Pioneers and companions

"In the following, I would like to pay tribute to people who accompany or have accompanied me on my "foundation journey".

They are either people who have paved the way for me to set up my own foundation and/or have given me great encouragement in the idea of setting up my own foundation in order to give my long charitable activities a more structured and sustainable framework.

They support me in an analytical-advising, creative-technical, encouraging-balancing, professional-competent way or are simply "all in one" in their role.

What could be better than shaping your own commitment with people who share the same vision and passion? In this cooperation, something common can emerge that is at the same time completely mine. That is co-creation. A joint process that produces something that I couldn't create on my own. It's as if I have access to an infinite shared pool of possibilities."

Petra Martin, founder

José Hazañas

Coming from a Spanish family, José Hazañas was born in Munich. He is married and has a son. He began his professional career in the banking sector in Munich in 1993. "I was always lucky enough to have someone around me who supported me," José Hazañas looks back with gratitude. In 2003, he moved to UBS Germany and, after ten years at the private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser in Munich, found his new and current sphere of activity. Here he is responsible for looking after private clients, companies and foundations. He supports various initiatives hand in hand with his employer, but also privately, and is happy to pass on his personal experience.

"In my childhood, I spent every summer in Spain. As a young boy, the open waste incineration in my mother's village was etched in my memory. This was already a step forward, because before that people simply threw their garbage off a bridge into the river. Even back then, that didn't seem right to me. Later, during my travels, I noticed again and again that the topic of environmental protection was comparatively more present in Germany. With Ms. Martin, I now have the opportunity to make effective use of the momentum that is currently being generated. Similar to a seed investor, we enable or accelerate new initiatives that should then become self-sustaining as soon as possible. Thanks to my professional background, I can always help both the foundation and our partners strategically and organizationally. At the same time, I learn an incredible amount - knowledge that I pass on directly to my son. Because I believe that the most important thing is to make it clear to the younger generation, also as a role model at home, that environmental protection concerns us all and that we can all contribute to it. After all, it is the next generations who will have to bear the consequences of our treatment of nature. And after all, nature is more enduring than humanity."

The Rio Ribadil, the river in A Cañiza, my mother's village, is clean and clear again. The issue of environmental protection has now become more important there too. The fish are slowly coming back. Wonderful hiking trails have been built and signposted. The plastic is no longer visible because it has moved on to the sea. The mountain of garbage has been filled in. The eternal fire no longer smokes or stinks."

Peter Wohlleben

"Petra Martin and I got to know each other through a book - 'The Secret Life of Trees'. It was written at the suggestion of my wife, who wanted to be able to pass on my forest tours in written form.

Even as a small child, I wanted to become a conservationist. I did research in gravel pits, but also in my room at home, observing spiders, mealworms and water turtles. Later, I studied forestry because I wanted to become something like a forest ranger - a mistake, as it turned out.

Foresters don't protect the forests, they mainly exploit them. I wanted to correct this through all possible channels. Books, films and radio programs are a good way of doing this. It is even better to protect the forest legally by leasing it and then allowing it to continue to grow without human disturbance. At the same time, awareness must also change, especially among those who are entrusted with its protection and management.

Petra Martin immediately pledged her support in both cases, both for the forest and for a new course in "Ecological Forest Management". These are gifts with a long-term effect on people and nature that cannot be overestimated. I am really happy that our lives have crossed paths because I can now work in the way I wanted to as a small child."

Sebastian Joy

Sebastian Joy is the founding president of ProVeg International, an international food organization committed to transforming the global food system by replacing conventional animal products with plant-based and cultured alternatives. In addition to ProVeg, Sebastian is co-founder and chairman of 50by40.org, an international alliance of over 60 NGOs with the mission to reduce global consumption of animal products by 50% by 2040. He is also Vice President of the European Vegetarian Union and a mentor at Charity Entrepreneurship and was a lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the Berlin School of Economics and Law for several years.

"My main motivation in life has always been to help make the world a better place - a place with less suffering and a better life for all sentient beings. To this end, I have been inspired and guided by the principles now known as effective altruism - the idea that we use our resources - time, money, effort, etc. - as effectively as possible to create as much good as possible in the world.

"In Petra Martin, I have found a comrade-in-arms and friend who is instrumental in helping us realize our vision of a sustainable, plant-based food system. With her progressive and innovation-oriented focus, Petra enables the further development of projects such as 'Delicious Food for Everyone' and the ProVeg Incubator. With 'Delicious food for everyone', we work together to make healthy, environmentally and animal-friendly food tasty for schoolchildren. With the ProVeg Incubator, we help dozens of committed and talented young entrepreneurs every year to bring tasty and sustainable alternatives to animal products onto the market. I am grateful that Petra and I have crossed paths and look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration."

Thomas Hock

"I have been accompanying Ms. Martin for many years now. In the beginning, the focus was more on traditional banking topics - I was still working for private banks at the time - but over time, we increasingly exchanged more far-reaching ideas. We discussed the careful and conscious treatment of nature, which was also reflected in our investment philosophy - well before the adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to ensure global sustainable development on an economic, social and ecological level. Since becoming self-employed in 2017, I have been supporting Ms. Martin on a project-related basis and am available as a family officer. We discuss issues relating to asset structuring, foundations, aspects of impact investing or discuss questions and possible activities in the field of philanthropy. I was already involved in the initial thoughts on initiating a foundation and, as a long-standing foundation specialist, was able to support Ms. Martin and provide operational advice. As I have been responsible for various voluntary positions for many years, my implementation-oriented consulting focus is on strategic and operational aspects - how to efficiently shape structures and establish the ability to act without neglecting the important strategic issues. Sustainability, one of the topics for the Stiftung Zukunft jetzt!, has always been an issue for me since my 'critical phase' as a teenager. In my private life, we make an effort in the family to use our resources sparingly and to fulfill our obligations to the environment. Professionally, this is reflected in the fact that my business vehicle is a 'company bike' (without an electric motor) and my main means of travel is by train. My business partner Olaf Heitplatz, who is based in Hamburg, and I have also decided to make our 'Family Office Boutique' CO2-neutral in 2021. We are very excited about this project and are looking forward to the challenge."

Tobias Wohlleben

Tobias Wohlleben grew up as the son of a forester in a small Eifel community. There he came into contact with new ideas relating to forest and nature conservation at a very early age. After graduating from high school, he began studying geography in Bonn and founded a software company at the same time. In 2018, he took over the management of Wohlleben's Forest Academy, which he has been running ever since. The Forest Academy was founded in 2016 by his father Peter Wohlleben and is committed to forest conservation in Germany.

"I grew up in a forester's lodge in the middle of the forest. The forest has been with me since the first day of my life and I see it as my task to leave an intact ecosystem with all its small and large wonders for future generations. This is a big but achievable task. I've met a lot of great people over the past few years who give me a lot of confidence that we're on the right track."

veryape

"We got to know Ms. Martin during the relaunch of the foundation's website. Right from the start, we were impressed by her way of tackling things constructively and standing up for a better future. "There's a lot to do, so let's get on with it!" is freely quoted, but it sums up well the inspiring approach that Ms. Martin and the Stiftung Zukunft jetzt! are using to shape the transformation towards a more sustainable future for us all. The same approach applies to our agency and to us privately, and so we try to make a contribution to preserving a world worth living in both in our daily work and in our free time. We believe that we all have the opportunity to make a difference through our actions and foundations like this motivate us to continue on this path.

We are delighted to have been managing the online presence of the Stiftung Zukunft jetzt! since July 2024 and to be playing our part in making a more sustainable future possible for us all."

Birgit Zimmermann

"I met Petra Martin a few years ago through a mutual acquaintance and we immediately clicked: her unpretentious way of tackling things and making things happen is second to none and has always encouraged me in my personal and professional development.

Since then, our paths have crossed regularly for various projects and also privately and I am very happy about the inspiring exchange that has grown between us.

Even as a child, I loved roaming through nature, taming snails, rescuing tadpoles from puddles, growing trees from seeds and looking after the animals of neighbors and relatives. Working with Petra Martin always gives me the opportunity to combine my passions with my job, and I am very grateful for that.

We can all make a difference, because every one of the many decisions we make every day counts - whether that's voting with our shopping list, picking up a piece of garbage, rethinking our travel habits or pioneering projects.

Petra Martin is an invaluable source of inspiration for a rethink in society. Thank you for allowing me to contribute to this!"

Andrew Murphy

"Wanting more and demanding more - always with the aim of making the world a little bit better. This has been my experience of Ms. Martin since we first met. As an asset manager with over 22 years of specialization in sustainable investment, I am delighted to be able to support Ms. Martin and to be both a financial portfolio manager and a sparring partner for her with Murphy&Spitz Nachhaltige Vermögensverwalter. More than just managing money, but shaping and directing it, using it wisely and really making a difference - that is the common goal that drives our collaboration.

Behind all of this, however, is Ms. Martin's incomparable intrinsic motivation and the will to take on responsibility and bring the environment, nature and society into harmony. Anyone who meets Ms. Martin senses this from the very first encounter. I can best describe the exchange with Ms. Martin with the words intensive and productive. Unpretentious and focused on the essentials, getting to the core of an investment with clever questions - this is what characterizes her in our regular conversations. Her maxim: lead with questions and always subject your actions to a moral assessment. Always remaining curious and open to new ideas are qualities that characterize her in everything she does.

With people like Petra Martin and her foundation, our world is becoming a better place. I'm really looking forward to the topics ahead!"

Clifton Rajesh Grover

"In view of the many challenges of our day, I feel more than ever a citizen of the world," says the Berliner with North Indian roots. Clifton Grover has been active for years as a founder, activist and consultant in the third sector and is involved in various committees at international and national level. "The major social issues of our time are characterized by a high degree of complexity. Individual actors, even powerful ones, are hardly able to achieve positive and sustainable change on their own. Since 2012, I have therefore been working on the question of how collaboration can be organized effectively and have founded an agency for impact-oriented collaboration called gemeinsam.wirken. This brought me together with Petra Martin and the Stiftung Zukunft jetzt! together. Their approach is precisely to make an effective contribution to preserving the planetary basis of life by linking different fields of action and stakeholders. It is a great pleasure for me personally not only to share this vision and task with Petra Martin and all other supporters of the foundation, but also to promote it to the best of my ability as a pioneer and companion."