Personal & Mission Statement
Birgit first learnt about GAHF in 2013, and returned in September 2023 when she also attended the Annual Gala. In both instances, she was able to support the foundation’s fundraising efforts through the donation of several hotel vouchers for a leading German hotel chain. The insights and impressions and the conversations she had with individual members, sparked her interest to work with and contribute to the GAHF, in particular around Membership Growth and Partnerships/Corporate Sponsors. She will utilize her professional background in sales for companies rooted in Germany, which entails relationships and partnerships with corporations, touristic agencies and organizations, and her expertise in developing such relationships, to add value to the foundation and contribute to its goal to grow.
Birgit was born in Frankfurt, Germany and grew up in the vicinity, spending her teenage years in Hannover. She pursued a career in the hotel industry and was certified as a Hotelfachfrau (hotel business expert), with practical training at the well-known Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch by Frankfurt. It was Kempinski’s offer of a position, that brought her to the US in my mid-twenties. Since then, she has lived in the US, and became a dual citizen, but always maintained strong ties with Germany, which came quite easily and naturally due to two of her employers having been based in Germany. She stayed loyal to the hotel industry all these years, with the focus being primarily in Global Sales and Marketing in North-America and over the past 10+ years also in several other countries in EMEA. After Kempinski, she held a role at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and then began a 23-year journey with Steigenberger Hotels GmbH, while living in the New York Tri-state area. Her responsibilities were essentially about growth – growth of revenue and brand awareness – but at the core of it, it was always about people – about relationships with external/internal stakeholders – clients, partners, and colleagues/team members. Increasing brand awareness through resourcefully establishing supportive cooperations with industry-related organizations was a fruitful path in her previous roles and a similar approach will be one of her efforts for the GAHF. She is a connector, solution-finder (focusing on win-win) and she likes to think outside the box to come up with new ideas and solutions. She will apply those abilities in her board role and help GAHF grow its footprint!