Astrid (Kühne) Benker

Senior Change and Project Manager

Astrid Benker
Zürich, Switzerland

Experience

Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
2 years
Kenya

Co-Founder & Project Director

UTU Food4Good

Leveraged large volumes of post-harvest loss to build a long life, low cost, healthy and ready-to-eat vegetable-based food product to address nutrition challenges for low income consumers in Kenya

  • Responsible for successful series A and B equity financing which secured USD 11 Mil
  • Established governance, HR, finance and operations structures and policies
  • Expanded, trained and led team from 2 to 10 full-time staff members
  • Managed set up of first of its kind test kitchen in Africa
  • Managed development of 3 new recipes to be launched in East Africa
Jan 2015 - Present
9 years 2 months
Germany

Co-Founder & Project Manager

Bradora.com

Developed and bought to market a patented beauty bra that prevents cleavage wrinkles and relieves back pain

  • Received invitation to take part at "Die Höhle der Löwen" to pitch business idea to venture capitalists
  • Assessed global market and its drivers - derived top-line potential and market needs
  • Created marketing material for stakeholders and potential business partners
  • Managed external communication including set up of website
Jan 2014 - Dec 2015
2 years
Tanzania, United Republic of

Co-Founder

Financial Access Solution

Developed an innovative, cloud-based financial solution to enable the poorest of the poor to become bankable in cooperation with a for-profit bottle recycling company

  • Used Human-Centred Design approach to develop an innovative cash-free, branch-free, paper-free micro-finance model to promote financial inclusion of waste collectors
  • Set up loyalty program that Increased plastic waste collections from pilot group by 35%
  • Conducted extensive research of bottle collectors which became basis for the creation of collection app
  • Conducted interviews with bottle collectors and leadership team of recycling company to understand pain points and user experience of new collection app
  • Assessed E2E customer and user journey and mapped key pain points for bottle collectors
Jan 2009 - Present
15 years 2 months
Kenya

Co-Founder & Director

School4Life.org

Co-Founded NGO to alleviate poverty and create sustainable livelihoods in rural Kenya

  • Fundraised over USD 2.5 Mil, with 100% of funds reaching the projects
  • Turned mud hut for 200 orphans and 7 untrained teachers into permanent kindergarten, primary and secondary school, greenhouse and kitchen for 800 orphans and 100 trained full-time staff members with fixed monthly overheads of USD 10k
  • Set up first school for 30 disabled children in the area
  • Set up 2 orphanages for 60 needy children with permanent care
  • Set up leavers program to support 100+ graduates with university and college fees
  • Distributed over 3.5 Mil free school lunches
  • Leading volunteer team consisting of 25 core team members in Europe and Kenya
  • Managed over 250 international volunteers onsite
Germany

Employee Engagement Lead

Accenture

Supported internal campaigns to increase employee engagement and raise emotional commitment of 8,000 colleagues as well as external campaigns to strengthen and improve employer branding

  • Initiated and published an Employee Business Blog that, within a few months, became the most read blog across all 3 countries with the most followers within its category
  • Participated in campaign "Be Yourself - Make a Difference" to inspire current and future colleagues to follow their passion and dreams
  • Published articles on my experience as working mum to encourage women in leadership roles, among others, in "Edition F" and "Business Ladies"
India

Conflict Management Consultant

German NGO

Worked in rural India to provide trainings on institutional strengthening and capacity building to entrepreneurs, management and boards of the donor's beneficiaries

  • Conducted several integral conflict resolution and team building workshops with donor and beneficiaries and reestablished friendly and constructive relationships
  • Designed and implemented concept on Behavioural Change to optimise 25 vocational centres to become independent and financially self-sustainable from donor
  • Spoke as guest lecturer at schools on leadership topics like motivation, interpersonal relationships, communication skills, self-awareness, and team spirit
Switzerland

Operating Model Design Consultant

Global Beverage Company

Supported project leadership and client-c-level in global transformation program, shifting a vertical organization structure to a matrix organization, focusing on change facilitation for 6,000 employees in 30 facilities across Europe

  • Analyzed as-is and to-be operating model and identified and validated key opportunities and challenges for different stakeholder groups
  • Recommended change road map for reduction from 32 to 7 business leaders in Europe
  • Developed innovative change management toolbox for client that was show-cased within Accenture as a best practice example
  • Developed internal communication strategy for all stakeholders up to c-level
  • Designed, organized, moderated townhalls, kick off & vision workshops for up to 300 employees in various countries including follow-up Q&A sessions and lessons learned
  • Defined new roles, responsibilities and reporting lines for leadership teams
Japan

IT Implementation Consultant

Global Car Manufacturer

Implementation of dealer in-house retail management system to increase the effectivenesss of car dealers

  • Developed communication material for external main stakeholders
Germany

Change Lead

Global FMCG Company

Change lead responsible for change and training for pilot region Nordics for a global IT-System SAP S/4 HANA implementation.

  • Conducted stakeholder and change impact assessments
  • Developed engagement- and communication plans
  • Conducted training needs analysis and developed training plans and materials
  • Developed and revised necessary generic role descriptions
Switzerland

Cultural Diversity Office Lead

Global IT Company

Responsible for re-structuring and re-igniting the Cultural Diversity Office to enable and enhance cultural change for 8,000 employees in 3 countries

  • Developed a digital one-stop solution for new hires on relevant information (learning, training and support) and conducted induction trainings to coach and mentor new employees
  • Designed and delivered training sessions on cultural diversity and awareness
  • Developed culture cards with do's and don'ts distributed to 8,000 employees in 25 relevant countries that are included in every new hire welcome pack
  • Developed handbook "Creating Culture Change" to support client proposals
  • Conducted informational events on culture and organized yearly culture day
Switzerland

PMO Strategy Consultant

Global Leading Bank

Defined strategy for roll-out of Project Management Office (PMO) as shared services across bank to enforce consistent PMO approach for 3,600 employees across Switzerland

  • Designed and implemented communication strategy for specific target groups
  • Developed training program including stakeholder engagement, change impact analysis, training need analysis and business readiness assessment
  • Developed KPI's and conducted 360 interviews to measure change readiness of employees
  • Launched internal monthly magazine "PMO Zoom" featuring leadership support and success stories which increased employee's buy-in from initial 8% to 72%
Switzerland

Project Management Lead

Global Pharma Company

Project management lead for Change and Communication workstream with 3600+ impacted internal and external associates

  • Developed Change and Communication strategy (including stakeholder management) to focus on driving customer centricity and product mindset
  • Supported implementation of agile project framework including conceptual set up in Jira, agile coaching and moderating agile ceremonies
Tanzania, United Republic of

HR Cost Efficiency Consultant

Insurance Company

Evaluated cost structure of HR department and defined strategic options for cost reduction

  • Designed and implemented project plan to achieve 20% cost savings within one year
  • Identified organizational efficiency potentials of 20 FTE and restructured HR organization
  • Calculated business case to assess strategic options and evaluated impact on client
  • Defined new reporting lines for around 50 employees
Tanzania, United Republic of

Stakeholder Mapping Consultant

International NGO

Developed and implemented a toolkit to support in-country innovation to increase access to nutritious food for low income households in Kenya and Tanzania

  • Prepared a detailed stakeholder map, validated landscape analysis, identified potential partners, consulted with key stakeholders including Ministries and Prime Minister's Office
Germany

SAP Implementation Lead

Leading Beverage Company

Implemented global learning and development strategy for go-live support of SAP HR which introduced new agile ways of working for 1,000 super users in defined pilot markets

  • Developed and coordinated training schedule of 100 training sessions held within 2 weeks in 10 global locations for 1,000 staff members
  • Designed and moderated SAP training sessions in defined pilot markets for ongoing involvement and commitment for strategic decision makers and top management level, including "train the trainer" sessions
  • Designed, implemented, managed and handed-over knowledge academy and learning network for 6,000 end users at operating level
Spain

Strategy Consultant

Logistics Company

  • Assessed competitive landscape through competitor profiling, market share analysis and benchmarketing
  • Developed and implemented communication and marketing strategy for family-owned business
  • Analyzed as-is capabilities, governance and ways of working, leading to a 50% cost reduction
Tanzania, United Republic of

Leadership Training Facilitator

Microfinance Company

Moderator & trainer for several workshops and training sessions

  • Developed, facilitated and conducted leadership trainings on management topics
  • Moderated team-building workshops on optimal inter-cultural and character-based team composition for C-Level
Uganda

HR Department Setup Consultant

Multiple SMEs

Developed and implemented HR department structures in collaboration with shareholders, boards and management, and handed over to local staff for several for-profit companies

  • Designed and implemented HR policies and manuals (employer handbook, employee guidelines, job profiles, HR templates)
  • Implemented full talent management cycle (performance management, compensation and benefits, skill management, succession planning)
  • Set up knowledge academy (curriculum design, leadership coaching)
  • Facilitated talent strategy (hiring, on-boarding, staffing, succession planning, counseling, training, performance, employee engagement, KPI monitoring)
  • Designed recommendations on governance including FTE sizing and Roles & Responsibilities
  • Trained and handed over new tools to local directors and HR team
United States

Communication Strategy Consultant

Tourism Company

Created online communication and marketing strategy for US travel market

  • Developed market and industry trends analysis by conducting expert interviews
  • Performed quantitative modelling of market size, market growth and top-line potential

Summary

As an all-rounded Senior Strategy Consultant, certified in Change (Prosci), Project Management (GPM) and Agile (Scrum), I help leaders and organizations to embrace change, creating high performance teams and delivering long-term success. I have worked as a Manager at a top-tier consulting company for FTSE100 multi-nationals on complex, international and multi-cultural projects across various industries, business functions and countries. Profound expertise in: - Change Management (Stakeholder Management, Change Impact Analysis, Change Strategies, Change and Communication Plans, Corporate Communications, Resistance, Conflict and Crisis Management, Culture Change, Change KPIs) - Training and Development (Training Needs Analysis and Plans, Train-the-Trainer Concepts, Designing and Delivering Training Programs, Leadership and Team Development, Coaching, Team Building, Performance Development, Moderating Workshops) - Project Management (Agile Methodologies, Risk and Issue Management, Timeline and Resource Planning, Project Lifecycle Management)

Languages

German
Native
Portuguese
Native
English
Advanced
Spanish
Advanced
French
Intermediate
...and 1 more

Education

Oct 2007 - Jun 2008

University of Coventry

Bachelor of Arts · International Communication and Translation · United Kingdom

Oct 2006 - Jun 2010

Leuphana University of Lüneburg

PhD · Intercultural Teams - New Strategies on Effective Global Collaboration · Germany · magna cum laude

Oct 2005 - Jun 2008

University of Hildesheim

Bachelor of Arts · International Communication and Translation · Germany

Certifications & licenses

Certified Problem Solver and Change Manager

GAQM

Certified Professional Scrum Master TM I

Scrum.org

Certified Prosci Change Manager

Prosci

Certified Project Manager

International Project Management Association