AmCham Germany's Annual Membership Meeting took place in Hamburg on May 17th. Around 250 members travelled to the Hanseatic City to review the past year, elect new members of the Chamber's governing bodies and listen to best-practice sessions high above the city on the 23rd floor of the EMPORIO.
AmCham Germany's President Frank Sportolari, who has been President of AmCham Germany since April 2018, kicked off the Membership Meeting by taking a look back at the Chamber's achievements over the past year. AmCham Germany's mission to maintain German-American dialogue, on a political and strategic level, by advocating its members' interests were fruitful. Top-level meetings with US and German political officials helped forge new relationships and maintain old ones. One such occasion was the Transatlantic Business Conference in November 2018 with the title "In Trade We Trust – Shaping the Global Marketplace in Times of Disruption." In times when economic protectionism is becoming a viable alternative to some, it's of great importance that we remind political actors on both sides of the Atlantic of the transatlantic values that have brought peace and prosperity to our continents over the past 75 years.
In her annual report, General Manager Eveline Metzen referred to the increasingly important role AmCham Germany is playing in terms of providing expert advice on business trade, and transatlantic relations as well as the Chamber's substantial presence in national and international media. "For the media, we naturally represent the voice of our stakeholders, and increasingly as a voice of reason," Metzen explained.
In addition to these reflections, AmCham's Membership Meeting witnessed the election of new individuals to the Executive Committee.
Sabine Bendiek, CEO of Microsoft Germany, will represent AmCham Germany as the new Executive Vice President, effective immediately. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Executive Committee. From 2013 to 2015, Bendiek was a member of the Chamber's Board of Directors and is also active in the industry association Bitkom. In her new function as Executive Vice President, she has taken upon herself the goal of promoting solid, value-based German-American business relations.
With Dr. Sylvia Rothblum, the role of Diversity Champion has also rotated to a new individual. She is the successor of Bianca Bourbon, Executive Director of Coca-Cola in Berlin. Effective immediately, Rothblum is in charge of diversity and transparency within AmCham Germany's governing structures and will foster these topics within the Chamber's membership. She has been a member of the Chamber's Executive Committee since 2018 and was previously active in its Board of Directors. Rothblum has been Senior Vice President and Managing Director of German-Speaking Territories at Warner Bros. since 2007.
Other new additions to the Executive Committee of AmCham Germany include Dr. Donatus Kaufmann, Member of the Executive Board of Thyssenkrupp AG and responsible for the regions North America and Western Europe, and Warren Marine, a US citizen who is Partner and USA Country Practice Manager at KPMG. Marine is the successor of previous treasurer Armin Slotta.
