Team
Ellen Heinrichs
Founder & CEO, Bonn Institute
Ellen Heinrichs is a journalist, mediator, speaker, and internationally one of the leading voices for constructive dialogue and future-oriented journalism. In 2025, she was honored with a special award by the jury of the German medium magazin as “Journalist of the Year.”
As Founder and CEO of the Bonn Institute, she champions a form of journalism that puts people at the center and fosters meaningful social dialogue. Prior to this, she held various leadership roles at Deutsche Welle, where she helped build the DW Akademie and played a key role in the digital transformation of the broadcaster’s programming, driving innovation and cultural change in journalism.
Her career began at the regional publisher Rheinische Post and took her through positions at international organizations before joining Deutsche Welle. She was the only German Fellow at the Constructive Institute in Denmark. In addition, she is a trained mediator, Agile Culture Coach, and Solutions Journalism trainer.
Donata v. Below-Ritter
Office Manager
Constructive communication is what Donata von Below-Ritter is all about: She studied theatre and media at the University of Bayreuth, as well as international media studies at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and the DW Akademie in Bonn. She gained experiences both in front of and behind the camera and provided copywriting at the international agency Ogilvy & Mather in Dusseldorf. Von Below-Ritter also has served in editorial capacities for the Rheinische Post newspaper and German TV station Phoenix. She currently manages the Bonn Institute's internal and external communications and is always looking at the world with diverse perspectives.
donata.v.below@bonn-institute.org
Peter Lindner
Head of Innovation & Dialogue
Peter Lindner worked at the German national daily Süddeutsche Zeitung for a long time, spending almost 12 years as head of the politics section and more than six years as deputy editor-in-chief of SZ.de. He worked intensively on new approaches in journalism and developed several digital formats and projects, such as the SZ discussion project "Werkstatt Demokratie" (democracy workshop). Most recently, he worked on the "Listen Louder Project" at the Constructive Institute, housed at Denmark's University of Aarhus, where he researched approaches to how journalism can promote constructive dialogue in society. He studied political science, sociology and psychology in Munich and Bradford, UK.
peter.lindner@bonn-institute.org
Christine Badke
Deputy Head of Innovation & Dialogue
Christine Badke began her journalistic career in local journalism and experienced firsthand how essential proximity, trust, and reliability are to the relationship between newsrooms and their audiences. In leadership roles at the regional newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, working in the newsroom and in editorial development, she helped develop user-centered formats as well as new forms of communication, participation, and audience engagement. A central focus of her work is the question of how independent journalism can remain relevant – for democratic discourse and for the kind of success that secures the future of journalism. Through training programs such as the b°local innovation program, she supports newsrooms in integrating innovation into everyday work and in understanding trust, diversity of perspectives, and solution-oriented approaches as strategic resources.
christine.badke@bonn-institute.org
Jens Niggemann
Business Manager
When it comes to expenses, Jens Niggemann is an expert. Before joining the Bonn Institute, Niggemann managed finances for the Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband (Association of German Adult Education Centres) in Bonn. He also served as a long-term advisor for Agiamondo, a Catholic development organisation dedicated to supporting civil society worldwide. In addition to business administration skills, Niggemann brings a wealth of cross-cultural knowledge and extensive experience working with diverse sponsors to the Bonn Institute.
jens.niggemann@bonn-institute.org
Anja von Cysewski
Lead Dialogue Formats
In addition to producing radio features, freelance journalist and historian Anja von Cysewski has researched and written about the history of companies and institutions. She studied history, philosophy and politics in Bonn, Jerusalem and Cologne, and then completed Deutsche Welle's in-house professional journalism training program. Anja is responsible for the Bonn Institute's dialogue formats. She loves listening and is particularly interested in nuance and interfaces. She is currently also training to be a mediator at the University of Cologne.
anja.v.cysewski@bonn-institute.org
Benjamin Fuchs
Lead Journalism Training
Benjamin Fuchs began his journalism career as a local journalist while studying political science in Bonn. He then completed training as a television editor at the RTL School of Journalism, in Cologne, before going on to work in the network's news division. After five years as a freelance correspondent in Brazil, he returned to Germany and joined Perspective Daily, a German online magazine dedicated to constructive and solutions journalism. As a labor and economy editor, he learned to work in a user-centered way and keep one question firmly in mind: "Where do we go from here?" He now brings this mindset and experience to the Bonn Institute and its community.
benjamin.fuchs@bonn-institute.org
Paula Rösler
Head of Communication
Paula Rösler is interested in what moves people and what people are moving. As an independent journalist, she managed the digital community of German broadcaster WDR 2, hosted the news podcast "Aufwacher" for the German paper "Rheinische Post", and worked as an editor and author for German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle. She first studied sport sciences in Cologne and Lyon, and then moved to Aarhus and Amsterdam for the Erasmus Mundus Master's program "Journalism, Media and Globalization". At the Bonn Institute, Paula Rösler oversees the b° Newsletter and is the contact person for our b° Community - write to her!
paula.roesler@bonn-institute.org
Cristina Burack
Head of Communication
Cristina Burack’s personal and professional paths have been defined by diverse cultures, languages and disciplines. A Spanish-American dual national and native of Maryland (US), Cristina studied opera performance and history in Chicago and Vienna, and European Studies in London. In addition to the Bonn Institute, she also works as a freelance journalist at Deutsche Welle (DW), where she has contributed to radio, podcast, social media and online formats. Cristina is a big believer in intercultural knowledge sharing and would love to hear ideas, experiences, or book recommendations from b° community members around the world.
cristina.burack@bonn-institute.org
Mirella Murri
Lead Program Management b° future festival
For Mirella Murri, journalism has many facets. Planning the b° future festival is one of them—a festival in Bonn that is all about constructive dialogue and is aimed at both media professionals and their audience. As programme manager, Mirella is planning the next edition of the b° future festival in 2024. During her Master's degree in Social Sciences in Düsseldorf, Mirella gained a wide range of insights into the world of journalism, with stints at Handelsblatt, ZDF, and the "NRW-Reporter" programme for young journalists.
mirella.murri@bonn-institute.org
Hannes Kappler
Lead Marketing & Tech
Hannes Kappler is the head of the b° future festival at the Bonn Institute. He studied at WAM - Die Medienakademie in Dortmund and gained valuable experience in media management. His career has taken him to various positions where he has further developed his skills.
hannes.kappler@bonn-institute.org
Markus Beckedahl
Curator b° future festival
Markus Beckedahl founded netzpolitik.org 20 years ago and, as editor-in-chief, built it into one of the largest public interest-oriented independent media. He co-founded the re:publica conference and has curated the annual program since its inception. For over 25 years, Markus Beckedahl has been observing, analyzing and explaining how the internet and key digital technological developments are shaping our societies, cultural practices, the media world and political decisions. In doing so, he has played a key role in shaping a new field of politics: digital and net politics. Together with the Bonn Institute, he has been developing and curating the b future festival for journalism and critical dialog since 2023.
Mehregan Behrouz
Professional Trainee
Mehregan Behrouz's home base is the world of art and culture. She finds the synergy between journalism and artistic activity particularly interesting: As mediums of communication, art and culture can promote empathy – a key component of constructive dialogue. After completing an M.A. in transnational literature, she served as a cultural educator at the non-profit ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne and was then selected as a mentee of Neue Deutsche Medienmacher*innen. She worked as a freelance culture journalist before becoming the Bonn Institute’s first ever professional trainee.
mehregan.behrouz@bonn-institute.org