Board of Directors & Board of Trustees
the foundation
BOARD
Kai Baetge
- Home4Education Chairman of the Board
- Managing Director at Baetge & Partner GmbH, Ascheberg
- Active for over 25 years as an entrepreneur and management consultant (Oliver Wyman, McKinsey, EY, etc.), working across sectors in Europe, North America and the Middle and Far East.
- Mission Statement: “Say what you do and do what you say.”
“I am delighted to be able to continue and develop my father’s work and commitment to the Maasai in Africa at the Foundation.”
Alexander Prinz
- Home4Education
(Vice Chairman of the Executive Board) - Lawyer, shareholder and managing director of several companies, consulting and management of US and European companies
- Voluntary activities in various associations, member of the council of the town of Telgte (2009-2014), managing director of the foundation “Dialogue of the Generations” (2007-2014)
- Guiding principle: “Being able to listen is half the battle”.
“I am impressed by what Jörg Baetge and his friends from the Lions have created in Ilkeek Aare over the last few years and it is a pleasure to be able to participate in the maintenance and further expansion of the school.”
Roland Harting
- Home4Education Board Member (Infrastructure and Technology)
- Ing. Civil Engineering
- Since 2009 employed at Statkraft, a Norwegian energy company, in various management functions.
- Motto: “Words and bridges connect, silence and walls divide.
“For some time now, I have been looking for a way to make a meaningful social commitment as an engineer. I’m therefore delighted to now be able to get involved in our foundation and thus make a very tangible contribution.”
Astrid Bayer
- Home4Education Board Member (Marketing and Communication)
- As a business graduate, many years of experience in various functions in the marketing department of Provinzial.
- Since 2018 sustainability officer of Provinzial Holding AG.
- Guiding principle “Education is the most powerful thing we can use to change the world.” (Nelson Mandela)
“The task at the Jörg Baetge Foundation is responsibility, challenge and fulfillment in equal measure. I am happy to contribute to the goals of Home4Education with commitment and passion.”
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joerg Baetge
Home4Education Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Jörg Baetge is the main benefactor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the “Home4Education” Foundation.
Ten years ago, during a guest lectureship at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Prof. Baetge realized that the semi-nomadic Maasai children in Narok County had little opportunity to attend school year-round and were thus excluded from further educational opportunities.
Jörg Baetge was determined, with the help of the Lions organization and many private donors, to create a boarding school for the Maasai children. Today, IACS, which was created through his initiative, has 460 boarding places as well as classroom capacity for more than an additional 250 day students, providing children with the opportunity to successfully complete secondary school and pursue post-secondary educational opportunities.
Jörg Baetge is a business economist and has 48 years of experience as a recognized scientist and entrepreneur. He has been a full professor of business administration since 1972; in 2002 he became professor emeritus. He worked as a professor at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, at the University of Vienna and at the Westfälische Wilhelms University in Münster.
He has been an honorary professor at the University of Vienna since 1979, was a visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi in 2011, and at Maasai Mara University in Narok in 2018. In 1997, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the European Business School. He has been a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences since 1996.
In his work as a researcher, he maintained regular exchanges between theory and practice. He conducted numerous collaborative research projects with commercial companies. He founded Baetge & Partner GmbH & Co KG in 1995. This company developed algorithms for measuring credit risks using mathematical-statistical methods. The company also established one of the first “data-driven” rating models (Baetge balance sheet rating).
In addition, Jörg Baetge worked as a freelance consultant for large German and European companies. He was a judicial expert witness in several legal disputes on issues of business valuation and damages.
“His mottos are “Adopt, adapt, improve!” (as a former round-tabler) and “If there is a need, there is a Lion!” (as an active Lions member).”
Dr. Reimund Goebel
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- Over 30 years with thyssenkrupp AG in Duisburg and Essen (including Head of Accounting, Divisional Board Member, Head of Corporate Auditing)
- Mission Statement: “No one is useless in this world who makes another’s burden lighter”.
“I have been following the IACS project with great interest for years. Being involved in the foundation now gives me the opportunity to be actively involved in the further development of the project and beyond, and to contribute my experience from other foundations.”
Sabine Hakvoort
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- Entrepreneur, life change coach, translator, Münster and Munich. Many years of experience in Europe, Asia and North America
- Guiding principle: “What we do today decides what the world will look like tomorrow.” (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach)
“For me, education is the cornerstone of self-reliance and social stability. The Home4Education Foundation has a lot of potential for developing and supporting education projects in Kenya. Being involved in this is a matter of the heart for me.”
Theo Hermann
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- After an apprenticeship as a wholesale merchant and subsequent studies leading to the degree of Dipl.-Kfm. and Dipl.-HDL in 1979, he worked for sixteen years in the coatings industry (BASF and PPG). This was followed by four years in the technical film industry.
- He has been self-employed since 1998 and is still the managing director of the family business group “AMG Recruiting” in Berlin. and as a shareholder.
- Since the beginning of the activities more than ten years ago in Kenya within the IACS on the edge of the Massai Mara, he accompanies Jörg Baetge to all activities of the Massai school project.
- Most of the trips to the country, with the corresponding ongoing talks and negotiations on the ground, the two have completed together.
- Together with Jörg Baetge and Robert Gareißen, he has also been the project manager of the Lions Club Münster Landois, he has been responsible for many important activities at the IACS for years.
“I am very proud of this project and look forward to continuing to contribute my extensive experience as part of the new H4E Foundation as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees.”
Bernward Jacobs
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- Worked for more than 15 years as in-house counsel and then as head of department in a central association of independent welfare organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia. Afterwards Sole director of a NPO – company with hospital and support structures for people with disabilities.
- Many years of commitment on the board of the Bundesfachverband Caritas Behindertenhilfe und Psychiatrie e.V.. (CBP). Currently still involved there as head of the working group: Assistive and digital participation.
- Variously engaged as an organizer and lecturer in further education and training. Today, volunteers on several supervisory boards of NPO companies as well as on association boards.
- I have followed Jörg Baetge’s commitment to the IACS project with great admiration for many years and am pleased with the successes and the continuation by the foundation. As chairman of the sponsoring association of the Lions Club Münster-Landois (through which many financial transactions have been handled so far), I was involved in the project. I am continuing this tradition at the Foundation.
“Trust people, give them responsibility, boost their self-esteem, and encourage their curiosity and creativity.“
Albert Prange
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- Presiding Judge at the Administrative Court of Münster
- Guiding principle: “Carpe diem
“Since a stay with the Maasais in the late 1980s, their sustained support, especially in the area of education, has been a matter close to my heart.”
Cheryl Rathan-Schmitz
- Home4Education Member of the Board of Trustees
- BS Finance; MBA, Stanford University
- Management consultant (BCG, zeb) and asset manager (family office) in Münster. Many years of professional and life experience in the USA, Asia, Africa and Europe.
- Guiding principle: “Where there is a will, there is a way”.
“It has always been my dream to work for the education of disadvantaged girls and women in developing countries.
At Home4Education, I have the opportunity to improve the future prospects of Maasai girls.”