About Us

Our Team

With over 200 talented staff working for the foundation globally, we pride ourselves for being able to bring on board people who love to learn, explore, and share their knowledge, skills, and experiences both inside and outside the foundation. In the Southeast and East Asia Region, we’ve got a pool of highly experienced directors and managers leading our programs and initiatives in seven project countries. Our country and regional teams bring with them diverse backgrounds ranging from academic and private sector fields to the non-profit and policy-related fields.

Moritz studied Business Administration in the US and Journalism in Germany. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Welle (DW) in 1998. In 2000, Moritz moved to Indonesia to be the Southeast Asia Correspondent for German Newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau, Tagesspiegel and Stuttgarter Zeitung. He joined the foundation in 2009 as Project Director Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia, based in Bangkok. From 2012 to 2013, Moritz was Head of the Asia Department and the Human Rights Department at the FNF Head Office in Potsdam. He later became Project Director of FNF Indonesia and Malaysia in 2013, before taking up the position of Head of Regional Office in Bangkok in December 2018.

Dr. Besold  studied Arabic Studies, Political Sciences and Religious Studies with a focus on the Arab world and Islam at the University of Leipzig, Germany. From 2000 to 2003 she did her Ph.D. on the international sanctions against Libya. From 2004 to 2013 she was working as a lecturer at the Oriental Institute of the University of Leipzig. In 2007/ 08 she worked for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). She headed FNF´s Country Office in Pakistan for four years from 2014-2018 before moving to Southeast Asia region as Head of FNF Indonesia and Malaysia Office in August 2018.

Frederic has been living in Asia since 2012, and spent most of his time here in huge Special Economic Zones, street protests, and windowless hotel conference halls. Before taking up his position as Project Director for Myanmar and Thailand in 2019, he was Southeast Asia Correspondent for the German business paper Handelsblatt. As a reporter based in Bangkok, Frederic covered the profound political and economic changes across the region.

Frederic graduated from Cologne School of Journalism and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Cologne.

Wolfgang has academic training in Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Computer Science. He holds a Master of Philosophy from Passau, Germany. He joined the Foundation in 2006 and worked for our projects in Myanmar and Malaysia from Bangkok, Thailand until 2012. He was then appointed Desk Officer for Southeast and East Asia at our Head Office in Potsdam, Germany where he helped coordinate cross-collaborative projects and programs for four years. As of June 2016, he is serving as the Country Director in the Philippines.

Dr. Taaks studied sinology, communication science/journalism and Theater Arts in Tübingen, Hamburg, Taipei and Berlin. He received his PhD at Free University Berlin on a historical topic. Since the late 1980s, he worked in the field of development cooperation for several German institutions. In 2004, he joined FNF, where he held since then several posts, amongst others, Director of Scholarship Programmes, Head of European and Transatlantic Dialogue Division and Head of Asia Division. Since September 2018, he is the Head of FNF Korea Office based in Seoul.

Prof. Dr. Stoffers studied political science and economics with a focus on International Relations and completed his PhD on German – Thai relations. As a long-time member of Deutsche Bank AG Vietnam Executive Board, he was responsible for successful market intelligence and opening up of new markets. As Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce (Euro Cham) and Board Member of the German Business Association Vietnam (GBA), Andreas established profitable business contacts with decision makers in business, lobbying organisations and politics. In 2014, he was the co-founder of the consulting firm ASEAN Business Partners GmbH, www.asean-bp.com. His many contacts in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and Vietnam, make him an expert on the entire ASEAN region. 

Björn joined the foundation in 2003, with his initial appointment at our Southeast and East Asia Regional Office where he headed the region’s finance and accounting department for 10 years, overseeing and coordinating 10 countries in the region. In 2013 he moved to Sofia, Bulgaria to FNF’s Southeast and Eastern Europe Regional Office. He returned to Bangkok in July 2019, again heading the foundation’s finance and accounting department in Southeast and East Asia.

His academic training is in Political Economics from Hamburg University. Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked in the corporate sector for the Brewery Beck & Co. in Bremen, Germany as procurement manager from 1999 - 2003.