Prof. Dr. Manfred Pohl was born in 1944 in Saarbrucken. In 1965 he completed an apprenticeship with a local bank and afterwards studied history, philosophy, literature, and economics at the University of Saarbrucken, where he received his PhD in history in 1972 with a thesis about the banking history of Saarland. The same year he took the lead of the historical institution of the Deutsche Bank AG, a position he held until 2004. In addition he started lecturing economics, corporate history, and corporate culture at Goethe University Frankfurt and was appointed as honorary professor in 1992. Besides his academic engagement, Prof. Pohl has been forerunner and patron of various cultural initiatives. Manfred Pohl is CEO and founder of the Frankfurter Zukunftsrat. Additionally, he is founder and Deputy Chairman of the European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH). and Institute for Corporate Cultural Affairs. In 2011 he was awarded with the Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse of the Federal Republic Germany for his charitable commitment in the European banking and financial sector.

You can find all his contributions to Spotlight Europe here

 

Federico Ghizzoni is Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit. He was born in Piacenza, Italy on October 14, 1955. He holds a degree in Law from University of Law in Parma and started his career in 1980 at Credito Italiano’s Piacenza Branch. Between 1988 and 1989 he assumed the position of Branch Director in Trieste and continued his career as Director of Seriate Branch. In 1990, Ghizzoni was appointed Deputy General Manager to Credito Italiano’s London Office. After having been appointed General Manager at the Singapore Office of Credito Italiano in 1995, Ghizzoni was Executive Director responsible for Corporate and International Banking from 2000 to 2002, at Bank Pekao S.A, an affiliate of UniCredit Group. In 2003 Ghizzoni moved to Turkey as Executive Board Member at Koç Financial Services and as General Manager at Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi. In July 2007 Ghizzoni was appointed Head of CEE Banking Operations and Deputy CEO at Bank Austria AG. In August 2010 he assumed the position of Deputy CEO and Deputy General Manager of UniCredit. In  September 2010 he assumed his current position. He is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of UniCredit Bank AG in Munich and Member of several  Boards of Directors of international financial institutes. Ghizzoni is also Chairman of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala Association in Milan. Since 2012 he is a Member of the Board of Patrons for European Youth.

You can find all his contributions to Spotlight Europe here

Elena (20) participated in our workshop in Bucharest, Romania, in 2011. At the moment she is a student of Computer Science at University of Bucharest. In the future she would like to become a software engineer. In her free time she likes various forms of entertainment and studying foreign languages.

 

 

For me, Europe is…

…my home, the place of my hopes, of my dreams and of my best wishes. Europe is also the family we, its people, create and the family we belong to.

If you could, what would be the first thing you would change in Europe?

I would like to see a united Europe, a Europe which stands up for itself and for all its diversity, which is why I would have the European countries interact more with each other on a human level in order for them to obtain a better understanding of one another and of their issues. Furthermore, I would like Europe to be more uniform in areas such as health care, education and quality of life.

Activities for the Youth Council:

Member of the Working Group on Education

You can find all her contributions to Spotlight Europe here

Anissa (21) participated in our workshop in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 2011. After finishing high school she started her degree in law at Goethe University in Frankfurt. Upon completion she would like to enter the diplomatic service of Germany. In her free time she spends time with family and friends and enjoys discovering new cultures.

For me, Europe is…

…a strong and fair one for millions and not just for millionaires.

If you could, what would be the first thing you would change in Europe?

I would forbid the privatisation of water. In my opinion there is no place for private sector participation in natural resource management. Water is the livelihood of every creature. On the contrary, Europe should strengthen the public sector to make it work efficiently.

Activities for the Youth Council:

Member of the Working Group on Violence & Crime

You can find all of her contributions to Spotlight Europe here

Heinrich Deichmann was born on November 30, 1962. He is married with two children. After his A-levels and national service he studied at Cologne University’s economic and social sciences faculty and was also present at the lectures of theology, philosophy and history. He graduated as a Diplomkaufmann in business administration in 1988. After finishing his university education, he did a number of internships in shoe retailing and production, in the grocery and textile retail trade to prepare for his involvement in the family business. Since 1989, Heinrich Deichmann has been a managing partner of Deichmann-Schuhe. Since 1999 he is the CEO of the Deichmann Group, Europe’s largest shoe retailer. Next to his involvement in the company, Heinrich Deichmann is also involved in a range of social projects, both in the name of his company and himself. He co-established a relief project in Moldavia and supports projects for the homeless and family assistance in several German cities. His Christian faith provides the framework for his professional and personal conduct. He is a long-standing supporter of “My Europe” and a member of its Board of Patrons for European Youth.

You can find all his contributions to Spotlight Europe here

Hacı Mehmet Boyraz (born in 1993 in Turkey) studies International Relations with Political Science and Public Administration as a double-major student at Gediz University in İzmir. He is mainly interested in the relationship between Turkey and the European Union, African politics, Conflict resolution and Turkish Foreign Policy. Related to his focus areas, he has written many papers and dossiers published by different institutions.

In the past he has participated in the Model European Union in Strasbourg, France; and he was a research assistant at Leeds Beckett University from June to September 2014 with a scholarship of the EU Commission. Hacı is an active writer and columnist on many different magazines and journals.

In his spare time he enjoys reading books, travelling abroad, and volunteering. You can find more information and many of his publications here. All contributions to Spotlight Europe can be accessed via this link.