Board of Trustees of the WIFU Foundation

Prof. Dr. Tom A. Rüsen is the Managing Director of the non-profit WIFU Foundation, which he founded in 2009. Until 2024, for over 16 years, he headed the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) at Witten/Herdecke University.

In 2015, Prof. Dr. Rüsen was appointed as an honorary professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Witten/Herdecke. In 2017, he was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2024, he took on a mandate on the Board of the International Family Business Research Academy (IFERA). In 2025, he was appointed to the Leadership Team of the International Research Center for Centennial Management (ICC) in Tokyo.

The main focus of his research, teaching, and publishing activities lies in the analysis of conflict and crisis dynamics in entrepreneurial families and family businesses, as well as in the development of practical solutions for establishing longevity and resilience structures within entrepreneurial families.

In his coaching and consulting work, Prof. Dr. Rüsen supports succession planning, conflict and crisis situations, as well as the development of family strategies and internal family (self-)management systems. Furthermore, he designs and teaches open and in-house programmes for developing shareholder competence in business-owning families.
He is a member of the Commission of the German Corporate Governance Code for Family Businesses, as well as the editorial board of the Journal for Family Businesses and Strategy.

In 2020 and 2022, Family Capital named him among the Top 100 Family Influencers worldwide in the „Academics“ category. In 2024, Family Capital selected him as one of the 25 leading global scholars in the field of family business.

Professor Dr. Rüsen is married and the father of five children.

Seit 2009 ist Sabrina Maier als Assistentin des Vorstands der WIFU-Stiftung tätig. Sie hat an der Universität Witten/Herdecke ihre Ausbildung zur Bürokauffrau absolviert. Im Anschluss an ihre Berufsausbildung hat sie von 2008 bis 2009 im Präsidium der Universität und am Institut für Corporate Governance (ICG) gearbeitet.

Tanja Steinbrecher has been working at the WIFU Foundation as Assistant to the Managing Board since 2022 and as a Funding Officer since 2025.

In ihrer Funktion als Assistentin unterstützt sie den geschäftsführenden Vorstand bei der strategischen und operativen Steuerung der Stiftung. Die Schwerpunkte ihrer Unterstützung liegen in den Bereichen Planung, Berichtswesen, Fundraising-Kampagnen sowie Wissensvermittlung und -verbreitung. Darüber hinaus wirkt sie in strategischen Projekten zur Weiterentwicklung der Stiftung und in Change-Prozessen mit. In ihrer Funktion als Förderreferentin verantwortet sie den Förderprozess von der inhaltlichen Prüfung und Bewertung von Anträgen über die Betreuung der Fördermittelempfänger bis zum Fördermittelcontrolling.

Ms Steinbrecher completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Management and Economics at Ruhr University Bochum. During her studies, she worked as a student assistant and research assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund and at an institute at the Technical University of Dortmund.

Sandra Becker has been part of the WIFU Foundation since 2021 and has led the Foundation's event management as Team Leader since 2025.

In her role, she is responsible for the strategic direction, as well as the planning and implementation of the WIFU Foundation's event management. Her tasks include, in particular, the conception, organisation, and ongoing support of the WIFU Foundation's central event formats, including WIFU@MidGen and the WIFU Online Forum. She is responsible for both the content-related and organisational planning, as well as the smooth execution of these formats in close coordination with the Executive Board and the speakers. As team leader, she coordinates the event management team and works closely with internal and external partners.

Zuvor war Sandra Becker bei einem Unternehmens-Netzwerk der Kreislaufwirtschaft für die Organisation von Veranstaltungen sowie das Marketing zuständig. Zudem fungierte sie als kompetente Ansprechpartnerin für dessen Mitglieder und Interessierte. Ihr Studium der Betriebswirtschaftslehre absolvierte sie an der FH Dortmund. Davor hat sie eine Ausbildung zur Veranstaltungskauffrau in einer Full-Service-Event-Agentur abgeschlossen.

Since 2024, Dr. Ruth Orenstrat has been responsible for the internal and external communication management and marketing of the WIFU Foundation as Head of Science Communication. In addition, she is involved as a co-author in the creation of practice-oriented studies. From 2019 to 2023, she worked as an institute coordinator with comparable responsibilities for the Witten Institute for Family Business. Since June 2023, she has been employed full-time at the WIFU Foundation.

Following her commercial apprenticeship, Ruth Orenstrat studied Economics at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Dublin Institute of Technology. Her main areas of study were Marketing and European Economics. After successfully completing her degree as a Diplom-Ökonomin, Ruth Orenstrat worked for several years as a research assistant at the Chair of Business Administration, specializing in Marketing, at the FernUniversität in Hagen. There, she obtained her doctorate on the topic of „Brand Imitations in Food Retailing“. Later, she was entrusted with the management of an EU sub-project as a research assistant at the Institute of Industrial Engineering and Management (IAW) at the Ruhr University Bochum.

Seit 2023 ist Monika Nadler als Publikationskoordinatorin der WIFU-Stiftung zuständig für die Produktion praxisbezogener Veröffentlichungen und die Entwicklung neuer Formate. Zuvor war sie fünf Jahre in gleicher Funktion am Wittener Institut für Familienunternehmen (WIFU) angestellt. Freiberuflich tätig ist Monika Nadler zudem in der Unternehmenskommunikation und als „proposal writer“ für EU-Projektanträge. Sie hat eine Zusatzqualifikation in EU-Fundraising und EU-Projektmanagement erworben und war zuvor als Blattmacherin und Chefredakteurin im Corporate Publishing tätig. Sie hat in Frankfurt/Main und Hamburg Philosophie, Linguistik und Wissenschaftsgeschichte studiert.

Stephanie Engelmann has been working as a Research Manager at the WIFU Foundation since 2025. Her key responsibilities include the conceptualisation and implementation of practice-relevant research projects and the continuous transfer of knowledge within the framework of the theory-practice dialogue. In doing so, she combines established scientific methods with innovative, AI-supported approaches to systematically analyse, structure, and make research findings usable for practical application.

After completing her Master's degree in Management and Economics, she worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Service Management and Trade at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her research focused on the customer-side use and perception of digital services, as well as value creation processes in service ecosystems in the sense of Service-Dominant Logic, particularly with regard to Value-in-Use and Value Co-Creation. Within the scope of the BMBF-funded SmartMarket² project, she researched location-based services for revitalising city centres and investigated how interactive shopping experiences and digital technologies can contribute to networking local retailers and increasing the attractiveness of city centres. Furthermore, she was involved in the digitalisation of teaching and supervised students within the framework of research seminars and final theses.

Kathrin Pijur ist seit 2022 als Multimedia Managerin an der WIFU-Stiftung für die Erstellung von Content und unsere Social-Media-Aktivitäten zuständig. 2021 hat sie eine Weiterbildung zur Social-Media-Managerin absolviert, wo sie ihr Wissen erweitern und festigen konnte. Zuvor hat Frau Pijur in Wittener Unternehmen als Mediengestalterin gearbeitet, wo sie sich mit dem Aufbau von Social-Media-Kanälen beschäftigte und ihren Schwerpunkten „Fotografie“ und „digitale Bildbearbeitung“ nachging.

Irka Glock has been working as a Content Manager in Online Marketing at the WIFU Foundation since 2025. In this role, she shapes the foundation's digital communication, with a focus on LinkedIn and the website.

Irka Glock previously worked for a Dortmund-based company, where she was responsible for social media and content management. Additionally, she worked as an executive assistant, contributing to strategic communication processes and internal process optimisation.

She completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Media and Cultural Studies.

Alexander Daitche has been working as an event manager at the WIFU Foundation since 2025. In this role, he is responsible for the organisational and content-related implementation of the foundation's events. His responsibilities include all aspects of event planning, from preparation and on-site coordination to follow-up. He also supports the executive board in maintaining contact with existing funding partners and participates in strategic measures to acquire new funding.

Before joining the WIFU Foundation, Alexander Daitche worked in event management for an agency that specialised in international trade and industry exhibitions. As part of his academic career, he completed a Master's degree in English Studies with a focus on event management.

Nadine Isabelle Heckmann has been working as an Events Project Manager at the WIFU Foundation since 2025. In this role, she is responsible for the organisational and content-related implementation of the Foundation's events. Her remit includes all aspects of event planning – from preparation and on-site coordination to post-event follow-up. She also supports the Executive Board in nurturing existing funding partnerships and contributes to strategic measures for acquiring new funding.

Before joining the WIFU Foundation, Nadine Isabelle Heckmann spent several years in event management and marketing at a further education institution specialising in the initial and ongoing training of legal professionals. She completed her studies in Business Administration with a focus on Event Management at DHBW Mannheim.