Hi! I am the founder and managing partner of Yunel, a company with the mission to unfold human potential for positive social change. For over 20 years I have been working on issues related to human development and sustainability; first as a journalist, then as a McKinsey consultant, today as a purpose-driven entrepreneur.
ABOUT ME
-
How do we overcome global challenges like extreme poverty, environmental degradation or climate change?
-
Why do we accept social injustice?
-
What does it take for humans to thrive?
​
For more than 20 years, I have been passionately concerned with questions like these; in fact, ever since I gladly survived an armed robbery in South Africa in 1999. At the time, I was a young journalist working for the German Press Agency in Johannesburg. Less bad than the robbery itself was the fact that it happened in broad daylight on a crowded train, and no one helped.
​
In search of answers and solutions
​
In an attempt to better comprehend the world, I first studied political science, psychology and geography at the University of Hamburg. In 2006, I joined McKinsey & Company to better understand the role of business in society. As a Senior Engagement Manager and member of McKinsey’s Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice, I developed sustainability strategies and social business solutions for public, private, and social sector clients in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
While at McKinsey, I had the chance to go for a PhD at the University of Cologne. My dissertation was the first globally to shed light on "Poverty Reduction through Social Business" in Bangladesh. During my field research, I joined Muhammad Yunus and companies such as Group Danone and Veolia Water in their effort to develop sustainable business solutions for the poor.
​
Yunel's mission is to make happiness work
​
In 2014, I left McKinsey to start my own company Yunel. Yunel combines findings from positive psychology and neuroscience with strategic consulting to transform individuals, teams, and organizations in line with their strategic goals. Most of our work is related to leadership development. The name Yunel pays tribute to Nobel Peace Laureates Muhammad Yunus and Nelson Mandela as inspiring examples of human potential and social entrepreneurship against all odds.
​
To fulfill Yunel's mission, I regularly work for non-profit organizations, including the World Resource Institute, the Green Belt Movement, the Wangari Mathai Foundation, the newly launched "Bauhaus der Erde" and the German Association for Positive Psychology. Since 2011, I also serve the "Karl Kübel Stiftung für Kind und Familie" as a member and vice-chairwoman of the board of trustees.
My Services.
Private individuals.
For individuals, my company Yunel offers high-quality life maps and vision posters. These are artist-drawn visualizations of personal biographies and visions that we co-create with our clients as part of a personal coaching process. More about my work with Yunel can be found here.
Business and non-profit organizations.
In addition, I am a regular speaker, consultant, trainer and moderator for companies and non-profit organizations. Based on my professional experience, I typically cover issues from the following subject areas:
-
Positive Business
-
Positive Leadership
-
Sustainability strategy
-
Social entrepreneurship
-
Purpose and happiness
Example engagements for organizations
-
Keynote on "The Happiness Advantage at Work", CMS Hasche Sigle, 2022
-
Various leadership and team development programs, Johnson & Johnson, since 2020
-
Strategy development and interim management, Bauhaus der Erde gGmbH, since 2020
-
Various "Positive self-leadership" programs, CMS Hasche Sigle, since 2020
-
"How to be a visionary against all odds" workshop, Ashoka Visionary Program, 2022
-
"Skillpreneurs Hackathon" Moderation, N3XT CODER, 2021
-
"Positive leadership for start-ups" program, ZHAW & Büro Züri, 2021
-
"Positive framing" and "Resilience" webcasts, McKinsey & Company, 2021
-
"Emotional agility for executives" webinar series, Johnson & Johnson, 2021
-
"Positive self-leadership in times of crisis" training, SOS Kinderdörfer International, 2020
-
Africa strategy development for the World Resources Institute (WRI), since 2020
-
"Optimism as a Success Factor?", Masterclass at Swiss Economic Forum, 2019
We wanted to go to the moon, so we went there. We achieve what we want to achieve.
If we are not achieving something, it is because we have not put our minds to it.
Prof. Muhammad Yunus