Advisory Board
Schule im Aufbruch & Freiday
Margret Rasfeld is an encourager for future education, speaker, author, networker of ideas and people and inspirer for a sustainable learning culture. She established the Ev. Schule Berlin Zentrum, which inspires hundreds of schools around the world. With the initiative Schule im Aufbruch, lectures, books and publications, she advocates a new educational culture with international appeal. Its cornerstones are: Education for sustainable development, development of potential, appreciative relationship culture, participation, responsibility, meaning. Schule im Aufbruch was awarded the National Prize for Education for Sustainable Development in 2023 by the German UNESCO Commission and the BMBF 2023 as an effective player. www.margret-rasfeld.de
ALV Foundation
Laura Haverkamp has been engaged in the realm of social innovation and impact strategies for more than ten years. Currently, she serves as the Head of Operations at the ALV Foundation, overseeing, among other responsibilities, the funding area dedicated to psychosocial health.
Helle Jensen has been spearheading the “Empathie macht Schule” project since 2019. The project is dedicated to establishing optimal conditions in schools to empower children and young people, enhancing their capacity to navigate the unforeseen challenges that future generations will encounter.
Silke Weiß is the founder and director of the LernKulturZeit Academy, offering consulting and further education focused on a holistic and mindful learning culture. She instigated the network and online education summit “Pioneers of Education,” annually inspiring and motivating thousands of individuals to embrace change. With a background as a former teacher, trainer, and school developer, she has dedicated many years to researching how educational institutions can transform into future-oriented spaces that foster the joy of learning and the development of potential.
Maria T. Kluge – founder of the community centre and Chairwoman of the association Osterloh – draws from a comprehensive and profound wealth of experience. Already in her youth, she gained access to yoga through her mother and thus to a holistic view of the individual and their health. Trained as an MBSR teacher with Jon Kabat-Zinn (University of Massachusetts/USA) since 1990, she is also the author of the book “The Toolbox is You.”
Tina Schütze-Fulton is a mindfulness mentor and founder of MeTAzeit – Meditation, Training and Mindfulness at Schools.
Dr. Nina Bürklin has been the managing director of the AVE Institute since 2022. As a qualified business economist and certified therapist in logotherapy and existential analysis, she has also founded MEANING + More. Her aim is to promote a shift in consciousness and support individuals on their journey towards greater meaning orientation.
Günter Hudasch, a graduate biologist, mindfulness teacher, and trainer for MBSR teachers, serves as the chairman of AKiJu e.V., a non-profit association dedicated to mindfulness with children and young people. He is also a co-developer of the AKiJu curriculum for educational professionals and has previously held the position of chairman at the MBSR association from 2005 to 2021.
Mascha Blankschyn, a trained MBSR and MSC teacher, as well as a high school teacher with 10 years of Vipassana meditation practice, is the founder of “Monkeymind.” She conducts regular meditation and mindfulness courses, along with coaching sessions in Berlin and online. Mascha actively engages in various projects within schools and universities.
Dr. Helga Breuninger studied economics and psychology, developing integrative learning therapy (www.lerntherapie-fil.de). As a scientist and learning therapist, she advocates for “relationship learning” to enable teachers to educate students instead of subjects (www.intushochdrei.de). As a philanthropist, she is committed to transforming our education system (www.pioneersofeducation.online).
Peter Spiegel is a futurist and the pioneer of the WeQ Metatrend. He is the founder and director of the WeQ Institute, the brain behind the Future Skills Initiative, and the driving force behind the seminal work “Future Skills” (Vahlen Verlag). With a versatile portfolio, he is the author, editor, and ghostwriter of 40 other publications. Additionally, Peter serves as a jury member for the German UNESCO Prize “Education for Sustainable Development” and has previously held the position of Secretary General at the Club of Budapest International.
Scientific Board
Patricia (Tish) Jennings, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Patricia (Tish) Jennings is a professor of education and internationally recognized leader in the fields of social and emotional learning and mindfulness. Jennings led the team that developed Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE), a mindfulness-based professional development program shown to significantly improve teacher well-being, classroom interactions and student engagement in the largest randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness-based intervention designed specifically to address teacher occupational stress.
Marcela Matos, Ph.D.
Dr. Marcela Matos, a Clinical Psychologist and Researcher at the University of Coimbra, specializes in compassion-focused therapy and behavioral interventions. With over 15 years of expertise, her research delves into compassion and shame experiences, exploring their profound effects on mental health. Dr. Matos’ work is particularly focused on assessing the effectiveness of compassion-focused group interventions in improving well-being, while also exploring their influence on epigenetic mechanisms and physiological stress responses. Dr. Matos has led the Compassion in Schools project in Portugal, focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of compassion focused interventions tailored for teachers, pupils and parents, with the aim of fostering compassion, health and wellbeing in the school context, and promoting prosocial, safe and resilient educational environments.
Tara Hofkens, Ph.D.
Dr. Hofkens, Assistant Research Professor at the University of Virginia’s Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, investigates the impact of classroom experiences on children’s academic achievement and psychological wellbeing from early childhood to adolescence. Her research focuses on how contemplative perspectives on stress and engagement could revolutionize teaching and learning practices in American public schools.
Nina Kolleck, Prof. Dr.
Prof. Dr. Nina Kolleck from the University of Potsdam specializes in researching the impact of social networks and systems on education, focusing on collaboration, social relations, reforms, sustainability, innovations, trust, and teacher motivation. Her research incorporates Social Network Analysis methods across various fields, including education, public policy, and teacher development. Furthermore, she provides guidance to ministries, councils, and foundations, and holds leadership positions in educational commissions.
Pedro Jacobetty, Dr.
Dr. Jacobetty from the University of Potsdam pursued Sociology at the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL) and earned his doctoral degree in the Information and Knowledge Society Doctoral Programme at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Open University of Catalonia (UOC). His primary interests lie in the social and cultural dimensions of networked digital technologies, particularly their relationships to knowledge, visibility, and subjectivities.