Welcome

LIZ MoHN Foundation

The Liz Mohn Foundation is active in the areas of international relations, leadership and business, culture and music, and young people. Our work focuses on continuing and further developing the successful formats initiated by Liz Mohn, as well as the implementation of new ideas and projects.

Liz Mohn Foundation

Who we are

The Liz Mohn Foundation continues the successful activities of the Liz Mohn Foundation gGmbH and the Liz Mohn Culture and Music Foundation within an independent institution. Liz Mohn, the organization’s founder, and Matthias Meis are the members of the foundation’s Executive Board.

One of Liz Mohn’s and the foundation’s heartfelt concerns is building bridges of understanding across languages and borders in order to bring people of different nations, cultures, professions and positions, as well as from different generations, into dialogue with each other.

At the same time, Liz Mohn has always known that if there is to be peace, prosperity and progress in the world, leaders are needed in a variety of fields – from politics to business to culture – who strengthen social cohesion and who motivate people and inspire them to be creative.

That is why Liz Mohn feels it is important for her foundation to develop people and their individual talents early on, while encouraging them to participate in society. One of our core convictions in this regard is that culture and music give people self-confidence and bring them into contact with others, and are therefore very important for each individual’s personal development and for society as a whole.

The Liz Mohn Foundation pursues solely and directly philanthropic activities.  Headquartered in Gütersloh, it is an independent foundation under private law in accordance with Section 1 of the Foundation Act of the State of North Rhine–Westphalia. The supervisory authority that oversees its activities is the Detmold District Government.

Our Founder

Liz Mohn

Liz Mohn represents the fifth generation of Bertelsmann’s founding families.

As the initiator and chairwoman of her foundation, she is committed to ensuring a global transfer of knowledge.

“For me, every day is a bridge to the future which I’m keen to cross. Life has given me the great good fortune of being able to make a difference. I would like to give others the same opportunity.

I firmly believe you must attempt the impossible if you want to achieve the possible.”

She has pooled the successful activities carried out by the Liz Mohn Foundation gGmbH and the Liz Mohn Foundation for Culture and Music in order to form the Liz Mohn Foundation.

In addition to continuing the events and projects she has initiated herself, one of her special concerns as a philanthropist is launching new innovative activities that contribute to society and make our world a better, fairer and more peaceful place.

Our projects

Topics

The Liz Mohn Foundation accelerates the global transfer of knowledge based on evidence-driven findings and analysis. It does so in order to

  • promote culture, especially in the field of music, and education;
  • improve the quality of decision-making in politics, business and culture;
  • support decision makers in leading sustainably and responsibly;
  • increase understanding between nations and cultures; and
  • promote young talent from different areas of society.

Current News

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25. November 2025

Second module of the Future Leadership Training at BMW

What does responsible leadership look like in an increasingly complex world? This was the question addressed in the second module of the Liz Mohn Foundation’s Future Leadership Training program. Fifteen leaders from business, politics, and culture came together to reflect on key issues for the future and their own leadership[…]
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19. November 2025

Liz Mohn Foundation hosts “Masterclass“ with Elīna Garanča and Advent Concert 2025

. From November 25 to 29, 2025, Gütersloh will once again become a meeting place for musical brilliance: The Liz Mohn Foundation hosts a “Masterclass” with internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, followed by an Advent Concert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The world star will accompany eight selected young talents from[…]
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9. October 2025

Leadership in the age of AI: Managers are hesitant to use artificial intelligence

Managers recognize the potential of artificial intelligence for management tasks but remain reluctant to use it. This is shown by a new study of the Liz Mohn Foundation. Only about one-third of those surveyed use AI regularly, while at the same time about half can imagine using it more in[…]
Bürgerfest des Bundespräsidenten 2023

10. September 2025

“A Matter of Honor – I’m In”: Bertelsmann Stiftung and Liz Mohn Foundation at the Federal President’s Citizens’ Festival

“A matter of honor – I’m in”. With this motto, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Elke Büdenbender welcome their guests to this year’s Citizens’ Festival in Berlin. On September 13, the head of state invites guests to the park of Bellevue Palace to honor civic engagement in Germany. The[…]
LMST Besuch Haus Sophia

5. September 2025

Liz Mohn Foundation and Bethel launch unique nationwide support project

“What did you do today?” asks Liz Mohn. “A scavenger hunt!” comes the reply from the group of children standing in front of her. During her visit to Bielefeld-Bethel, the founder and chairwoman of the Gütersloh-based Liz Mohn Foundation (LMSt) immediately meets the girls and boys from “Growing together. Working[…]
The majority of young people wish to engage in society and take on responsibility

2. September 2025

The majority of young people wish to engage in society and take on responsibility

The representative survey of 12- to 18-year-olds conducted by the Liz Mohn Foundation demonstrates that children and young people want to contribute to society: Young people are in favor of compulsory service regardless of gender, which is to be completed after school, vocational training, or university.[…]

Contact

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us!

OUR FOUNDER

Building a bridge of understanding across countries, languages and borders and bringing people from different nations and cultures into dialogue is one of our founder’s heartfelt concerns.
About Liz Mohn

Our topics

Through its various activities, the Liz Mohn Foundation accelerates the global transfer of knowledge.
About Our topics

Our team

The team at the Liz Mohn Foundation is committed to developing innovative and socially responsible solutions that strengthen civic engagement.
About our team