute of Assembly Technology, Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. As a visiting researcher at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, he is currently working on robotic exosuits for post-stroke rehabilitation through functional electric stimulation. Jan has a passion for his work and travel, and therefore takes advantage of his employment as a research assistant for conference tourism.
  • Johanna Schwarz

    Head of Events

    Johanna is a climate advocate, UN Youth Representative and cleantech enthusiast. She has more than 8 years of experience in international politics through involvements like serving on the Youth Steering Committee of the UN Department of Global Communications and being the German Youth Delegate to PreCOP26. She is passionate about just transition, and her work focuses on cleantech, especially hydrogen, for sustainable energy and mobility systems. Currently, Johanna is pursuing a Master in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she concentrates on the nexus between cleantech and climate policy. She loves nature, Swedish progressive metal, Zumba, and thought-provoking discussions over coffee.
  • Kai Krautter

    Head of Communications

    Kai studied psychology at Saarland University and currently works as a lab manager at Harvard Business School in Boston. In his research, he cooperates with international organizations to learn more about why employees (don't) have a passion for their work. His enthusiasm for science is mirrored in his weekly psychology podcast "Positiv Korreliert". Kai regularly forces his friends to go to Harvard sports events with him for the free merch, and he regularly, but unsuccessfully, attempts yoga and comedy improv.
  • Katharina Ramsauer

    Joint Head of Innovation Lounge

    Katharina is currently pursuing her MBA at Harvard Business School. Prior to her MBA studies, she worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group and obtained both a B.A. and M.A. in Politics and International Relations with a focus on transatlantic relations. In her free time, she likes reading books, playing tennis and skiing.
  • Luca Johann Wachtendorf

    Joint Head of Fundraising

    Luca Johann is a final-year medical student and second-year business student at Philipps-University Marburg and scholarship holder of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. For the past two years, Luca Johann worked as a Visiting Researcher at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and as an MD candidate at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. His anesthesiology and critical care research focuses on the treatment of COVID-19 patients and mitigating racial disparities in perioperative care using digital health data. He joined the GAC team in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys sailing or going on rides with his road bike.
  • Marvin Ziegler

    Joint Head of Fundraising

    Marvin is a fourth-year medical student at Heidelberg University. He is currently working on his MD thesis in the Department of Neurology at Boston Children's Hospital. With the aim of expanding treatment options, he investigates the cellular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases that affect children at an early age. In addition to his passion for basic research, he enjoys his spare time running through Boston's parks or along the Charles River. He is also very interested in international politics and therefore happy to contribute to this year's GAC.
  • Paul Kuenzle

    Head of Digital Logistics

    Paul is working as a research associate at Charité – Berlin University of Medicine. Prior to this, he studied dentistry at the University of Hamburg. His previous research focused on experimental molecular biology. In his free time, he enjoys running and skiing.
  • Peter Horowitz

    Joint Head of Logistics

    Peter currently studies German Literature and Economics at Harvard College. After completing a year of high school in North Rhine-Westphalia, German studies have become the cornerstone of his academic and extracurricular endeavors. On campus, Peter is involved with Effective Altruism, the German Club, the Arts and Crafts Club, and the Political Union. A proud New Jerseyan, Peter is an avid skier and lover of fantasy, and will always put off his work to spend time with his friends.

Team Members

  • Addie Esposito
    Addie is an undergraduate student at Harvard from Raleigh, North Carolina. Planning to study Government and German (and maybe History), she is particularly interested in European affairs, refugee issues, and comparative politics. She enjoys writing for the Harvard International Review, researching and crafting policy with the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative, and helping Harvard community members pass the U.S. civics exam through Institute of Politics citizenship tutoring. In her free time, Addie loves writing poetry, listening to Journey, petting dogs, frolicking around art museums, and drinking coffee. Her life goals include German fluency and meeting Angela Merkel in person.
  • Adil Ikiz
    Adil is currently a second year at Northeastern University working towards a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. His work focuses on systems engineering and process optimization. He is aiming to further practice his craft in the chemicals development and production sector, for which he holds specific interest, and he plans to follow up on his studies with a masters in business management. Outside of academics, he is also a brother in the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon and an avid fan of soccer.
  • Andreas Schröter
    Andreas is a fifth-year medical student at Hannover Medical School in Germany. He is currently pursuing his doctoral thesis in the field of transplant immunology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on the impact of aging and hormones in the context of organ transplantation. Before moving to Boston, he worked for the German Organ Transplantation Foundation, where he conducted organ transport flights throughout Europe. In his spare time, Andreas enjoys playing tennis, skiing, and going to BSO concerts.
  • Anita Shanker
    Anita is pursuing her Bachelors in International Business at Northeastern University in Boston, but she originally hails from New Jersey and is currently studying at ESB Business School in Baden-Württemberg. She has concentrated on Supply Chain Management in her studies and has worked in transportation and logistics at The TJX Companies, Kimberly-Clark, and Mondelēz. She was drawn to getting involved with the GAC due to her strong interests in intercultural exchange, the German-American relationship, and connecting with different types of people. When not working on logistics for work or for the GAC, she enjoys traveling throughout the US and the wider world, studying languages like German, playing trivia, skiing, and perfecting her homemade matcha lattes.
  • Anna-Laura Hasubek
    Anna is a fourth year medical student in Würzburg, Germany. She is currently working in research at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in the field of NMR Spectroscopy and she studies Translational Medicine alongside pursuing her interest in experimental science. In the summer, you can find her playing Ultimate Frisbee or cycling, running, hiking and sailing. Anna also loves to read and grab a coffee with friends. If there‘s something with chocolate on the menu, you can be sure of what she‘s going for.
  • Antonia Charlotte Leist
    Antonia is a third year medical and first year translational medicine student from Würzburg. From a young age on, science always sparked her interest, which made her want to become an astronaut first. Although she opted for a career in medicine, her current research, which aims to create metabolic profiles based on data obtained from NMR, is still deeply connected to basic physics. During her free time, she likes any kind of sport, with running and skiing being her favorites, as well as reading, meeting friends and playing the piano.
  • Björn Steffen Hoyme
    An incoming Mid-Career Master's student in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School, Björn is an active-duty German infantry officer focusing on Defence and Security Policy and Human Resource Management. He holds a degree in Political and Social Science with a concentration in public law and public administration from the German Armed Forces University in Munich. He is also a graduate of the German Command and Staff College's International General Staff Officer Course (LGAI 2017). He is interested in international relations and international security and improving his policy analysis and leadership skills.
  • Caroline Sauter
    Caroline is a second year student studying Business and Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. In her further studies, she wants to focus on aerospace engineering. Alongside her studies, she enjoys volunteering in multiple organizations like Verband Deutscher Wirtschaftingenieure, European Young Engineers, and the European Youth Parliament. She is also interested in leadership, learning new languages, and discussing international politics, and she uses every chance she can get to deepen her knowledge in those areas.
  • Christian König
    Christian currently studies Public Administration at Columbia University, focusing on climate change and policy innovation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Politics and Global Sustainable Development from the University of Warwick in the UK and spent two years advising governments and international organizations on climate change and security. Christian is a passionate home cook, loves exploring art galleries, and has developed a love for baseball since moving to the US - much to the confusion of his German friends.
  • Christian Ulmer
    Christian is a Double Degree Master's student in Computer Simulations for Science and Engineering and is completing his studies with the Coley Group at MIT. His research focuses on accelerating drug discovery with synthesizability-constrained generative deep learning models. Outside of academia, he works at a climate-tech start-up with a mission to get the building sector to meet the 1.5 °C climate target.
  • Cosima Chiara Hoch
    Cosima is a medical doctoral student at the Technical University Munich and a research scholar at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. As a competitive tennis athlete from a young age, she learned how to be a team player and leader, continuously working hard on herself and her goals. This motivation has expanded from the tennis court to the field of ENT. She has a great passion for head and neck surgical oncology, microvascular reconstruction, and translational research in head and neck cancer.
  • Dekai Xiao
    Dekai is a Master's student in Industrial Engineering at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. For his final thesis, he is currently researching the application of natural language processing for requirements engineering at the MIT Institute for Data, Systems and Society. Previously, he worked in strategy consulting, which gave him insight into a wide variety of industries. He is also passionate about the current advances of artificial intelligence and technology startups. Outside of work, Dekai enjoys playing table tennis, cooking with friends, and an occasional hike.
  • Denys Shay
    Denys is a PhD student in Population Health Sciences (Epidemiology) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Research Associate at the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Prior to that, he studied medicine at the University of Münster and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin with a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. His research interest lies in pharmacoepidemiology and major adverse cardiovascular events. He joined the GAC family in 2018. In his free time, he enjoys discovering new bars and pubs in Greater Boston.
  • Erik Tonnesen
    Erik studies both Medicine and Computer Science in Kiel on the northern coast of Germany. With his background in both subjects, he is currently conducting research in Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. In his free time, Erik enjoys to stay active. He plays soccer, goes running, and occasionally lifts weights. He is also trying hard to get better at tennis (admittedly rather unsuccessfully, however.)
  • Felix Borkowsky
    Felix is a second-year undergraduate student at WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management. In the spring, he was a visiting student at the University of Exeter Business School. Felix specializes in Finance and Management. Through his work at a tech startup, he worked on the implementation of new shared mobility solutions around the world. Currently, Felix works in Investment Management, where he is involved in equity research and investment decisions. Apart from work, he researches how the world’s largest asset managers’ changing sentiment regarding ethics and climate change will influence markets in the future. In his free time, Felix is involved in politics and is a passionate pianist.
  • Felix Hambitzer
    Felix is a fourth-year medical student at Charité University in Berlin, Germany. As a research student at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he currently investigates why pancreatic cancers are so refractory to immunotherapy. Felix’s great passion for engaging students in research led him to cofound the first German student healthcare journal in 2020, aiming to anchor a new self-image in the minds of young researchers. Besides that, he is very interested in daily politics with a focus on the US, China, and Sub-Saharan Africa. With a background in football, it is easy to motivate Felix for nearly any kind of team sport in his free time.
  • Frederike Lübeck
    Frederike is a Master’s student studying Statistics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. For her thesis, she is currently visiting Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), where she is working on machine learning models for single-cell biology. To empower women in tech, she teaches young girls how to code as part of the she.codes@KIT student initiative. Outside of work, Frederike enjoys running, swimming and sailing on the Charles River.
  • Gaurav Sharma
    Gaurav is a student at The Fletcher School in Boston, where he is pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy. His research interests include artificial intelligence, privacy, cyberpolicy, and the influence of developing technologies on society, and he has 16 years of working experience in the telecom and automotive sectors. He wants to build a transparent, human-centric data governance approach that prioritizes social impact and promotes ethical computing practices across all industries. Gaurav speaks English, Hindi, German, and Polish fluently. He enjoys exploring cities, playing squash and badminton, and capturing moments with his camera in his spare time.
  • Hüveyda Asenger
    Hüveyda studied law at the Free University of Berlin on a scholarship awarded by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation). She completed legal clerkships in Berlin and New York and has also worked in various international law firms, at the Free University, and as a lecturer. Hüveyda is currently a PhD student and is writing her doctoral thesis on legal issues related to Artificial Intelligence while also working in a law firm specializing in Intellectual Property. Socially, she is very active in the field of educational justice.
  • Ivo Bantel
    Ivo is currently a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Zurich, where he focuses on political polarization and radical right parties in Western democracies. He holds a BA in European Studies from the University of Bremen and a MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Ivo is passionate about using computational social science to preserve democracy and fight climate change. He enjoys being outdoors both with a book or on a challenging hike and likes cooking almost as much as he loves eating.
  • Jennifer Pfister
    Jennifer is a McCloy Fellow and MPP Candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the founder of  Be.Change, an organization that helps young people be mindful leaders and changemakers. Her online programs have reached youth in 15+ countries on five continents. She is also a former youth advisor to the G7 and G20.
  • Laura Schütz
    Laura Schütz is a graduate student at Stanford University. After having completed a Bachelor in Architecture and a Master in Industrial Design at Technical University of Munich, she is now studying a MS in Design Impact, where she applies design methods to problem solving in the healthcare sector. Her research focuses on user-centered design for medical applications. Medical augmented reality solutions and the evaluation of usability criteria through clinical studies are at the core of her work. Besides her studies, Laura has gained entrepreneurial experience through her former role as a female founder in MedTech.
  • Lisa Oberaigner
    Lisa recently co-founded a start-up on emission data sharing in the construction industry. Having been passionate about climate technology and innovation for a long time, she co-led the climate club at her study program and is currently a visiting researcher at MIT Climate CoLab. She did her M.Sc. in Management & Computer Science at TU Munich and just finished her master thesis on carbon pricing along value chains. In the past, she has worked at startups and in venture capital in Singapore, Uganda, and Germany. When she is not working on her startup, Lisa runs marathons, teaches yoga, or travels the world.
  • Lucas Barck
    Lucas studies M.Sc. Biochemistry at the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg. Currently, he works at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His goal is to discover a protein drug for one of the most common gastrointestinal causes of hospitalization, pancreatitis. Outside of work, he enjoys sports and experiencing foreign cultures and cuisines.
  • Luke Saunders
    Luke is an undergraduate student at Boston University currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Physics, with minors in Mathematics and the German language. Although his current home is Boston, he grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He has been learning German from the age of twelve and hope to actively uses it in his professional career someday. In his free time, he enjoys going on walks, reading, and playing the piano. He also has a passion for cooking.
  • Max Lohse
    A third-year undergraduate at Boston University, Max Lohse is majoring in Biology with a specialization in cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics. He is also minoring in German and on the pre-med track. As an undergraduate researcher in the Blower Lab at the Boston University School of Medicine, he is working on investigating various applications of CRISPR/Cas9. He has been learning German his whole life and hopes to be able to actively use it in the future. During his leisure time, he practices with the water polo team at BU, where he is the vice president.
  • Max Sina Knicker
    Max is a second-year Masters student in Biophysics at the Technical University of Munich and holds a degree in Technology Management from the Center for Digital Technology and Management. He is interested in complex systems and applications of physics to economics and financial markets. At the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, he is a visiting researcher in the area of AI-augmented human-computer interaction. In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors, is enthusiastic about sports, and is passionate about eating spicy Asian food.
  • Maximilian Roesel
    Maximilian is a fourth-year medical student at Charité – Berlin University of Medicine where he currently serves as an elected member of the academic committee. His research, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, focuses on the transfer of aging in organ transplantation. With a background in mathematics and economics, he is highly interested in entrepreneurship and startups. After his time at Brigham Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, he will continue his medical studies at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. As a sports enthusiast, Max enjoys powder skiing, sailing and baseball.
  • Maya Döhne
    Maya is a medical student at Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen and holds a scholarship of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. However, she is currently based in New York, working as a Visiting Researcher at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She does research in the field of Anesthesia and Critical Care using digital health data. In her free time, she enjoys sports, reading, and spending time outside and with friends. 
  • Niklas Alexander Krakau
    Niklas Alexander Krakau is an MPA student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to Harvard, he worked as Senior Consultant for McKinsey & Company advising private, social sector and government organizations focusing on the topics of digitization, economic development, and renewable energy. He previously worked in private equity (Waterland Private Equity), tech (Google), and international development (KfW - the German Development Bank). Niklas is originally from Germany and has a huge passion for volunteering, holding a variety of honorary appointments. He received a B.Sc. in International Business Administration from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and an M.Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
  • Peter Holderrieth
    Peter Holderrieth is working at the intersection of AI and biology as a Machine Learning Scientist at Cellarity, a biotech startup focusing on cell behavior-targeted drug discovery. Originally trained as a mathematician, Peter completed an MSc in Statistics and an MSc in Neuroscience as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, where he pursued a variety of research projects at the intersection of computation and biomedicine. Outside of work, Peter is a passionate musician and loves to hike and swim.
  • Pius Schlachter
    Pius is a third-year medical student at Martin Luther University in Halle and currently works as a research student on his MD thesis at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, enabled by the Cusanuswerk Scholarship award program. His major research interest is understanding the molecular mechanisms of physical exercise on brain health, especially in Alzheimer's disease. Before joining the German American Conference, he attended the International Collaboration Exchange Program, where he focused on diverse medical teaching programs. Outside of his studies and these experiences, Pius can be found in the mountains either hiking, skiing, or enjoying cheese.
  • Priscilla Bonsu
    Priscilla Bonsu is a licensed Attorney and a Foreign Legal Advisor at Wuersch & Gering LLP, a boutique law firm on Wall Street where she focuses on U.S., cross-border and international business transactions. She is from Saarbrücken, Germany and graduated from the law faculty of the Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg where she focused on German and International Law. Priscilla received her Master’s of Law (LL.M.) from the University of California, Berkeley and her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the Emory University Law School in Atlanta, Georgia. As a Legal Trainee at the World Bank in Washington D.C., she was awarded a DAAD scholarship. Priscilla currently serves as a member of the International Law Section and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and frequently appears as a legal commentator on international news channels. In her free time, she enjoys traveling.  
  • Quirin Blomberg
    Quirin is a McCloy Fellow currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before coming to Harvard, Quirin worked on financial market policy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the design of social insurance systems at the London School of Economics. He can often be found in the mountains on either skis, a bike or his feet - and certainly yodeling.
  • Rabea Sobirey
    Rabea is a medical student at the Charité in Berlin, Germany. Alongside her studies, she has worked at a machine learning software company and conducted research in clinical neurotechnology. This crossover interest of hers between medicine and technology has now led to a research fellowship at Yale School of Medicine funded by the German Academic Exchange Service. She is working on a project to predict treatment outcome of immunotherapies by applying machine learning to diagnostic imaging. In her free time, Rabea enjoys singing and playing music with her friends.
  • Rhea Karty
    Rhea is studying at Dartmouth College and is super excited to be a part of the GAC. Although she is still trying to figure out what she is trying to study long-term, she is thinking about some variation of philosophy, politics, and economics. She loves learning about politics, reading about history or economics, traveling, solving math problems, debating, cross-country running, and trying her best to learn German. She is hoping to learn more about organizing events and working as part of a large team.
  • Samuel Knoedler
    Samuel is a fourth-year medical student and doctoral candidate at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar in Munich, Germany. In cooperation with the Orgill Lab of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he is exploring new methods to sustainably improve scar and wound healing. This interest in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery also manifests in his support of the non-profit organization Reconstructing Women International. The aim to put a smile on people's faces (again) is what energizes and motivates him. Samuel enjoys traveling and likes any kind of sport. That's why international soccer matches with locals in Africa and gym sessions with friends in Australia rank among his favorite memories.
  • Samuel Rupp
    Samuel is a 4th year medical student at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. He is currently engaged as a researcher at the Department of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, investigating the improvement of patients ́postoperative outcomes using large observational data. As a scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studenstiftung des deutschen Volkes) as well as of the Bavarian Elite-Academy (Bayerische EliteAkademie), he is interested in fostering the transatlantic partnership between the United States and Germany and having a positive impact on our global society. In his free time, Samuel loves being outdoors and doing all kinds of sports.
  • Sebastian Degner
    Sebastian is a PhD student of Biological and Biomedical Sciences in the Harvard Division of Medical Sciences and has a background in Molecular Biotechnology from Heidelberg University. His major research interest is understanding how evolution shapes the development of normal tissues and tumors. In particular, he wants to explore how the insights gained might be leveraged to develop new, early-stage diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In his free time, you might find Sebastian in the Vanderbilt Hall gym or visiting his favorite cannoli spots in Boston’s North End.
  • Seth Middlecoop
    Seth is currently completing a dual degree as a Master’s Student at the University of Konstanz and Charles University in Prague. At these institutions, he is studying international relations and European integration. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in international relations from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, USA. With his background focus in American foreign policy, European foreign policy, and diplomacy, he is currently working as an intern at NATO HQ ACT in Norfolk, Virginia, USA while also writing his thesis on German identity and its impact on European foreign policy. In his leisure time, he enjoys traveling, collecting currency, learning languages, history, hiking, and skiing.
  • Simon Henniger
    Originally from Germany, Simon studies computer science and philosophy at Dartmouth. Fascinated by how to break down big, complicated problems into simple terms, he is interested in programming language theory, theoretical philosophy, and science communication. In my free time, he likes to read books, swim, and watch good movies.
  • Sofie Lilli Stoffel
    Sofie Lilli Stoffel is a McCloy Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a non-resident fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. Previously, she was a research associate with GPPi, where she contributed to the institute’s work on humanitarian action and peace and security. Sofie’s main research focus is on the role of children in conflict and humanitarian crises, which is rooted in her interest in mitigating the impact of violence and trauma on communities and enabling sustainable peace.
  • Toni Engmann
    Toni is a Research Fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. She works on several clinical projects in the realm of plastic surgery and is also excited about the planning an upcoming animal study. In her leisure time, she likes to swim, climb, visit museums, and explore Boston.
  • Vincent Straesser
    Vincent is currently pursuing a BSc. degree at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management on a scholarship awarded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. He currently works with Bain & Company and has previously interned with Henkel and Covestro. These days, Vincent is particularly passionate about private equity consulting.
  • Yannik Kellmann
    Yannik is in his last year of law school, which has meant learning non-stop. Politics is what has always motivated him to keep going. So far, his studies and private interests have been more oriented towards the East, especially Eastern Europe. However, the Russian war of aggression has made it painfully clear to him that there is still a need for people who are committed to a strong transatlantic alliance to master current and future crises. Since the outbreak of this war, he has become certain for the first time about what he wants to do with his education. He grew up in a peaceful and future-oriented Europe and believes that future generations should also be able to enjoy this privilege. In addition to these professional ambitions, in recent years he has discovered his passion for being a host: cooking for friends, giving them a good time, and recharging their personal batteries from the challenges that the world presents them with.

German American Conference 2022

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For the past 14 years, the German American Conference has provided a space for discussing the world’s most pressing issues. From October 28th-30th, we will host a series of panels, workshops, and networking sessions to bring together leaders, politicians, students, and changemakers.

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Disclaimer: The Council of the German American Conference at Harvard e.V. is run by students, alumni and affiliates of the German American Conference at Harvard. The contents and activities are in no way an endorsement by Harvard University, nor should be viewed as representing the views of Harvard University or any of its faculty.