Good Practice
It is an important concern of the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe to present its current focus of activity, mission and finances in a transparent way. According to the voluntary obligation developed by Transparency International Deutschland e.V. with the initiative “Transparente Zivilgesellschaft”, we want to provide the following information for the public:
1. Name, Legal Domicile, Address
The non-partisan Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe was founded in 1971 by Pauline Schwarzkopf in Hamburg, where the legal domicile is still located.
The office and its tax and legal basis are located in Berlin since 2000:
Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe
Sophienstr. 28 – 29
10178 Berlin
Email: info@schwarzkopf-stiftung.de
Telephone: 0049 – 30 – 7262 195 – 0
Fax: 0049 – 30 – 7262 195 – 19
Executive Director: PhDr Tomáš Sacher
2. Our Aims
The main goal of the Schwarzkopf Foundation is the support of the development of young people to politically aware and responsible individuals with the objective of strengthening the European idea, the European understanding and the combat against right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism.
We offer young people from Europe opportunities for encounters, knowledge exchange and active participation. We advise, qualify and support young Europeans in dealing with democracy and participation in the context of pluralism and difference. We strengthen young and marginalised voices in European societies and draw attention to the interests and challenges of European youth.
To achieve these goals, the Foundation works with different programme lines:
- The youth-led network European Youth Parliament brings together young people from all over Europe to exchange ideas among themselves and with experts and decision-makers on the pressing issues of our time.
- The dialogue and empowerment platform Young Islam Conference (JIK) promotes dialogue between young people from different backgrounds, takes up issues of our migration society and sets new impulses in the social debate around Islam and Muslims. The JIK is part of the programme line the Young Postmigrant Alliances which encompasses varied formats and themes that share a common approach, centered on postmigrant alliances and focusing on processes of social negotiation. Examples are the project „Moving Europe—Negotiating Legacies of Migration at the Museum“ and formats on the culture of debate and remembrance, media literacy and Muslim-Jewish alliances
- The peer education network Understanding Europe brings European issues and debates into the classroom. The formats are based on the approach of Peer Education, which aims to strengthen participation and self-determination. The peers act as role models and mediators at eye level with young people in and out of classrooms. Workshop topics are Europe, participation, media & journalism, social and climate justice.
- With our prizes, educational programmes & travel grants, we support young people to explore Europe and work for an inclusive, pluralistic Europe and against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism. These include the Young European of the Year, the Schwarzkopf Europe Award, and the Inge-Deutschkron-Award.
- As part of the initiative Zukunft D we aim to strengthen democracy in a digital and interconnected society. The project, led by AlgorithmWatch, aula, Liquid Democracy, the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe, and Wikimedia Germany, will build skills in this field, enable knowledge exchange, and foster nationwide networking. It stands for greater participation, easy and fair access to information, secure data, public infrastructures, as well as transparent decision-making and open access to data. It stands for greater participation, easy and fair access to information, secure data, public infrastructures, as well as transparent decision-making and open access to data.
- In addition, we organise discussion events where we bring young people into conversation with decision-makers, activists, contemporary witnesses and experts on topics related to an inclusive, pluralistic European society.
The long-standing successful cooperation with the Inge Deutschkron Foundation completes the thematic focus on combatting right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and racism. Both Foundations have committed their work for years to enhancing the knowledge of pupils and students about the horrors of National Socialism through talks, readings, and film screenings, and combating the rise of extreme right-wing tendencies in Germany and Europe.
The Schwarzkopf Foundation was accepted as an educational institution by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
3. Proof of non-profit status
The Schwarzkopf Foundation is an independent Foundation by civil law. The tax office of Berlin recognized the Schwarzkopf Foundation as a non-profit association. Here, you can find the corresponding most recent and former certificate.
4. Decision-makers
The name and function of important decision-makers are provided in the overview of the board members (currently led by Esra Kücük) and the team (currently led by Tomáš Sacher).
5. Activity Report
We view our online presence as a continuously updated representation of our current projects. An overview of our activities can also be found on this website and in our image-brochure.
6. Personnel structure
The Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe currently employs 38 permanent employees, including 4 student assistants and 1 intern. In addition, the foundation works with 7 volunteers. Overall, this adds up to 40,81 FTE. Employees hold 14 different nationalities and have a gender balance of around 60% female to 40% male (around 75% to 25% on management level). The foundation is also supported by temporary and honorary staff (as of September 2025).
7./8. Sources and Application of Funds
Our annual financial report gives an overview of the sources and application of our funds by means of the balance sheets and win and loss accounts for the period of 01.01. until 31.12.2021. You can find the current annual account here. The development of the past year can be read in the past reports for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
9. Association
Since 2004 the Schwarzkopf Foundation operates as the international umbrella organisation of the European Youth Parliament (EYP) which is also its biggest project. In close cooperation with the national associations of the EYP, the Schwarzkopf Foundation supports young people and their personal development.
You can find an overview of partners for common projects here.
10. Funding
The Schwarzkopf Foundation sources most of its means through project money. The following partners contributed each more than 10 per cent to our annual project funding in 2021:
- Funding from the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior citizens, Women and Youth as part of the “Demokratie Leben” project in the Seminar Programme
- Funding by the Berlin Senate Chancellery for the project office of the “European Capital of Volunteering 2021”
- Funding from the European Union in the framework of an “Operating Grant” within the European Commission’s funding scheme “Europe for Citizens” as well as project funding by the European Parliament and within the funding programme Erasmus+
- Funding from Stiftung Mercator for projects of the European Youth Parliament, the Young Islam Conference and Understanding Europe