We would like to give our crowd investors a seat on our Advisory Board. But what exactly does the Advisory Board do? In this article you will learn why we are adding a seat for the crowd and who the candidates are.
What is the Advisory Board?
When it comes to making strategic decisions, our mission, values and the clear measurability of our impact are always at the fore. Our mission is centered around the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and our investment criteria. To make sure that we aren’t leaving any stone unturned or neglecting any aspects of these guidelines, we choose to turn to external sources for consultation, regulation and scrutiny purposes – because absolute transparency is something that’s firmly embedded in our values.
For this task, in addition to our Impact Council, we have our Advisory Board. This currently consists of the executive members (our founders) and non-executive members (Ronald Gerber, Jan Christoph Gras, Luis Hanemann, Patrick Sheehan, Timer Strikowsky and Susanna Krüger). With Susanna Krüger and Ronald Gerber, the Impact Council and our employees each have a seat on our Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board advises and monitors our management team. To do so, the members meet at least six times a year and discuss matters on the basis of reports from all areas of the company. Key corporate decisions are discussed, shaped and approved – from fundraising to budget to product strategy. Every type of decision is challenged by the Advisory Board.
New: The crowd in the Advisory Board
With our latest crowdinvesting, the crowd is Tomorrow's largest investor - over 9,000 individuals have invested in the Tomorrow business model. This number simply blows us away. As participation has been a central part of Tomorrow since the beginning, we are now taking the next logical step: we are bringing the crowd into the most important body of the company: the Advisory Board.
Incidentally, we are the first company in Germany to do so, and this step goes far beyond symbolism, because just like the Impact Council, this seat has control, voting and participation rights. The crowd representative will be elected by the crowd and represents them and their interests on the Advisory Board. In addition to the work in the Advisory Board, the elected person will engage with the crowd twice a year to answer questions or provide context on different topics.
Who will represent the crowd?
The next question is, of course, who should represent the crowd on the advisory board. Therefore, we advertised the position among all crowd investors and about 80 people applied to represent the crowd on the Advisory Board. Based on the call for applications and previously defined criteria, we are now pleased to give the three top candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves to the community:
Greta Gaumert
“Dear Tomorrow-Crowd, I am a lawyer with a strong focus on the "business side" and was most recently on the management board of Exporo, a digital platform for crowd-based real estate investments, for almost three years. As a result, I am very familiar with the current challenges and opportunities of a fintech start-up. Before that, I was Head Legal at Aquila Capital, a sustainability-oriented investment company.
I believe Tomorrow's approach of offering digital and sustainable banking and thus directing capital to where it is needed not only makes sense, but is urgently needed. As a crowd representative, I would like to sustainably push Tomorrow forward in its further development and in doing so create additional value for the company itself, for us as a crowd and for the other shareholders. I would like to contribute by actively participating and passing on know-how in the Advisory Board and by transparent communication with you as a crowd and with your feedback.”
Focus: Fintech, renewable energies & sustainability, diversity, crowdinvesting
Anne Geiger
"Dear Tomorrow-Crowd, I'm Anne and as a trained economist and sociologist I've been part of the Hamburg fintech scene since 2017. After positions at figo/finleap, Finexity and NMA Venture Capital, I am currently involved as an impact business angel, startup mentor and in investor networks - for more diversity and equality in the startup ecosystem.
I share with Tomorrow the deep conviction that money and digital financial products, specifically tailored to our generation, can be a crucial lever for solving the big challenges of our time. Zebra instead of unicorn, crowd over institutional investors - this is exactly what I want to live as a crowd representative on the Tomorrow Advisory Board. To be in exchange with you, to give us a voice in strategic decisions, to protect interests, to contribute my experience and to work together for a better tomorrow."
Focus: Impact investing, female empowerment, financial education, greentech
Dr. Talke Hoppmann-Walton
"Moin, I'm Talke. I would like to represent you on the Advisory Board because more participation is important for everyone and I want to make a difference not only in the system, but on the system - with you!
Briefly about me: I live in Hamburg, have three children and am married to an Englishman. I lived in London for a long time and did my PhD in the field of communication/usability. My professional background is in Product Design and I worked globally across the portfolio at PayPal for over 10 years. Now I'm self-employed with UX, my dear, advising startups, companies and NGOs on Product Mindset, OKRs, Employee Experience & Sustainable Design. I also coach at the Creative Business Academy of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft. Thereby the recurring topics are: Cross-Team Collaboration & Crowdsourcing-insights and I think they can be applied well here. I'm excited to see what develops here and how we shape participation together."
Focus: Sustainable design & product development, financial education, female empowerment
What's next?
Since the crowd representative will engage with the crowd in the future, all crowd investors have the chance to learn more about the candidates in a virtual meetup and have received an invitation by email. Afterwards, all crowd investors can submit their votes. The candidate with the most votes must then be confirmed by the Advisory Board and can join the Advisory Board.