Angela De Giacomo

00:00:02:06 – 00:00:28:29
Claudia
Ta-Da! Episode 50 of Shift Happens. What a journey. I can’t believe it! Wow. To every one of the 50 women who trusted me with her story. Thank you so very much. You actually carried me through more than you know. And more that I knew. And to everyone listening, whatever your own and chosen shift has been or still is.

00:00:29:02 – 00:01:01:13
Claudia
I hope these conversations remind you that you’re allowed to trust yourself, lean on the people who love you, and keep living forward. When I started this podcast, I really wanted to basically amplify women’s voices and collect women’s stories. What are shifts to them? What did they learn? Is it the time afterwards that counts most? Is there a return to what was before?

00:01:01:15 – 00:01:21:15
Claudia
This has all been really, really so exciting and insightful and I’m grateful and I hope we will spend much more time together in this space.

00:01:21:18 – 00:01:43:13
Angela
You always see these young people, young adults, and some of them have amazing opportunities and some don’t. One thing that is always limiting us, if we don’t have access to education, books or mentors, is that you cannot think what you haven’t seen or someone has taught you. And it didn’t matter whether I saw it in Germany or abroad.

00:01:43:15 – 00:02:04:13
Angela
In India, of course, to see many more young people who, if they were in the right environment and born in the right circles and under the right circumstances, they would go places. And you know that because you see the curiosity, you see the hunger. But you also see the fact that reality kicks in and they most likely won’t have that opportunity.

00:02:04:15 – 00:02:23:00
Angela
In Germany, I felt it is much more realistic for me to do at least a small bit of my portion to support some young adults on their growth path and their career paths.

00:02:23:03 – 00:02:54:21
Claudia
Hello and welcome back to Shift Happens. Today I’m in conversation with Angela De Giacomo. Angela is the founder of Wonder Nova, a nonprofit in Germany that puts teenagers face to face with professional role models across every field imaginable, from law and science to the arts and skills, trades, finance and economics. But what I love about this is not just exposure for exposure sake.

00:02:54:23 – 00:03:26:05
Claudia
It’s about handing driven kids the connections and confidence to go build their own path, whatever that looks like for them. Angela also gets real about how close the organization came to shutting down in 2023, and to what it took to turn that around.

00:03:26:07 – 00:03:51:04
Claudia
So hello, Angela. Did Giacomo. Welcome to Shift Happens and thank you so much for your time. I know you have a lot of things going on and you are juggling a lot of balls as usual, but now we are here and that’s great. And, we have met before a couple of times, and you have been to Berlin as a guest in my salon and also in Zurich.

00:03:51:04 – 00:04:31:13
Claudia
And at that time you spoke about your book, The Venture Capital Playbook, which became already in a very short time, a very important and meaningful guide for wealthy people and family offices to how to to think about venture capital and their investments and so on. But today we are focusing, of course, a major shift in your life pivotal moment that you are sharing with us, but also because your part of the season where I am speaking to women that are creating spaces for others to support them, to guide them, to inspire them and to have their back.

00:04:31:15 – 00:04:40:21
Claudia
But first we will start with some questions. Still are sparkling. Sparkling apples or oranges?

00:04:40:24 – 00:04:42:09
Angela
Oranges.

00:04:42:11 – 00:04:44:24
Claudia
Speed. Boat or sailboat?

00:04:44:26 – 00:04:47:00
Angela
Sailboat.

00:04:47:03 – 00:04:49:08
Claudia
What made you laugh this week?

00:04:49:10 – 00:04:51:28
Angela
You.

00:04:52:00 – 00:05:00:25
Claudia
Good!

00:05:00:27 – 00:05:31:12
Claudia
So you are Angela Di Giacomo. You have an Italian name. You are originally from Italy. You grew up in Germany and Stuttgart and you said that you’ve always been curious about numbers and curious about the world. And how did this curiosity manifest and gave you then the the guts and the passion, you know, and energy to go out and pursue this amazing international career that you have?

00:05:31:15 – 00:05:42:17
Angela
Yeah. Where should I start? I mean, you said so many things. And first of all, thank you for having me here. I’ve been following your podcast for so long, never, ever had I thought every part of it.

00:05:42:20 – 00:05:43:26
Angela
Thank you.

00:05:43:28 – 00:06:11:19
Angela
Yeah. So, where to start? Maybe with my parents. So my parents are from, tiny places in south Italy. And, they left the country when they were younger than 18 years old. And I think, it was a very bold move of them to leave their country and come to Germany because they thought it would be, providing them a better place, and better opportunities for us children.

00:06:11:21 – 00:06:36:14
Angela
And I think that curiosity and that, willingness to travel and go to other places is probably something I inherited from them because, already during my teenage years, I was very curious. I went with friends to see, concerts in other cities. And we had this, program with the railway roads, where you could travel all around Europe.

00:06:36:17 – 00:06:49:10
Angela
And I did that. And then with 17, I went a little further, to India. So I think it’s always been there. It always drove me, to learn more, to see other places be stimulated.

00:06:49:13 – 00:06:50:15
Angela
And I was.

00:06:50:15 – 00:07:21:08
Angela
Always also interested in business and economy. And don’t ask me why. It was just there, this, this interest for, companies buying other companies growing internationally. I always read books on the big industrialists in Germany, and I was always fascinated how they saw the future before others. And so I wanted to study economics, but I didn’t know how because I had no role model in that context.

00:07:21:11 – 00:07:22:17
Angela

00:07:22:19 – 00:07:59:28
Claudia
Yeah. That brings us of course already to what you started. So you said you’ve been to India and you have worked across, you know, family office, you have led them, you have consulted them from Asia to the United States, back to Europe. So you, you know, you’ve worked very internationally, but Germany is your hub. And, how if your work was so international, how did you then decide to create, an NGO, the one on Wonder Nova, an English wonder Nova, educational organization.

00:08:00:00 – 00:08:11:09
Claudia
So how you know, from the big world, what did you extract and saw what is needed in the smaller world of Germany? I mean, not that Germany is a small country, but you know what I mean.

00:08:11:16 – 00:08:41:03
Angela
Yeah. And so I think what I’ve always, felt and got, interested in were you always see these young people, young adults and, and some of them have amazing opportunities and some don’t. And, and one thing that is always limiting us if we don’t have access to education, books or mentors, is that you cannot think what you haven’t seen or someone has taught you.

00:08:41:03 – 00:09:16:26
Angela
And, that was an experience I’ve made early on and I’ve seen, it’s making as well. And it didn’t matter whether I saw it in Germany or abroad. In India, of course, you see many more young talents and young people who, if they were in the right environment and born in the right, circles and under the right circumstances, they would go places and, you know that because you see the curiosity, you see the hunger, you see the entitlement, but you also see that the fact that reality kicks in and they won’t most likely won’t have that opportunity.

00:09:16:28 – 00:09:39:21
Angela
In Germany, I felt it is much more realistic for me to do, at least a small bit of my portion to support some young adults on their growth path and their career path. And, yeah, I’ve never been someone of a social worker, kind of a person. I’ve always been drawn towards professional careers and towards, business.

00:09:39:21 – 00:09:46:26
Angela
And so that is how I played my cards and tried my bit. Yeah.

00:09:46:28 – 00:09:47:20
Angela

00:09:47:22 – 00:09:58:04
Claudia
So you felt an urge to share and to create more opportunities for more people to get perspectives on potential ways in their profession.

00:09:58:06 – 00:10:20:17
Angela
Yeah. I don’t know why I’m so restless. I’ve seen people who do a lot of good work when they retired and they have more time. In addition to raising a family and having a career path. So usually when you retire is when you have a bit of, breathing time. But I never felt that, I want to wait for so long.

00:10:20:20 – 00:10:21:25
Angela
And one of the.

00:10:21:25 – 00:11:03:24
Angela
Reasons also is what I’m doing is very driven by, relationships and networks. So, and they also have a shelf life. And, how do I say that? That’s probably the reality kicker. Or, like, being realistic about who I am, where I am right now. So I’ve felt I have that strength now person. I have the networks and the relationships to connect the young adults, because what I’m doing is I connect young adults, and if I say I them, I mean also my board, the six member strong and always were supported by a partner member.

00:11:03:27 – 00:11:31:13
Angela
So it’s not just me and the, the volunteers, but basically the idea is to connect young adults who are hungry to do more. And to experience more in life on a career path, to connect them to professional role models, and that you can only do if your networks are reliable, when they’re still young, fresh and and are consumable, so to speak.

00:11:31:13 – 00:11:32:13
Angela
So.

00:11:32:16 – 00:11:32:20
Angela
How.

00:11:32:21 – 00:11:49:05
Angela
What happens in five years, ten years, 15 years from now, whether I be still in a position to do that. But right now I am. And that’s why probably I felt that urge and that restlessness back and maybe also to to see how they grow from.

00:11:49:07 – 00:11:49:12
Angela

00:11:49:19 – 00:12:04:21
Angela
Young adults to older adults and, and maybe that was also part of, a subconscious or unconscious wish to see the fruits and the merits and see some of it. Yeah.

00:12:04:24 – 00:12:06:00
Angela
Maybe that’s a.

00:12:06:02 – 00:12:07:16
Angela
Good question actually.

00:12:07:18 – 00:12:08:19
Claudia
Practical.

00:12:08:21 – 00:12:13:07
Angela
Give it more thought, I give more thought. But yeah. Yeah.

00:12:13:09 – 00:12:15:06
Angela
But to some you know sadness.

00:12:15:07 – 00:12:32:21
Claudia
So the, the young adults, the teenagers what’s the age range. And where, where do you find them. How do they or how do they find you. Are you in close contact with schools with I don’t know, special interests, teachers. I mean, how do you how did the ball get rolling?

00:12:32:23 – 00:12:59:28
Angela
Yeah. So, the teenagers are between 16 and 18 years old, and it’s important to understand where they are in life and where they’re coming from. I don’t know who listens to it, but in Germany, we have this very special situation, educational wise, that we have three different types of sorts of school after elementary school. And so these teenagers are on their path to higher education.

00:13:00:00 – 00:13:30:11
Angela
And, and they learn the, the, the certificate or the graduation to actually go to university if they want. So these are the young adults that we are targeting. They usually go in Germany, we call it bucolic gymnasium or example. So that’s where, where they’re from. And how do they learn about us? Different channels. So, now that we’ve been doing it since a couple of years, in, in various cities, we have partner schools who.

00:13:30:12 – 00:13:30:25
Angela
Maybe.

00:13:30:25 – 00:13:44:06
Angela
Wait for our email every year and then share it with their, students, and then they can apply in some cases. We now, since last year, also started WhatsApp groups with the students who’ve already been participating.

00:13:44:06 – 00:13:45:00
Angela

00:13:45:02 – 00:13:46:07
Claudia
Oh yeah. Alumni.

00:13:46:08 – 00:14:12:11
Angela
Yeah. Alumni. And they can return or they can they can share it. From this year onwards we are planning to do a little bit more on social media to actually, reach them directly and not, have the schools and pop as a bottleneck. So that’s basically, how it works. And sometimes the teachers connect them to us, and in many cases they register themselves.

00:14:12:11 – 00:14:13:29
Angela
So. Yeah.

00:14:14:02 – 00:14:27:24
Claudia
So and how do you do it, do you ask the students what they are interested in. And then you look for experts and role models, or do you ask the role models if they have time and then they offer you offer that program to the teenagers. Yeah.

00:14:27:24 – 00:14:52:09
Angela
So technically how it works is we have been doing it in several cities. So we started in Berlin because that’s, my home base in Germany. We started in 2019. And there at the beginning it was a summer fest. Actually, the role models were all female. That’s not the case anymore. And we had 350 guests. And so 60 of those guests were teenagers.

00:14:52:12 – 00:15:13:18
Angela
But what happens now is 60 teenagers around, come and they meet 12 role models, and they sit in small groups at the table with one role model, and they can ask them everything about their career and life choices. So, and then every 30 minutes they shift the table. So it’s on a Saturday.

00:15:13:20 – 00:15:14:02
Angela

00:15:14:03 – 00:15:20:26
Angela
It’s at 930 in the morning. So that already tells you many things about the teenagers who show up.

00:15:20:27 – 00:15:22:09
Claudia
Yeah.

00:15:22:12 – 00:15:53:23
Angela
Because you have so many options to, and so many distractions and so many excuses not to come, but I do. And if I haven’t met you yet, then I still know many things. I know that you’re, I know that you really wanted. I know that, nothing, distract you from pursuing this opportunity, speaking to the role models and to give you one beautiful example from three weeks ago in Frankfurt, it was 35 degrees in Germany, which is very rare.

00:15:53:25 – 00:16:19:25
Angela
So morning, as I said, and it was also the night of the graduation celebrations. So for many, teenagers, it meant only 2 or 3 hours of sleep and they showed up. It says a lot about the program. And to answer your question, do we start with the teenagers or the role models? We always start with the role models because very, counter-intuitively, it’s easier to get them.

00:16:19:25 – 00:16:45:27
Angela
And these are people in the midst of their careers, either in sports or arts or managers or politicians. So it’s they have busy schedules, but there are so convinced that they want to do it that they actually, commit early and usually they, they show up unless it’s a pilot who had who, who couldn’t come because she was stuck in a place or, of performance with politicians.

00:16:45:27 – 00:16:56:09
Angela
There is always a bit of a risk, but, they commit and then once we have that list of role models who are coming, then we reach out to the schools and then they promote it.

00:16:56:12 – 00:16:57:27
Angela
Yeah.

00:16:57:29 – 00:16:59:25
Angela
That’s a chronological order.

00:16:59:28 – 00:17:27:20
Claudia
Yeah. Well it’s fantastic and I’m sure it’s had a lot of ups and downs to get this organized and also to see maybe the results that you would like to see. Because creating the space for the teenagers to have this conversation is one thing. But then where do they go from there with this. And how long do you support them in a way, I’m sure there are a lot of things that are not the easiest.

00:17:27:20 – 00:17:50:05
Claudia
Like with all the other women I spoke, they they also all said it’s in the end. It’s the passion and the strong belief in what they’re doing that helps them to master the obstacles. Because, of course, with NGOs that always, especially many. How was it for you? Has it been kind of a straight, perfect career path for Vonda Nova or also a few bumps on the road?

00:17:50:07 – 00:18:11:29
Angela
Oh, so many bumps. As I mentioned, we started with the Summer Fest this was in 2019. No one had ever heard of, virus called Covid like it did not exist. So we started we had a really great opening. We had the first lady who was, giving her a speech and, and was the patron of it.

00:18:12:01 – 00:18:39:10
Angela
And, and then I thought it would be so easy to just replicate it and to continue the year after. But the year after, nothing was possible. So the dip and if you’re a new joiner and if you’re doing something for the first time and you find believers who do this and then you have to wait for a year, you don’t know how easy it will be to overcome this year, because it’s not that you have a long legacy, and people know.

00:18:39:12 – 00:18:39:15
Angela
That.

00:18:39:17 – 00:18:44:16
Angela
If you don’t do it for a year, you’ll be back. So that was the first bump.

00:18:44:19 – 00:18:46:28
Claudia
My big one.

00:18:47:00 – 00:19:13:27
Angela
Yeah. And the second was that in the beginning I was very focused on showing female role models. And and then I learned that it’s just it’s not enough and it doesn’t do justice. And because we had this, teenagers as well, allowing myself to shift from focusing on women to focusing on young adults was also not an easy, decision to take.

00:19:14:00 – 00:19:35:27
Angela
And, first, the two year and the first two years we were for profit and then to say, okay, now we will be not for profit and we will not know where the funds are coming from, because then the more dependent on donations rather than sponsoring. But then you can stick to your cause and you can, pursue it was also, not an easy choice.

00:19:35:27 – 00:20:03:25
Angela
So in the beginning I funded it myself. So the first few years, I pre funded it with my own donation because I didn’t want this young organization to be just busy with fundraise. I want to kickstart and, and to create some impact going. Yeah. And it was very naive of me to think once it gets going, then it’s a natural progression that fundraise will somehow also happen.

00:20:03:27 – 00:20:28:10
Angela
I mean, I’m in the business of finance. I see a lot of young founders fundraise that it ever occurred to me that, probably go through the same no, because for me, this was two different things. Right. But, so many learnings that from the venture world or startup world, I could have applied on my own world earlier and it would probably have saved me, some gray hair.

00:20:28:10 – 00:20:31:12
Angela
But, you know, I guess we all have to go through through it.

00:20:31:12 – 00:20:48:03
Claudia
It’s so interesting. No, I mean, you know, you are such a mega expert. Yeah. And then when we deal with our own, I don’t know, whatever it is. Almost. Yeah. We forget to use the expertise that we actually have. Yeah, because it’s from another world.

00:20:48:06 – 00:21:13:03
Angela
Yeah, yeah. I can give you some examples. So every young founder, writes a pitch deck to get funding from investors. Did it ever occur to me that I would probably also need a deck and evaluate, the impact we are creating? No. Did I know, the special a language that is, used in the NGO world?

00:21:13:03 – 00:21:41:09
Angela
No. Did I know how impact is measured? No. So all these things, I was somehow blind, and, And luckily we had a, foundation that helped us, so that we didn’t have to go, to blind sided in, in some in this year, for example. But. Yeah, last year I really had this, I had this moment where I thought, okay, now it’s enough, let’s stop it and stop one the Nova.

00:21:41:09 – 00:22:11:19
Angela
It’s a voluntary work. It should be fun. It should not cause extra stress. But I was really not good at fundraising. And then we had a board meeting, and the board really said, okay, these are the things you have to do. And then we had a part time worker and we had opened all our networks. We wanted to actually promote her, but also for her, it was really difficult to see that we are a small organization, and we’re not raising funds fast enough to actually pay for a salary.

00:22:11:21 – 00:22:18:06
Angela
And so she moved on, and this was in the midst of many other things happening in my life. And so.

00:22:18:09 – 00:22:19:07
Angela
It’s like.

00:22:19:09 – 00:22:46:17
Angela
And then we organize events 3 or 4 times a year. And for some, the events are not small. We consider them small. It’s, 80, 90, people’s strong events, and we do it, in every city we have a host, and, we have, 12 volunteers to organize, like, the role models, 60 teenagers, the schools, so many stakeholders.

00:22:46:19 – 00:23:10:25
Angela
So it’s, it sounds easier to me now that I’ve been doing it for so long, but for others outside of the like. Wow, three, four events a year, that’s not nothing. So, all this happening, and we are very dependent on reliable partners. And again, when something when should happen to really happens and also, no funds, funds are drying out.

00:23:10:25 – 00:23:13:09
Angela
I’m not strong at fundraising.

00:23:13:12 – 00:23:15:05
Angela
Partner quits.

00:23:15:08 – 00:23:35:03
Angela
And, the corporate that told us that they will support us with the location and the catering, they just ghosted us. We never heard back. So last minute we had to find a new place for 80 people. So it was really a bit of a stressful time. And I was like, okay, once this is done,

00:23:35:05 – 00:23:37:02
Angela
Yeah, I’m done. But yeah.

00:23:37:09 – 00:24:01:09
Angela
And so we have this board meeting, and luckily I have board members who are very vocal and strong and had like headstrong. So one is a former minister. She doesn’t, like she cuts through all the, jargon. So yeah. Yeah, I forward I want to say so and she’s like, yeah, I know you have to do it somehow.

00:24:01:09 – 00:24:26:00
Angela
You have to manage to do it. And and somehow it clicked and it changed things because then you’re like, okay, you have nothing to lose. So you can also go out and ask. And the first foundation, that had evaluated us for a while, I asked him how to do it, and they gave us a lot of tips on the desk, how to measure our impact, how to measure all the voluntary work that flew in.

00:24:26:03 – 00:24:29:23
Angela
And we came up with a quite sizable number of the.

00:24:29:25 – 00:24:30:02
Angela
Very.

00:24:30:02 – 00:24:57:20
Angela
Work that flows into one Anova. And that was very impressive. And that also gave me a lot of good reasons to go back to other foundations and share that. And so it’s like a domino effect. The first foundation that, okay, we’re in it. It actually permitted others to follow. So same logic with investors. You always need to first check and then others will follow and apply it here too.

00:24:57:22 – 00:25:00:00
Angela
But I never made that

00:25:00:02 – 00:25:00:24
Claudia
Connection.

00:25:00:28 – 00:25:14:08
Angela
Connection and translation. So yeah, in hindsight it sounds also a much more relaxed. But this was really like for me, I was very heartbroken because you’ve done it passionately for many years.

00:25:14:11 – 00:25:15:09
Angela
And like.

00:25:15:09 – 00:25:42:12
Angela
Okay, maybe you have to bury this idea and how does this feel now and then three months later? So all this happened between September and October and from October to December. We raised, I think, around €100,000. And so that permitted us to go solidly into the new year. And that again helped with other things, hiring a really strong person, in the management team.

00:25:42:15 – 00:25:50:12
Angela
And, having a few social media activities and having some funds to grow was really helpful.

00:25:50:14 – 00:25:51:26
Angela

00:25:51:28 – 00:26:17:13
Claudia
Yeah. No, don’t stop. I, I read a quote a few weeks ago and unfortunately I can’t remember who said it, but it was someone that has to do with the German education system. And he said that Germany is ten years behind in the educational system compared to the rest of the world. I guess that’s quite a statement.

00:26:17:15 – 00:26:46:11
Claudia
And I’m sure organizations like yours are so indispensable and just so important to to speed things up and to pave a way and to inspire these young adults. So when they go to a meeting, I read that, by this year you have 15 events in four cities, is that right? And you have 200 experts. So role models there and 900 teenagers.

00:26:46:12 – 00:26:47:04
Angela
Yeah.

00:26:47:06 – 00:27:06:07
Claudia
That’s huge. Yeah, that’s really huge. And what do they do afterwards? So they meet. And is there any kind of, reconnection? Can they stay in touch if they have more questions? Can they apply in the company that the expert is coming from? I mean.

00:27:06:09 – 00:27:31:19
Angela
Yeah. So, again, lots of learnings. So I think one thing which I really like about the board I’ve been interacting so far is we never standstill. It’s also the feedback we got from the foundation. We are very, we monitor our work, and we ask for feedback, and we also conduct service with the teenagers after every, event.

00:27:31:19 – 00:27:33:01
Angela
So we ask them.

00:27:33:03 – 00:27:33:05
Angela
What.

00:27:33:07 – 00:27:52:24
Angela
We have done better. And of course, many times they just say, oh, this was a very exciting experience and we love that. And it helps. It’s like a warm embrace. But they also give us lots of tips how to actually get in touch with them, how they want to stay in touch, that internships are important. And so we embedded all that.

00:27:52:24 – 00:27:59:07
Angela
So since this year, we ask all the role models, for internships.

00:27:59:09 – 00:28:00:20
Angela
We have a super code.

00:28:00:20 – 00:28:26:11
Angela
And so they can, they can have a look at all the possibilities that are open and vacant and with the companies or the organizations they work for. That was one change that came from the teenagers itself. Then, they also had this idea of staying connected. So we created WhatsApp groups. Next idea is actually that we want to do more of an alumni network.

00:28:26:13 – 00:28:51:09
Angela
And actually we have a partner from academia to also evaluate, the impact we have, over numbers and to see how they develop and progress over the years. Because see, if I look at the first year, 2019, if we had followed and if we had stayed in touch, it’s now been seven years from then. They have progressed a lot in their career.

00:28:51:09 – 00:29:26:21
Angela
And the role models, again, I cannot stress it enough there from different walks of lives. So they come. They are musicians. They’re athletes. They’re politicians. They are from the NGO world. They are scientists. So they have themselves very different path. And, and so to let them stay in touch is important. And, where we are heading towards, so connecting them and letting them stay together and, the idea for the future is to be part of an ecosystem.

00:29:26:21 – 00:29:37:06
Angela
So many times we are asking, you could do mentorship, you could offer this, you could offer that. And, and, I feel we should just stay true to our core, which is.

00:29:37:12 – 00:29:37:20
Angela

00:29:37:27 – 00:29:40:07
Angela
We, ignite a spark.

00:29:40:09 – 00:29:41:04
Angela

00:29:41:06 – 00:30:12:28
Angela
We’re getting better at identifying these young teenagers who want more, and we identify them early. When we see them on this specific Saturdays. And I think that’s that’s all for. And connecting them to the role models and to ignite the spark and to let them see how different career paths can evolve and to reduce that fear. To know already what you will be doing for the next 30 years, which is.

00:30:13:00 – 00:30:13:10
Angela

00:30:13:14 – 00:30:14:13
Angela
Unrealistic.

00:30:14:13 – 00:30:16:03
Claudia
Outdated, outdated.

00:30:16:03 – 00:30:21:12
Angela
Also many ways and now and through I even and fast and.

00:30:21:15 – 00:30:23:00
Angela
Burn

00:30:23:03 – 00:30:56:19
Angela
Yeah. So, I think what we want to do is we see many organizations which are really strong at mentorship, at providing scholarships. So whenever we can, we invited foundations who provide scholarships so that the students can take the next steps with another organization, which is doing what they have been doing for some time very well. And so it’s it that’s also counter-intuitive, because I always thought that we all live because we build these ecosystems and we collaborate.

00:30:56:21 – 00:31:24:22
Angela
But the foundational work, it is, in the world of NGOs, everyone fights for their bit of donations and it’s not easy. And these days the funding level has come down. So the creation level is not always there. But we have made it very clear and that’s part of our DNA. We want to collaborate. And so for example, this year we’ve started collaborating with Kazoo Education.

00:31:24:25 – 00:31:45:18
Angela
We have started collaborating with scholarship providers, mentorships, so that the teenagers get a list of people and groups they can further connect. So it’s all out there. It’s just very transparent and, we try to smoothen the path. So.

00:31:45:20 – 00:31:46:01
Claudia
Yeah.

00:31:46:07 – 00:31:46:25
Angela
Yeah.

00:31:46:27 – 00:32:08:00
Claudia
Very good. Yeah. Well, I think it’s fantastic. I mean, I would have loved to have that. I mean, to be in a room with all these, you know, experts and then have the ability to move from one table to the next and engage. I’m going to sign up. I mean, really, I think it’s, you know, it’s it’s really, it’s refreshing.

00:32:08:00 – 00:32:31:24
Claudia
And for them, so, so much worth. And I think companies should really use this and support it because isn’t the community of, no, that’s not the right word. Talent is missing, right? I mean, everybody’s looking for new talent pool. The talent pool. Yeah. So then they should, you know, support the new talents in the making.

00:32:31:26 – 00:32:59:03
Angela
Yeah. It’s interesting you’re saying it. Yeah. Because, one thing I have learned over the years, so I see around 150 or 200 teenagers a year, and I enjoy speaking to them. It refreshes me. It gives me a positive attitude for a couple of months. But what I have really seen is that since this wave of AI, things have changed.

00:32:59:03 – 00:33:22:15
Angela
So this war of talent and yes, it is there, but where it used to be for the youngsters, it’s not there necessarily anymore. Give you a few examples. So in the automotive sectors, juniors are not being hired. Actually people are being laid off here in Germany, we host the event or our host in Frankfurt for the fifth time is Allen Overy.

00:33:22:15 – 00:33:55:05
Angela
Sherman. It’s the law firm. And they go through their own cycles now with AI and, newbies from university. So we actually are rethinking of how can we actually provide the right role models that help them navigate through these really different times. But when they, when they have discovered what they want to do next, they can actually, find, a job that that suits them and the future for a while.

00:33:55:05 – 00:34:36:00
Angela
So what we have changed for example, is we always have AI experts now with us, and believe me, they are in high demand. And whenever there is, a profession that is also highly involved with AI, we also ask the role models to be ready to answer some of these questions because they will come. But we’ve also started inviting people from, more, labor work, hunt work, from the, our clients work because it sounds, again, counter-intuitive, but for many, this is actually now a feasible, profession.

00:34:36:07 – 00:34:46:22
Angela
And so we want to open up that avenue for them as well. So yeah, we’re constantly trying to stay ahead but it has changed.

00:34:46:24 – 00:34:47:16
Angela

00:34:47:19 – 00:35:12:07
Claudia
And it’s interesting because that was another question I had for you. How about all the more hands on professions. That used to be 2025 years ago. An absolute strong route for young people to go until everybody suddenly had to have the diploma to enter university. So I think it’s that’s I was so happy that these professions are gaining momentum again.

00:35:12:07 – 00:35:23:04
Claudia
And lucky for you that you take this on and, and also offer experts in that field because isn’t the German saying hadn’t work at Goldman Borden?

00:35:23:06 – 00:35:23:23
Angela

00:35:23:25 – 00:35:24:24
Claudia
Let’s not forget.

00:35:24:24 – 00:35:26:20
Angela
That.

00:35:26:22 – 00:35:27:04
Angela
There is a.

00:35:27:04 – 00:35:28:17
Angela
Comeback. Yeah.

00:35:28:17 – 00:35:47:01
Claudia
Yeah, absolutely. Such interesting times. Well, Angela, thank you so much for your time and for a peek into Vonda Nova. And I hope that it’s going to stay on the upward swing. And, yeah, I wish you the best of luck.

00:35:47:03 – 00:35:48:09
Angela
Thank you with that.

00:35:48:11 – 00:35:49:28
Angela
Thank you. Yeah, I.

00:35:50:01 – 00:35:50:20
Angela
Know I’m going.

00:35:50:20 – 00:35:56:14
Claudia
To be a big promoter of it. Okay. All right. Thank you. All the best.

00:35:56:16 – 00:36:09:23
Angela
Thank you.

00:36:09:26 – 00:36:42:03
Claudia
What stays with me from today’s conversation with Angela is how many of these teenagers aren’t just showing up to listen? They’re leaving with real leads, real internships, real people in their corner, and they’re running with it. That’s the kind of opportunity that changes the trajectory. If you want to support the work, look up on Nova and I will also be sharing information in my show notes.

00:36:42:06 – 00:36:50:11
Claudia
Thank you for listening to Shift Happens.

00:36:50:13 – 00:37:08:00
Claudia
Thank you for listening to Shift Happens. Please follow and subscribe to this podcast. It’s an easy hit for you with a huge impact for me. It helps me grow even further and bring you more conversations with women from around the globe.

00:37:08:03 – 00:37:26:06
Claudia
Shift happens has been created and is hosted by me, Claudia Muller editing Andy Boroson and social media Magda Reckendrees. I hope you felt connected and heard by listening to shift happens.