Mayoral Candidate

Viola Pawelczyk is a visionary, entrepreneurially driven executive with more than 12 years of international leadership experience at C- and B-Level, most recently holding global responsibility for up to 9,000 employees. She has deep expertise in strategic corporate leadership, change management, M&A integration, talent management, and the development of scalable business models. Her work is characterised by operational excellence, a strong value compass and a pronounced sense of social responsibility.

Her career began in the hospitality industry and led her into senior change and quality management roles in international corporations, including Kempinski, HeidelbergCement, defence, automotive and Sixt. In advisory and leadership roles at HR Group (building a profit centre for training and quality management, M&A integration of 70 hotels) and at Swatch Group (global training strategy for retail and leadership), she further deepened her expertise in organisational development, people development and talent promotion.

As Founder of Leading.Akademie (currently in wind-down), Viola built more than 20 cooperation locations across the DACH region. She developed HR and leadership development concepts, training and leadership programmes, modular learning formats, as well as tailored organisational development and change processes for corporations, social economy organisations, SMEs and NGOs, always with a strong focus on empowerment and sustainable results.

In addition to her professional work, she is socially engaged as a Board Member of the German Junior Chamber of Commerce (including Head of Education & Business in Frankfurt), moderates educational initiatives and panel discussions (e.g. “1 Day as an Apprentice”) and was a finalist in the 2025 Mayoral Election of Bottrop.

She is a moderator, podcast host (“Wirtschaft Talkt”) and speaker on topics such as leadership, new work and female empowerment, and is involved in initiatives such as “Offen für Vielfalt” and in cooperation with the Trauma Center Kassel.

Viola Pawelczyk is an internationally connected strategist with a strong sense for innovation, excellence and sustainable transformation. She is recognised for clear communication, empathetic leadership and the ability to inspire and develop people and organisations alike – always with a focus on impact, continuous development and future viability.