Board of Trustees, foundation CEO and WIFU foundation team members

Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp
Chair of the Board of Trustees at the WIFU Foundation, Chair of the Family Council and the Executive Board of E. Merck KG

A network of trust between family businesses has developed within the WIFU Foundation’s circle of supporters where participants’ questions and issues can be discussed between equals openly, respectfully and competently. The Foundation’s exclusive events offer a multitude of problem-solving approaches and experiences from which every family can learn something new. In my opinion, this network is unique and offers a fantastic opportunity for every business family to learn, make valuable new contacts and exchange experiences with like-minded colleagues.

Christiane Dethleffsen
Chair of the Business Family Committee at HDGF Familienholding GmbH & Co. KG

The WIFU Foundation enables business families to develop and change by studying their differences and discussing them. Our network dialogue, based on openness and trust, engenders an atmosphere of multiple perspectives, creates its own dynamics and may lead to unique solutions.

Prof. Rainer Kirchdörfer
Lawyer, Partner at Hennerkes, Kirchdörfer & Lorz

Family businesses are as diverse and complex as life itself. Only those who understand the family as well as the business and are able to give both entities a structure will know how to negotiate the contradictions of the two systems. The WIFU Foundation constantly manages to navigate this opaque environment of questions and problems. As a result of their work, many business families and their companions now find themselves on safer ground.

Wilfried Neuhaus-Galladé
Managing partner at J. D. Neuhaus GmbH & Co. KG

While working with the WIFU Foundation, I realised that things are developed collaboratively into solutions that are highly individualised. There is no template but instead, a highly personalised and case-specific solution tailored to each family.

Diana Weßling
Shareholder and representative of the family business at WESSLING GmbH

The WIFU Foundation is a unique network of family businesses and business families in which individual values, concepts and experiences are shared and reflected on openly, with a focus on learning from one another. At their events, I especially value their framework of maintaining a trusting and authentic atmosphere among like-minded people. I am constantly impressed by their new formats and innovative training methods. The knowledge I have gained here, created in exchange formats through mutual openness, is an infinitely great treasure for me.