Team

Felicitas von Peter is Founder and Managing Partner of Active Philanthropy, a platform for families and individuals interested or already engaged in philanthropy. Furthermore she is Managing Director of Beyond Philanthropy, a 100% subsidiary of Active Philanthropy.  From 1998 until summer 2006, Felicitas worked at the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany), one of the largest operating foundations in Europe. Between 1998 and 2002 she ran the Foundation's international projects in Media and Education, and coordinated the set-up of the Foundation office in New York. In 2002, Felicitas joined the Philanthropy and Foundations Division of Bertelsmann where she was responsible for conceptualizing and running the Foundation's national and international donor education programmes. She also co-chaired the international donor education programme "The Philanthropy Workshop" (in co-operation with the Rockefeller Foundation).  

Felicitas holds a Ph.D. in History from Cambridge University and in 2002 was a Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy at City University New York.  

Felicitas von Peter is a Young Global Leaders (YGL) of the World Economic Forum. 

vonpeter(at)activephilanthropy.org

Michael is Managing Partner at Active Philanthropy and Maging Director at Beyond Philanthropy, a 100% subsidiary of Active Philanthropy. From fall 2006 until end of 2007 he worked for the German Bertelsmann Foundation as Program Director of the Carl Bertelsmann Prize 2007 "Civic Engagement as an Educational Goal". Michael joined the Bertelsmann Foundation in 2001, first as director of programs in the field of democracy, human rights and tolerance education, and in 2005 he joined the office of the board of the Bertelsmann Foundation as a facilitator and strategy advisor. From 1998 until 2000 Michael worked as intercultural counsellor and programme director for the German Youth For Understanding Committee e.V. (YFU) in Hamburg - a leading non-profit long-term youth exchange organisation.  

Michael holds a Masters in North American Studies and Anthropology from the University of Bonn. He was instructor for German language and media at Oxford University and is a certified communications trainer, facilitator and mediator.

Michael was till 2008 a member of the board of YFU Germany. Since 2008 Michael is a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation "Schüler helfen Leben". It is the foundation of the student run charity with the same name that raises money through a national service day for youth projects on the Balkans. Since 2012 Michael is a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation "Transparency Deutschland Stiftung".

alberg-seberich(at)activephilanthropy.org

Lea joined Active Philanthropy in May 2010. She is mainly responsible for Active Philanthropy's expeditions and various other projects.

Lea studied Political Science and Law in Hamburg and London. Prior to joining Active Philanthropy, Lea worked in Cambodia. She worked for the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) as a consultant to the local cooperation partner Committee to Promote Women in Politics (CPWP). During and after her studies, Lea gained experiences while working for the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies and at the online department of the German newspaper die ZEIT.

As a volunteer, Lea has worked with Burmese migrant workers in Thailand and most recently helped with the preparation of the “Gute Geschäfte” marketplace in Hamburg.

buck(at)activephilanthropy.org

Gabriele joined Active Philanthropy in January 2007, and works on the Forum's toolbox, its workshops and field expeditions.  

Prior to joining the Forum, Gaby was with the Bertelsmann Foundation for seven years, first as Programme Assistant in the Event Management Department, and from 2003 as Manager in the Foundations and Philanthropy Division, where she ran the Foundation’s national and international donor programmes together with Felicitas von Peter. In addition, she worked on a national study on German donors ("StifterStudie"). In early 2006 she took over the Project Management of "Kinder.Stiften.Zukunft", a platform established by the Bertelsmann Foundation for connecting foundations and NGO's working in the area of children and youth.  

From 1994 to 1999 Gabriele worked for different customer relationship departments within the Bertelsmann Corporation. She studied Economics in Worms.  

stoermann(at)activephilanthropy.org