Meet the Sovereign Tech Agency

Last week we announced that the Sovereign Tech Agency is the new organizational home for the Sovereign Tech Fund, as well as our other programs. Over the past two years, we've evolved and grown into an independent organization and the process showed us that the word “fund” doesn't encompass everything we do. The Sovereign Tech Agency is now home to our programs, our mission of strengthening critical digital infrastructure, as well as to our expanding team.

We usually share about the projects we invest in, highlight about specific technologies that are relevant to the public interest, or report on developments in our organization. We don’t talk about ourselves, the people who drive the Sovereign Tech Agency. Today, we’re finally talking a bit about about the people behind the organization.

Along with the establishment of the new Sovereign Tech Agency, comes a revamped leadership team. At the helm are Adriana Groh, Luisa von Beust and Fiona Krakenbürger, who together shape the strategic direction of the organization and ensure that our goals are clear in our day-to-day work. With their experience and vision, they help set the organization's course, establish priorities, and develop organizational structures.

Adriana Groh - CEO

As co-initiator of the Sovereign Tech Fund and managing director, Adriana leads the strategy and organizational development of the Sovereign Tech Agency. She is the driving force when it comes to building strong connections with stakeholders from politics and society, and clearly defines our strategic goals.

Luisa von Beust - CEO

Luisa is our CEO and managing director. She is responsible for finance, operations, legal, and human resources, and ensures that all resources are used efficiently and effectively. With her eye for detail and strategic thinking, she lays the operational foundations for the Sovereign Tech Agency.

Fiona Krakenbürger - CTO

Fiona, also co-initiator of the Sovereign Tech Fund, shapes our tech strategy as CTO and is responsible for technological investment. With her in-depth expertise and experience, she leads the Tech- and Investments Team and developes the agencies portfolio. She connects us with important stakeholders in the international tech- and open source community and ensures that our funds are used effectively.

We are a small but growing team that has been set up with a clear purpose from the start. Each person at Sovereign Tech Agency contributes directly to implementing our goals and moving our vision forward. Our deep experience in open source funding and our familiarity with the open source ecosystem are our greatest asset and make us flexible and effective. The team brings together diverse backgrounds from startups, NGOs, and research organizations. Together, we’re working to develop the Sovereign Tech Agency as an effective institution for strengthening digital sovereignty.

Roles with central impact

There are a few key people at Sovereign Tech Agency whose work doesn’t fit so easily into a particular team. that create an important basis for our daily work and set the course for our projects.

Lara Bokor is responsible for office management. This includes, for example, organizing purchasing and ensuring that everything runs smoothly in the office. With a sense of structure, Lara creates the conditions that make everyday work easier for our team and keeps track of organizational processes.

As our in-house legal counsel, Marlene Lindemann provides support in legal review and drafting of contracts, and assists the team with general legal questions. With her expertise in public procurement law, she ensures that our agreements are watertight and that we are well prepared for any legal questions.

Paul Sharratt leads quantitative and qualitative research and manages our external research collaborations. With his commitment to open guidelines, he works to ensure that digital infrastructure is sustainable and accessible. His work grounds our programs and activities in empirical research and connects us to the latest scientific developments in the field of open source.

The Tech & Investments Team - identifying and investing in open technologies

The Sovereign Tech Agency is currently active in four areas to strengthen foundational, open technologies in different ways: Sovereign Tech Fund, Sovereign Tech Resilience, Sovereign Tech Fellowship and Sovereign Tech Challenge. Mirko Swillius, Abigail Garner, Ben Asante and Jacky Bender form the Tech & Investments Team. They identify and review potential open source software technologies that come into question for commissioning. They accompany the projects, all the way from the initial proposal to the awarding of the contract through to successful completion. The program team is also collaborates with our external experts.

The Tech & Investments Team guides FOSS projects through the financing process and are a single point of contact. By maintaining close relationships with the commissioned projects, they ensure that each investment is not only carefully selected, but also has the support they need over the duration of the contract.

Working with maintainers and FOSS communities gives the team a deep understanding of their work and the challenges they face. This understanding helps the team to accurately assess the impact of our investments.

Our two technologists Tara Tarakiyee and Lorenzo Sciandra have a particular role within the organization and the Tech & Investments Team both advising on technical questions and representing us to FOSS communities. In addition to the work of the Tech & Investments Team, they also provide technical assessments of technologies they have scouted, or that have applied to us for funding. With their many years of experience in free and open source software, and deep networking in such their knowledge of software technologies helps them to identify vulnerable dependencies and to assess the long-term impact on the ecosystem. In addition, they always keep an eye on underserved, foundational technologies and develop new, targeted ways to support them. Their strategic view helps the Sovereign Tech Agency to strengthen the open source ecosystem sustainably.

Our communications team: bridging technology and the public

We recognized early on that the work of the Sovereign Tech Agency and the benefits it provides often require explanation. Our stakeholders are diverse – from policymakers and technology experts to the general public – and all of them should understand why our work is important. This is precisely where our communications team comes in, consisting of Powen Shiah and Theresa Röcher. They translate complex technologies and our mission into clear, understandable messages for our target audiences. In doing so, they’re bridging the technical and political worlds and make the work of the Sovereign Tech Agency more transparent.

As a hybrid team, we are spread across different locations – not only in Berlin or within Germany, but also in other European countries. This requires close coordination and regular, open communication. Transparency is particularly important to us so that everyone, no matter where or how they work, always feels included.

Even though we as a team do not all work at the same location, we place a high value on interpersonal communication and strive to meet regularly in-person to collaborate together and build our working relationships.

We believe that digital sovereignty is the key to a sustainable society. The open source ecosystem provides the foundation for innovation, competitiveness, and democracy. We are committed to strengthening this ecosystem in the public interest by focusing on security, stability, and technological diversity – and always keeping the people behind the code in mind.

We see ourselves as a team that is open, accessible and trustworthy, just like the software we support. We believe that open digital infrastructure is crucial not only for technological progress, but also for participation and democracy.

We are always open to discussions and conversations – be it about our projects, our mission, or topics of shared interest. Follow us on our social media channels or subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed to stay up to date and learn more about the Sovereign Tech Agency.

In addition, various team members are regularly on the road at events, which we usually announce on social media. This way, you can also meet us in person and maybe even grab a sticker.