Liz Heid

Background

About Liz Heid

I am a (social) entrepreneur a passion for growing purpose-driven organizations and developing individuals and teams to drive meaningful change.As a founder of Teach First Deutschland, I re-committed myself to a mission that has been close to my heart since the beginning of my career: Recruiting and developing top talent to tackle educational inequity in Germany. As deep divides threaten our society and democracy, this mission is as important as ever. As CEO, my focus lies on putting our Theory of Change into practice, negotiating with public and private stakeholders to secure sustainable funding for our work, and attracting promising leaders to our program.I spent almost a decade with KONU, a boutique leadership development firm with offices in Berlin, Washington D.C, and Tel Aviv. As Partner and co-founder of KONU in Germany (2015-2022), I developed our client base in Germany, coached executives, designed and ran leadership development programs. More recently, as COO (2022-2023), I crafted the policies and practices needed for KONU to grow, developed and executed our recruiting, hiring, and people development strategies, as well as our lead generation and marketing strategy. My work is inspired by my own experiences as a change agent: I co-founded Teach First Deutschland (2007-2011) and was Director of School Turnaround for Berlin schools (2013-2015). From these experiences, I draw the conviction that leadership can come from everywhere. I also developed an appreciation for how hard it is to bring about change in complex system - and how meaningful it is to have a sparring partner to help you see the bigger picture, unleash your strengths, plan your next steps, and take care of yourself.I hold a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and an MA International Relations from Free University Berlin. I am an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation. I bring an international perspective to my work: I have German and British heritage, was born in New York City, and grew up in Germany, Singapore, and the United States. Berlin is my chosen home and where I live with my blended family and children. I am also an avid runner - you'll see me at the Berlin Marathon start and finish lines every year.