The F20 Team

Klaus Milke is the Chairman of the Steering Group of Foundations 20 with the background as Founder and Chairman of Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit (Foundation for Sustainability), based in Bonn/Germany. From 1991-2019 he was also in the Board of Germanwatch, a German development and environmental Non-Governmental Organization,  from 2005 on as Chair of the Board. He has graduated in economics, followed by studies of sociology and political science and – with experience in the executive board of a middle-sized company – he is today consulting governments, corporates and civil society groups. By advice, moderation and advocacy work he is active in various networking and campaigning processes mainly on climate and energy and on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda “in, with and from” Germany with the SDGs.

Princess Bessmah is a philanthropist and a non-profit sector supporter in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who is passionate about child development and education. She is a Board of Director’s Member and Treasurer of the Saut Down Syndrome Society; Board of Trustees Member of the King Khalid Foundation (KKF); and a Co-founder of The Playroom Center.

Princess Bessmah joined the Board of Saut as a treasurer the year it was founded, in 2010, and has been the key supporter of Saut’s activities since then. Saut is the first organization in the Kingdom to design and implement a specialized early intervention and educational programs for children with Down Syndrome in Arabic language. Saut helped thousands of students in the Kingdom and trained hundreds of teachers and specialists and caregivers to enable them to apply these programs at the highest level. Saut is the first and only organization of this kind in the Kingdom. In addition to her role as a Treasurer, Princess Bessmah contributes to Saut’s strategic planning efforts and plays a key part in generating awareness around the abilities of children with Down syndrome by encouraging their inclusion and acceptance within the community.

Princess Bessmah joined the King Khalid Foundation as a Board of Trustees Member in 2019 and is engaged in the Foundation’s efforts related to sustainable development and more specifically how climate change issues affect equal opportunities and inclusive growth.

Marisa Parmigiani has been working on CSR at national and international level since 1997. She is currently Head of Sustainability and stakeholder engagement for the Unipol Group, leader insurance company at national level, and Director of Unipolis Foundation. At the start of her career, Marisa consulted on CSR, developing some Italian CSR best practices before working for Coop, leader retail chain in Italy, first as CSR Manager and then as Social Policy Director. She has been General Secretary of Impronta Etica for 15 years, the Italian National Partner Organization of CSR Europe, now she is Chairman of CSRManager Network, representing CSRManager in Italy. She has been a member of many working groups and Advisory Boards, such as SAI, nationally and internationally, over the last twenty years.

Dipl. Ing. Stefan Schurig is the Secretary General of the Foundations Platform F20 (F20). He is an architect by training and has worked for some 20 years with governments and parliamentarians around the globe on sustainability subjects. Before he joined the F20 platform in 2017 he was at the Executive Board of the World Future Council Foundation (WFC) and appointed member of the steering committee of the World Urban Campaign of the United Nations. Stefan also teaches at the Master programme of Urban Planning at the Hamburg University (HCU). Stefan was also a member of the Senior Management Team of Greenpeace Germany until 2007.

Arian Okhovat works as Digital Communications Officer for the Foundations Platform F20 since June 2019. Arian has been supporting the work of the F20 Platform since June 2017. He studies Business Admistration at the University of Hamburg.

Karina Turan works as Project Manager Advocacy and Convening for the Foundations Platform F20 since March 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in International Security Policy from the European School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL) Lille.

Geeske Venance works as Officer Manager for the Foundations Platform F20 since October 2020. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics and China studies from the University of Bremen. Before returning to Germany Geeske worked internationally in various positions in England, China and Canada.

Anna Keremen works as Communications Manager for the Foundations Platform F20 since September 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business and Sustainability from the University of Hamburg and has working experience in the field of sustainability communication and sustainability management.

Since January 2021 Anja Leetz works as a Scout for Development, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and is seconded to F20. Scouts for Development act as development policy advisors, sent to foundations or associations via Engagement Global by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. She is a teacher, photographer and foundation manager by training and has worked for 20 years with civil society organizations and foundations in Berlin, London, Brussels, Stuttgart, engaging on EU and UN environmental policy processes, such as REACH, UNFCCC, SAICM and the Minamata Convention and recently on reforming the German national health system using citizens engagement. Anja will support F20 in addressing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs towards foundations and other stakeholders during the preparation of the Indonesian and Indian G20 presidencies.

Dr. Astrid Skala-Kuhmann is an expert on China, educated as international lawyer, specialized on environmental law, with long term experience in emerging markets and sustainability issues. She presently acts as an independent advisor and consultant on China issues, in particular the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and global partnerships to various clients among them, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Since 2015 she serves as co-dean for the “Zukunftsbrücke” (Sino-German Young Professional Campus) entrusted by the Mercator Foundation and the BMW Foundation since 2016. Between 2015 and 2019 she advised the G20 Engagement Group processes (T20, W20, B20) on various topics during the Turkish, Chinese, German, Argentine and Japanese presidencies. She acted as Co-Chair of the T20 Task Force on Migration from 2016 to 2018.

Alexander works as financial advisor focussing on climate finance. Among others, he is partner at Cooler Future, a mobile solution for climate impact investing. Before setting up his own company in 2019, he worked as director of sustainable investments at Salm-Salm & Partner, a family-run asset manager (convertible bonds, equity and timber). He joined the company in 2017 with the task to set up Germany’s first Paris-aligned equity investment portfolio. Prior to this, Alexander worked for a German faith-based asset owner leading the organisation’s green finance strategy overseeing a total of €1bn in assets. Before that, he co-managed one of the world’s first climate litigation cases against a global utility company (Luciano Lliuya ./. RWE AG case) and co-authored a study on climate-aligned investment criteria, commissioned by the German G7 presidency in 2015. Alexander is a trained financial analyst (DVFA) and holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics.