Fairness has always played an essential role in my life. At 16, I made the most important decision in my life and quit school. Despite this, I was given a fair chance on the job market, and although I returned to school shortly after, this experience stayed with me. Ever since, I’m an advocate for diverse teams, to equip everyone with equal opportunities to develop personally and professionally.I started my professional career at General Electric, which was a great learning experience. Up to this day, many of my decisions are shaped by what I picked up during those years. My professional path was also defined by the mentors I met along the way, especially in my roles at TE Connectivity. Today, I still turn to mentors for advice and appreciate their input.In 2017, I joined Haniel as a Member of the Management Board and CEO of its portfolio company CWS. Taking on a role is about developing, and becoming CEO of Haniel in 2019 represented an exciting challenge for me at a rapidly transforming company, led by strong family values. Part of my mission has since been to shift attention and pride from the past to a new way of doing business in the 21st century – which is now already widely known as “enkelfähig” (lit. “for future generations”).enkelfähig is about creating value for present and future generations. It’s about performing through sustainability to benefit people, the planet and societal progress. When you provide value to society, you will be successful as a business, and not the other way around.What we established at Haniel was from the start designed to go far beyond company walls. To have large-scale impact, we therefore need initiatives such as the enkelfähig Movement of likeminded entrepreneurs, the enkelfähig Summit, and “Urban Zero” – a world’s first aiming to make Duisburg-Ruhrort an environmentally neutral urban district.I look forward to continuing to push these efforts. Because enkelfähig stays. As an attitude and a mission – beyond industry, generation, or job description.