„Most people know very little about the conditions in the world. I find that very unsettling; this has to change.”
Christian Gruenler
Dr. Christian Gruenler is a political scientist and expert for strategic management for non-profit organizations.
He studied international politics and organizational development at the University of Constance, Germany, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands.
His career initially took him to the United Nations in New York, where he assisted a Professional Officer in the area of natural resources law.
He was then employed for eight years in the international financial industry. First as an underwriter and later as a sales manager, he was responsible for the global business of insuring complex electronic equipment at a subsidiary of Munich Re. He then managed a family office for several years, working as an asset manager and as an entrepreneur on real estate projects in Germany and Spain.
In 1998, Christian Gruenler switched from business to civil society and from then on worked for various non-profit organizations either as a strategy consultant or in management. Until 2012, he was one of the managing directors of SOS Children’s Villages Worldwide and managing director of SOS Global Partner GmbH. SOS Children’s Villages is one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world with projects in over 130 countries around the globe. After 2012, he engaged in consulting assignments and executive management, predominantly in internationally active NGOs. These included projects in the environmental sector, child and youth welfare projects of wealthy philanthropists, the field of medical research, academic education in Africa, as well as in the cultural sector. These organizations were primarily based in Germany, but also in the USA, Canada, Israel and China, among others.
Christian Gruenler is married and has two daughters.