Personal & Mission Statement
As a new board member at GAHF, one of my goals will be supporting the growth, programming, and fundraising of the organization. I also hope to bring my perspective from the midwest to help advise the board and executive director on recruiting wider audiences, including from younger demographics, and contributing to innovative programs where possible. With over eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including at a leading regional German American center, I look forward to bringing my expertise in nonprofit management to support the board’s financial stewardship and strategic planning.
Originally from Duluth, Minn., I began a lifelong study of German language and culture in a high school German class. As a student, I was a recipient of an AATG scholarship to visit Nuremberg and Berlin for my first international exchange experience. This inspired me to study History and German at Grinnell College, and focus on German reunification and politics during a semester at the Freie Universitat Berlin.
After college, I returned to Germany, this time to the University of Rostock, as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow in the Tutorenprogramm, to share American culture and language with university students. I then spent foundational professional years at the Atlantik-Brücke in Berlin before obtaining my master’s degree in international affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. At Atlantik-Brücke, Erin organized German-American Young Leaders Conferences, transatlantic speakers fora, and study trips to Germany for American social studies teachers and journalists.
After graduate school, I entered the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer with fluent German, but my eight years as a diplomat took me to Kabul, Afghanistan (where I visited the German provincial reconstruction team in Mazar-Sharif); Muscat, Oman; Baghdad, Iraq, and Washington, DC. I later moved to Minneapolis with my family to transition to nonprofit work, serving in leadership positions at the Germanic-American Institute in St. Paul, Minn. and now as Program Director at Global Minnesota. I look forward to bringing my nonprofit and international affairs acumen to contribute to the GAHF’s governance and mission.