CFK US ADVISORY BOARD

Irene Federwisch
Member, Advisory Board

Born in Berlin, Germany, Mrs. Federwisch studied fine arts at the Free University of Berlin. She became a journalist, then editor, at the Schw?bische Donau-Zeitung, a leading south German newspaper in Ulm. Later, her short stories based on eight years of life in Africa were published in South Africa and Europe. While in Malawi, she had publications and film assignments for the German Embassy.

Starting in 1977, she has served at the Development Policy Forum of the German Foundation for International Development(DSE) in Berlin, a quasi-governmental institution affiliated with the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and the German Foreign Ministry. As Senior Program Coordinator, she has traveled throughout the world and worked closely with United Nations agencies, World Bank, ministries, embassies, universities, and others in organizing high-level international policy dialogues; themes have included population, disarmament, global and regional water policies, opening markets in Africa, culture and development, and urban good governance. Since 2000, Mrs. Federwisch divides her time between Berlin and Washington D.C. She has lectured in the U.S. at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Williams College, and the United Nations Association.

In 2005 she retired after 28 years of service in Germany and is currently engaged in charitable work and real estate. She serves on the executive committee of a Berlin housing cooperative and on the advisory board of Carolina for Kibera/UNC,Chapel Hill.