Block ID: #section–text-block_5de6435c1cd74

Team Freiburg

Our charity is based in Freiburg im Breisgau. Nine permanent employees (some part-time), are responsible for the management, development and coordination of our aid projects, fundraising, communication and donor support.

Block ID: #section–image-in-container-block_5df381b192e00

Ulrike Claassens, Philip Hehn, Femke van Praagh, Stefan Rivald, Andrea Weiberg, Alexander Gross, Nicole Reinbold (left to right, missing: Stefanie Huter, Veronika Mainka)

Block ID: #section–team-cards-block_5e11f6860f2aa

Your contacts

Alexander Gross

Chairman of the board
alexander.gross@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-18

Andrea Weiberg

Managing director
andrea.weiberg@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-15

Ulrike Claassens

Donor communications / project supervision
ulrike.claassens@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-11

Philip Hehn

Project assistant
philip.hehn@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-0

Stefanie Huter

Project management Latinamerica
stefanie.huter@spaltkinder.org

Veronika Mainka

Institutional donors
veronika.mainka@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-17

Femke van Praagh

Fundraising
femke.van.praagh@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-13

Nicole Reinbold

Institutional donors
nicole.reinbold@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-14

Stefan Rivald

Project development
stefan.rivald@spaltkinder.org
+49 761 137976-0

Block ID: #section–team-cards-block_5de648163206e

Association organs

Board

The Executive Board of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe consists of four members: Alexander Gross as Chairman of the Board and Andrea Weiberg as Managing Director are appointed by the General assembly of the association members as the operational Board as per Section 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB). Together with the two honorary board members, Prof. Dr. med. Frank Feyerherd and Thomas Schneider, they form the overall board.

Prof. Dr. Frank Feyerherd (pro bono member of the board)

Frank Feyerherd was an anesthetist at the Greifswald University Clinic until his retirement and now works in a private clinic. He led our Cameroon project in Ngaoundéré for over ten years. As an anesthetist, the improvement of the anesthetic conditions and thus the safety of the surgeries are of particular concern to him.

Thomas Schneider (pro bono member of the board)

For entrepreneur and master tanner Thomas Schneider, corporate social responsibility is a personal obligation. As the founder ISA TanTec, a group of tanneries with locations in China, Vietnam, the USA and Italy, he advocates for environmentally friendly processes in leather processing. He has been a member of the DCKH board since 2018.

Alexander Gross (Chairman of the board)

Alexander Gross, a founding member of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe, manages the association’s operations in full-time in addition to his board work. The former Bundesliga professional ice hockey player studied sociology, education and politics in Freiburg. He started his professional career in Switzerland, where among other things he advised non-profit organizations.

Andrea Weiberg (Managing director)

Before joining the DCKH team in 2018, Andrea Weiberg, a business administration graduate with a focus on marketing, had worked at various companies and advertising agencies. Looking for meaningful work, she found her way to Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe and has since been responsible for raising the funds that let us help “our” cleft children. She was appointed Executive director effective August 1, 2021.

Block ID: #section–team-circles-block_5de65df28b848

Auditors

Ute Henninger-Sehling and Dr. Christian Rüsch were elected as the association’s auditors for a three-year term lasting until the 2023 general assembly. The auditors supervise the board financially and exercise control over the association’s asset management.

Ute Henninger-Sehling

Economist

Dr. Christian Rüsch

Economist and tax advisor

Block ID: #section–team-circles-block_5de6683d8b84c

Board of Trustees

The board of trustees of Deutsches Cleft Kinderhilfe e. V. assists the board with their specialist medical expertise. The six volunteer members have extensive experience in the field of cleft lip and palate treatment and are specialists in medical disciplines relevant to the treatment of cleft.

Dr. Dr. Oliver Blume

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon and dentist

Dr. Ulrike Lamlé

Specialist in ENT and General Medicine

Prof. Dr. Dr. Götz Ehmann

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon and plastic surgeon

Prof. Dr. Dr. Jürgen Dieckmann

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon and dentist

Gunther Au-Balbach

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon

Dr. Jos van den Hoek

Dentist and orthodontist

Block ID: #section–text-block_5de6698c8b851

Extract from the charter

Implementation and support of medical aid projects for the treatment of patients with cleft lip and palate in […] close cooperation with local doctors and therapists
Implementation and support of measures to improve awareness in the population
Implementation and support of training, further education and specialization measures […]
Technical, organizational and financial support for the establishment of a suitable technical infrastructure […]
Assumption of costs for free or inexpensive treatments for needy patients with cleft lip and palate, including […] aftercare, especially for children and adolescents
Strengthening of the general interest in working with and with cleft patients

You can download the complete charter here (only availabe in German).

Block ID: #section–text-block_5e07467b0f121

Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe Foundation

Help and heal sustainably – that is the motto of the Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe Foundation, which supports selected projects of our charity. The foundation was established by the Stuttgart-based oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Dr. med. Heinz Lübbe, who was the Chairman of the board of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe e.V. from 2005 until his death in September 2015.

Block ID: #section–text-image-right-block_5e0746360f120

Heinz Lübbe was not only an excellent doctor – he was also a visionary and worked as an energetic manager for the charity. He was committed to providing cleft children in developing countries with qualified and comprehensive treatment. The establishment of the foundation was his last major initiative, which he initiated despite a serious illness.

Block ID: #section–text-block_5de66b6b991bd

Partner associations “D-A-CH”

Therwil and Dornbirn – our two partner associations in Switzerland and Austria are pursuing a great goal with us: to give children with cleft lip and palate a chance in life. Our Austrian partner association was only established late last year under the name Austrian Cleft Children’s Aid and is currently still organizing itself. Further information will follow shortly.

In cooperation with Swiss doctors, the board and employees of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe founded a partner association in Switzerland in 2008. The Swiss Aid Society for Cleft Children (Schweizer Hilfe für Spaltkinder, SHfS), based in Therwil near Basel, has funded more than 200 operations in our Indian treatment centers every year – since December 2013. The Swiss team works on an unpaid, pro bono basis.

Our Austrian partner association, the Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe, was founded in cooperation with our supporter Amann Girrbach AG from Dornbirn in Vorarlberg. The association was founded in late 2019 and is based in Dornbirn. Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe funds operations for cleft children in our projects in India and Bangladesh.