About Media Forward Fund

Martin is a journalist and Founding Director of the Media Forward Fund. Previously, Martin was editor-in-chief of the news organization "Der Standard" in Vienna, deputy editor-in-chief of "Zeit Online" in Berlin, investigative editor at "Die Zeit" and political editor at "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in Munich. As a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, Martin has worked on innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship in media. Martin studied neurobiology and was born in Vienna. Photo: Peter Rigaud

Lisa supports the founding director across a wide range of areas, including strategic development of Media Forward Fund, office management, public and media relations, and advocacy. Previously, she worked for several years as Associate Director at 365 Sherpas, where she advised clients from both the public and private sectors on strategy, concept development, and the implementation of political communication. She studied politics and public administration. Photo: Juliane Herrmann

Anne leads the Media Forward Fund’s entire funding operation and, together with the Founding Director, its strategic framework. In this role, she further develops the Fund’s funding strategy, instruments, and criteria; is responsible for the design and quality assurance of its selection and grantmaking processes; and coordinates monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) across the organization. Prior to that, she has been working for more than four years as a senior consultant at Wider Sense, advising foundations and companies and managing the philanthropic initiative #VertrauenMachtWirkung. Originally from Dresden, she studied law, public administration, and cultural studies in Halle (Saale), Wrocław, and Paris. Photo: Juliane Herrmann

Jascha is responsible for the funding line for Romandy. He supports media organisations and grantees across different funding lines throughout the selection process and during the implementation of their projects. Previously, he worked for five years as an Advocacy Officer at the Civil Liberties Union for Europe in the areas of rule of law and media freedom. Jascha is originally from Brussels and studied political science at UNU-MERIT in Maastricht. Photo: Juliane Herrmann

Jonathan is responsible for the funding line for science and data journalism. He is contact person for applicants and grantees across different funding lines, collaborating with them throughout the selection process and funding phase. Previously, he worked for the Alfred Landecker Foundation for several years, supporting grantees from academia and civil society. Jonathan studied political science, law and history in Munich and Berlin. Photo: private

Katharina develops and supports potential partners and sponsors of the fund. She has many years of experience working for national (Deputy Head of Advertising at DIE ZEIT) and regional titles. She was most recently Chief Product Officer of the SV Group (including Schwäbische Zeitung). Katharina studied Media Management at the Hamburg Media School and was born in Ravensburg. Photo: Juliane Herrmann

Hanna keeps an eye on the budgets for our funding lines. She manages incoming funds and supports media organizations on the administrative side. For grantees, Hanna is the point of contact for all contractual and financial matters related to their grants. Previously, Hanna worked at iac Berlin gGmbH. As a member of the founding team, she was responsible for grants management after helping to establish the organization’s administrative structures. Hanna studied Cultural Management in Lüneburg and Warsaw and initially worked in the cultural sector after completing her studies. Photo: Juliane Herrmann

Julia oversees and reviews the administrative and legal aspects of the Media Forward Fund’s funding processes, and is responsible for contractual agreements with funding partners and funding bodies, as well as for managing public funding and the Upskilling programme. Together with the team, she strengthens MFF’s impact management. She brings more than ten years’ experience in grant management and organisational development within social organisations, and has in-depth knowledge of charity law. Julia studied political science, public law and psychology, and was born in Berlin.

Olga is a former municipal councillor of the City of Geneva (2011-2018). She led two national referendum campaigns, including the package of measures in favor of the media (2022). Since 2021, she has been Secretary General of the CH++ association. At the same time, she is a member of the board of the Swiss media association VMZ and a member of the foundation boards of WePublish and SRG Geneva. Olga lives in Geneva and is our point of contact in French-speaking Switzerland.

Ulrike Teschke served as Commercial Director of the ZEIT Publishing Group for more than ten years and was also responsible for managing Tempus Corporate, the group's corporate publishing unit. In 2017, she became Managing Director of Der Tagesspiegel, which she led until 2024. Originally from Halle, Ulrike advises East German media organizations before and during the application process. Photo: Nassim Rad

Christina leads "Media Forward NRW" – based in Dortmund, she is responsible for upskilling and community building of public-interest media organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia. There, she has been organizing the "MediaCampNRW" since 2019 and has worked on a freelance basis for, among others, Grimme Online Award, Mediennetzwerk.NRW, and Landesanstalt für Medien. Most recently, she was part of the strategy team of the Elbe Valley Alliance, which uses federal funding to promote social innovation in rural regions along the Elbe river. Christina studied journalism in Dortmund and Tartu, including an integrated traineeship at the "Thüringer Allgemeine".

Swiss journalist and television producer, former Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, international strategist in the non-profit sector, influencer, and changemaker. Daccord founded and leads the Edgelands Institute, the first pop-up institute at Harvard University. The trained journalist was, until recently, chairman of the board of directors of the media group that includes the leading local newspaper "Le Temps" in the Romandie region and the newly established digital outlet "Heidi.News."

is the director of Publix, an innovation center for public-interest journalism in Berlin. Previously, she was editor-in-chief of ZEITmagazin and deputy editor-in-chief of ZEIT ONLINE. She served on the “Future Council” of the German States’ Broadcasting Commission, an advisory body on the future of public broadcasting. She has received numerous awards for her work, including Magazine Editor-in-Chief of the Year. Exner was born in Dresden. Photo: Marcus Glahn

Professor and Senior Visiting Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and board member of the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung." As an expert in strategy, innovation, and leadership, she advises leading media houses on digital transformation strategies and implementation, including BBC, CNN, NPR, NRK, SVT, and Schibsted.

Political journalist with extensive experience in video and audio journalism, founder of the video format “Deutschland3000”. Her podcast “Deutschland3000 – ’ne gute Stunde mit Eva Schulz” (NDR) has recorded more than 15 million streams, making it one of Germany’s most successful interview podcasts. Most recently, she traveled through Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg as a reporter for the new ZDF documentary series “Deutschland, warum bist du so?"

Austrian journalist and founder of “Verso”, an AI transformation consultancy in San Francisco, USA. Patrick Swanson helps media organizations, non-profits and business leaders in Europe and the U.S. to develop innovative digital strategies and sustainable business models. His journalism background includes work with the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, where he set up the country's largest social media channels for Zeit im Bild. He also completed the Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. (Photo: JSK Fellowships, Stanford) 

Professor of digital journalism and data journalism at TU Dortmund, she previously held various editorial roles at Der Spiegel, most recently as deputy head of development. From 2017 to 2019, she was part of the Spiegel Online editorial leadership. She is a shareholder of AlgorithmWatch and serves on the board of the investigative journalism network Netzwerk Recherche. In 2016, Medium Magazin named her Science Journalist of the Year. She worked as a data journalist on the investigative teams at Stern magazine and the DPA. She studied journalism and biology at TU Dortmund.

aerospace engineer and, since 2020, Vice President for Entrepreneurship at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In his thesis comparing Stanford University and TUM, he recommended the establishment of a center for entrepreneurship at TUM. This idea led to the founding of UnternehmerTUM in 2002, which has become Europe’s largest center for entrepreneurship and innovation. UnternehmerTUM supports startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers through all stages – from the initial idea to a successful product. Since 2017, he has been a member of the supervisory board of the German Energy Agency.

Chief Health Correspondent at Zeit Online, studied medicine in Hamburg, Leipzig, and Buenos Aires. After early placements at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and Zeit Wissen, he became an editor in the science section of Zeit Online in 2018. In 2021, he co-founded the health section. Since 2025, he has served as Chief Health Correspondent at Zeit Online. In 2020 and 2021, Medium Magazin named him one of the ten best science journalists of the year. In 2023, he received the media award of the German Nutrition Society.