Our Mem­bers

Kul­tur­ton—Agency for Diver­sity & Transculturality—was foun­ded in 2018 by Tür­kân Deniz-Rog­­gen­­buck in Braun­schweig. The agency sup­ports pri­­vate-sec­­tor com­pa­nies, edu­ca­tio­nal insti­tu­ti­ons, and cul­tu­ral orga­niza­ti­ons throug­hout Ger­many in change pro­ces­ses aimed at com­ba­ting dis­cri­mi­na­tion. Its work includes pro­cess and orga­niza­tio­nal design, expert faci­li­ta­tion, and ori­gi­nal pro­grams such as “Klipp&Klar—the Children’s Salon,” which create spaces for exch­ange and social participation.

The focus is always on issues of power, belon­ging, and par­ti­ci­pa­tion. This work builds on the founder’s long-stan­­ding com­mit­ment: From 2006 to 2021, she shaped the Abra­hams Kin­der asso­cia­tion as its foun­der and chairwoman.

For Kul­tur­ton, the slo­gan “Space for Diver­sity” means embed­ding equa­lity in ever­y­day life and in insti­tu­tio­nal structures.

Since 2014, the Fede­ral Par­ents’ Repre­sen­ta­tive Body for Child­ren in Day­care Faci­li­ties and
Child Day Care (bevki) has ser­ved as a sta­tu­tory, vol­un­­teer-based
body repre­sen­ting the inte­rests of par­ents and legal guar­di­ans of child­ren of day­care age
in dealings with poli­cy­ma­kers. The bevki may and should advise the fede­ral govern­ment; it must be con­sul­ted
on all day­care issues. Its rights to co-deter­­mi­na­­tion are gua­ran­teed in SGB VIII
Art. 83, para. 3. 

As an edu­ca­tion union within the Ger­man Trade Union Fede­ra­tion, we stand up for all peo­ple working in edu­ca­tio­nal and aca­de­mic pro­fes­si­ons and advo­cate for their inte­rests. The GEW is poli­ti­cally inde­pen­dent but not impar­tial. This means we take a stand for workers and for the deve­lo­p­ment and expan­sion of a demo­cra­tic edu­ca­tion sys­tem. Edu­ca­tion must include ever­yone and break down exis­ting social ine­qua­li­ties. There must be no exclu­sion based on ori­gin, social sta­tus, reli­gion, gen­der, or natio­na­lity. We advo­cate for the right to edu­ca­tion for ever­yone within an inclu­sive edu­ca­tion system. 

Foun­ded in 2007, nifbe gui­des and sup­ports the pro­fes­sio­na­liza­tion of early child­hood edu­ca­tion in insti­tu­tio­nal child care set­tings. One of its main tasks is to fos­ter col­la­bo­ra­tion across the various levels of early child­hood edu­ca­tion and to focus on “know­ledge trans­fer through dia­lo­gue.” New sci­en­ti­fic fin­dings and con­cepts are dis­se­mi­na­ted to child care cen­ters, and cur­rent chal­lenges, needs, and suc­cessful prac­ti­cal approa­ches are fed back into the aca­de­mic com­mu­nity. This includes the imple­men­ta­tion and sup­port of needs-based and pro­cess-ori­en­­ted inter­ven­tion formats—such as the state-wide pro­fes­sio­nal deve­lo­p­ment initia­ti­ves addres­sing cur­rent edu­ca­tio­nal policy challenges—as well as know­ledge trans­fer through third-party fun­ded pro­jects. Trans­fer pro­ducts are then dis­se­mi­na­ted in the field. Fur­ther­more, demo­­cracy-buil­­ding is con­ti­nuously addres­sed in scho­larly publi­ca­ti­ons, in spe­cia­li­zed texts on the web­site, and in (online) event series. 

In the state capi­tal of Hano­ver, there are a total of 475 day­care cen­ters run by a wide variety of orga­niza­ti­ons. We have alre­ady made signi­fi­cant pro­gress in rai­sing awa­re­ness about dis­cri­mi­na­tion, for exam­ple, through the ongo­ing deve­lo­p­ment of our family cen­ters and through staff trai­ning. Tog­e­ther with the inde­pen­dent pro­vi­ders, we want to con­ti­nue working in prac­tice to eli­mi­nate dis­cri­mi­na­tion; to this end, we are happy to draw on the ideas from DeZIM and GeDAB and would like to con­tri­bute our fin­dings to the guide plan­ned by GeDAB. 

The Insti­tute for the Situa­tio­nal Approach (ISTA) at the Inter­na­tio­nal Aca­demy Ber­lin (INA) gGmbH was foun­ded in 1996 and is dedi­ca­ted to the fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment and dis­se­mi­na­tion of the situa­tio­nal approach.
Through con­ti­nuing edu­ca­tion and trai­ning pro­grams, as well as various rese­arch and prac­ti­cal pro­jects focu­sed on the Situa­tio­nal Approach, qua­lity deve­lo­p­ment, and eva­lua­tion, children’s rights, and child pro­tec­tion, ISTA works to ack­now­ledge and take seriously all perspectives—including, and espe­ci­ally, those of children—to explore them, and to give them space—at all levels, from rese­arch to day­care prac­tice, from daily group life to the orga­niza­tio­nal level.
To this end, children’s per­spec­ti­ves have been gathe­red in all pro­jects since 2016. 

For over 30 years, the Ger­man Child­ren and Youth Foun­da­tion has been working to pro­mote a just, demo­cra­tic, and diverse society in which child­ren and young peo­ple can grow up well and find oppor­tu­ni­ties for their future. To this end, it focu­ses on edu­ca­tion that sup­ports every child from the very begin­ning and ensu­res that young peo­ple can have a say, help shape their future, and get involved. 

The Fede­ral Working Group of Par­ents’ Initia­ti­ves (BAGE) e.V. is a nati­on­wide asso­cia­tion of 29 regio­nal cont­act and coun­seling cen­ters, umbrella orga­niza­ti­ons, and state working groups of par­ents’ initia­ti­ves and other pro­vi­ders of self-orga­­ni­­zed child day care. Its exe­cu­tive office repres­ents the inte­rests of par­ents’ initia­ti­ves at the fede­ral level. Foun­ded in 1986, the initia­tive pro­mo­tes self-help among par­ents and fami­lies, paren­tal auto­nomy, and civic engagement. 

Through its mem­bers, BAGE offers advice and sup­port to parent-led initia­ti­ves and self-orga­­ni­­zed child care pro­grams. It also orga­ni­zes nati­on­wide con­fe­ren­ces and pro­fes­sio­nal deve­lo­p­ment events for advo­ca­tes, edu­ca­tors, and par­ents. They also publish mate­ri­als on various edu­ca­tio­nal and struc­tu­ral topics rele­vant to parent-led initia­ti­ves and small inde­pen­dent pro­vi­ders. Tog­e­ther, they advo­cate for self-orga­­ni­­zed, needs-based, and high-qua­­lity child care. 

The Lower Sax­ony Migrant Par­ents Net­work, which is sup­ported by the umbrella orga­niza­tion amfn e.V., has been advo­ca­ting for equal oppor­tu­ni­ties for child­ren and youth with a migra­tion back­ground since 2011. The goal is to create the con­di­ti­ons for grea­ter social par­ti­ci­pa­tion through impro­ved edu­ca­tio­nal oppor­tu­ni­ties. To achieve this, we con­nect, inform, and empower immi­grant par­ents both sta­te­wide and locally so that they can con­fi­dently and asser­tively advo­cate for their children’s edu­ca­tion. By repre­sen­ting their con­cerns as a poli­ti­cal advo­cacy group before schools, muni­ci­pa­li­ties, and the state of Lower Sax­ony, we con­tri­bute to grea­ter equa­lity of oppor­tu­nity. Our work is empowe­ring, par­ti­ci­pa­tory, and desi­gned to address both indi­vi­dual and struc­tu­ral issues, and it is firmly roo­ted in the local community. 

The Fede­ral Par­ents’ Net­work of Migrant Orga­niza­ti­ons for Edu­ca­tion and Par­ti­ci­pa­tion (bbt) works nati­on­wide to streng­then par­ents and fami­lies with a migra­tion back­ground through poli­ti­cal advo­cacy, edu­ca­tio­nal and empower­ment pro­grams, and the net­wor­king of migrant orga­niza­ti­ons. At the heart of its work is close col­la­bo­ra­tion with mem­ber orga­niza­ti­ons; the asso­cia­tion brings tog­e­ther their expe­ri­en­ces and per­spec­ti­ves, rai­ses their visi­bi­lity, and incor­po­ra­tes them into deba­tes on edu­ca­tion and social policy. In addi­tion, the bbt deve­lops con­cepts and mate­ri­als, orga­ni­zes events, and advi­ses poli­cy­ma­kers and insti­tu­ti­ons on how to break down bar­riers in the edu­ca­tion sys­tem and pro­mote the equal par­ti­ci­pa­tion of fami­lies with a migra­tion background. 

“Lan­guage Edu­ca­tion in Day­care Cen­ters” is a pro­fes­sio­nal deve­lo­p­ment and rese­arch pro­ject focu­sed on trai­ning and qua­lity assu­rance in the area of lan­guage edu­ca­tion inte­gra­ted into daily life in Schles­­wig-Hol­stein, which is fun­ded by the Minis­try of Social Affairs, Youth, Fami­lies, Seni­ors, Inte­gra­tion, and Equa­lity (pro­ject dura­tion: 2021–2028). “Lan­guage Edu­ca­tion in Day­care Cen­ters” has deve­lo­ped con­cep­tual gui­de­lines for a con­ti­nuing edu­ca­tion pro­gram focu­sed on pro­fes­sio­nal deve­lo­p­ment and qua­lity assu­rance and is imple­men­ting con­crete mea­su­res for qua­lity deve­lo­p­ment, manage­ment, and assu­rance with a view to pro­fes­sio­na­li­zing early child­hood edu­ca­tors in Schles­­wig-Hol­stein. The two-stage con­ti­nuing edu­ca­tion pro­gram is sci­en­ti­fi­cally groun­ded and empi­ri­cally vali­da­ted. It expands the com­pe­ten­cies of early child­hood edu­ca­tors and con­tri­bu­tes to the fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment of their pedago­gi­cal prac­ti­ces in the area of lan­guage edu­ca­tion inte­gra­ted into ever­y­day life. 

The Asso­cia­tion of Bina­tio­nal Fami­lies and Part­ner­ships, iaf e.V., has been advo­ca­ting for the inte­rests and needs of bina­tio­nal, migrant, and trans­na­tio­nal fami­lies for deca­des. One of its core issues is education—and, in par­ti­cu­lar, early child­hood edu­ca­tion. In parent groups, family gathe­rings, and our num­e­rous pro­jects, we take up the ideas and input from fami­lies and share them with pro­fes­sio­nals, advo­ca­tes, and poli­cy­ma­kers through work­shops, con­ti­nuing edu­ca­tion pro­grams, publi­ca­ti­ons, con­fe­ren­ces, and posi­tion state­ments. A par­ti­cu­lar focus has been—and con­ti­nues to be—incorporating fami­lies’ mul­ti­l­in­gua­lism into edu­ca­tio­nal approa­ches, as well as deve­lo­ping gui­de­lines for edu­ca­tio­nal and play mate­ri­als that are diver­­­sity-con­­scious and cri­ti­cal of discrimination. 

Schwarze Schafe e.V. is a nati­on­wide orga­niza­tion that offers edu­ca­tio­nal pro­grams, pro­fes­sio­nal deve­lo­p­ment cour­ses, orga­niza­tio­nal deve­lo­p­ment pro­ces­ses, and lec­tures focu­sed on empower­ment and anti-racist edu­ca­tion. The association’s goal is to create spaces for rai­sing awa­re­ness and fos­te­ring dia­lo­gue, as well as to sup­port the empower­ment of peo­ple who are iden­ti­fied with soci­ally mar­gi­na­li­zed groups. 

There is a par­ti­cu­lar focus on the prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion of theo­re­ti­cal con­tent. All pro­grams are tail­o­red to the real-life situa­tions of their respec­tive tar­get groups in order to achieve a sus­tainable and tar­ge­ted impact. The tar­get groups include, in par­ti­cu­lar, child and youth wel­fare ser­vices, early child­hood edu­ca­tion insti­tu­ti­ons, schools, govern­ment agen­cies, self-help orga­niza­ti­ons, and associations. 

ZEOK e. V. is a well-estab­­lished edu­ca­tio­nal orga­niza­tion in eas­tern Ger­many, based in Leip­zig. Through its edu­ca­tio­nal and cul­tu­ral pro­grams, the asso­cia­tion crea­tes spaces for encoun­ter, exch­ange, and col­la­bo­ra­tive lear­ning and relear­ning. It advo­ca­tes nati­on­wide for a society that is cri­ti­cal of racism, ori­en­ted toward diver­sity, and just: dis­cri­mi­na­tory struc­tures are brought to light in trai­ning pro­grams for edu­ca­tors and com­mu­nity lea­ders and addres­sed in publi­ca­ti­ons and edu­ca­tio­nal mate­ri­als. From 2020 to 2024, the asso­cia­tion was a part­ner in the nati­on­wide Com­pe­tence Net­work on Isla­mo­pho­bia and Anti-Mus­­lim Sen­ti­ment, fun­ded by “Demo­kra­tie leben!” Since 2025, it has been a part­ner in the nati­on­wide “Cri­tique of Racism” coope­ra­tive net­work within the fede­ral “Demo­kra­tie leben!” pro­gram, spe­ci­fi­cally in the pro­gram area “Deve­lo­p­ment of a Natio­nally Cen­tra­li­zed Infrastructure.” 

The Forum Inter­na­tio­na­ler Frauen Baden-Wür­t­­te­m­­berg e.V. was foun­ded in Novem­ber 2015, initi­ally under the name “Arbeits­ge­mein­schaft der inter­na­tio­na­len Frauen” (Working Group of Inter­na­tio­nal Women), with its head­quar­ters in Stutt­gart. In 2018, the orga­niza­tion was ren­a­med and regis­tered as the “Forum of Inter­na­tio­nal Women in Baden-Wür­t­­te­m­­berg” (FIF), a non­pro­fit pro­fes­sio­nal asso­cia­tion dedi­ca­ted to repre­sen­ting women and women’s orga­niza­ti­ons with migra­tion back­grounds in Baden-Wür­t­­te­m­­berg. The FIF advo­ca­tes for the rights of women and girls with migra­tion and refu­gee back­grounds in Baden-Württemberg. 

Jugend- und Sozi­al­werk gemein­nüt­zige GmbH – Ber­lin Region ope­ra­tes 24 day­care cen­ters throug­hout the city of Ber­lin. All day­care cen­ters ope­rate in accordance with the Ber­lin Edu­ca­tion Pro­gram. Whe­ther in the green neigh­bor­hood of Rei­ni­cken­dorf or in the family-fri­endly dis­trict of Lich­ten­berg, all cen­ters prac­tice and con­ti­nue to deve­lop edu­ca­tion and care that is free from pre­ju­dice. From the very begin­ning, child­ren are given the oppor­tu­nity to rea­lize their deve­lo­p­men­tal poten­tial and expand their skills in line with their inte­rests. They are sup­ported in this by dedi­ca­ted and sen­si­tive edu­ca­tio­nal professionals.