“The work of help alliance is pioneering”

Vivian Spohr has been patroness of help alliance since 10 years. During this time, she has visited and supported numerous projects worldwide. In this anniversary interview, she talks about her personal highlights and her perspective on the importance of help alliance’s work.

Ms. Spohr, how do you look at the 25th anniversary of the help alliance?

Vivian Spohr: During the ten years that I have been supporting help alliance as a patron, I have seen a steady development and expansion. The commitment of our employees has continued to grow strongly in recent years. I think that’s great and remarkable. As an organization, we have become more professional and expanded our reach. The expertise we have built up over decades is evident both in our projects and in our global communities. I am happy and grateful for this success.

What have been the highlight moments for you in the last 10 years?

The transformation of the association into a non-profit limited company in 2017 was an important milestone. Looking at the projects, I would like to mention the opening of the iThemba Primary School in South Africa as a highlight, where we now offer over 1,000 children access to high-quality education. It is the largest project in the history of help alliance. I would also like to highlight the OnSite Event 2023, to which we invited our almost 85 Community & Project Leads worldwide to Seeheim. In total, we were around 100 people who are involved worldwide in the name of help alliance. Our global network became really tangible and it was visible to everyone that help alliance has developed into a worldwide movement.

What do you wish the help alliance for the future?

I hope that the numerous employees of the Lufthansa Group remain as committed and continue to support the organization with so much passion and heart. And I hope that help alliance can continue its 25-year history of success and growth and continue to increase its global impact and reach even more children and young people.

What future challenges do you expect and how should help alliance meet them?

Unfortunately, the political situation in many countries is not all positive.  The exchange between cultures and international networking is more important than ever. We as help alliance should continue to help with our projects where we are needed. Our internationality paired with our local presence in so many locations worldwide is one of our greatest benefits. We can use this and make conscious use of it.

What excites you personally about the help alliance?

I have two children myself and know how important it is to accompany them on their journey. That’s why projects that focus on children, give them access to education and thus enable them to have a self-determined future are particularly close to my heart. I also think it’s great that help alliance builds local ownership in all projects right from the start and has thus established a worldwide network of experts in the context of education and social entrepreneurship – I think that’s pioneering and I’m grateful for contributing to it!