“Women in the football industry are an important part of the sport’s future development,” was the sentiment espoused by DFB general secretary Heike Ullrich at the “Future Leaders in Football” (FLF) event. At this year’s “Highlight Edition”, which took place in Berlin last weekend, women from across the world came together to work together and strengthen their leadership skills as part of the next generation of women in football. “At the DFB, we are committed to developing female footballing leaders with initiatives such as the “Frauen im Fußball FF27” strategy,” said Ullrich. “As the largest football association in the world, we also want to contribute to the advancement of women in football across the globe. With our “Future Leaders in Football” workshop, we have made progress towards that goal and spread our message internationally. As a result, we have encouraged and strengthened the leadership skills of around 90 women worldwide since 2021.” The fact that an edition of a women’s empowerment project is being held as part of a men’s European Championship also demonstrates the DFB’s ongoing commitment to deepening knowledge of women in football, enhancing skills and providing networking opportunities.
Creating leaders through collaboration
The FLF Highlight Edition focused on further development of the participants’ leadership skills. The women shared their personal leadership experiences as part of “participants panels,” allowing them to practice their communication skills in a relaxed environment and reflect on their individual leadership qualities. The moderation team for the panels consisted of leadership expert Dr Jacqueline Müller and her two co-moderators Nadica Sechkov and Haneen Alkhatib. A selection of participants from each of the four editions of the Future Leaders in Football event were invited to the Highlight Edition with the aim of deepening the skills they gained from the previous events. The cohort consisted of 18 women from 16 different nations, seven of whom currently work for a national FA. The Highlight Edition also saw the DFB collaborate with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), UEFA, football associations, and national team partner Volkswagen.
Schult: “I think the programme is incredibly important”
The three-day workshop was brought to an end with a closing event at Berlin’s VW-DRIVE Studio, where Heike Ullrich was joined by Ms Ina Hommers (director of general client liaison and business development at the GIZ) and Dr Heike Kuhn (head of education at the BMZ). The event included a ceremony at which the participants of the FLF Highlight Edition were presented with certificates.
Former Germany goalkeeper and TV pundit Almuth Schmidt, who took part in an on-stage discussion with presenter Eva Jacobi, was also part of the closing event and was very enthusiastic about the initiative: “I think the programme is incredibly important, because we absolutely need to encourage women a little in order to advance women in the football industry and the women’s game. Promoting that side of the game is not yet an established part of every association, so I’m glad we have platforms like this to promote those topics.”
The workshop in Berlin was once again supported by DFB partner Volkswagen, who have previously been responsible for the #KeinFrauenfußball and #einFußball social media campaigns for more equality in football and wider society. The workshop has also ensured that the DFB’s collaboration with the BMZ has been further reinforced. The DFB has been working closely with the BMZ on the “Sport for Development” programme and, together with the GIZ, has initiated projects to increase youth participation in football across the world. Following the FLF Highlight Edition, the "Football for Sustainability Summit" will take place later this week in Berlin, where the "Future Leaders in Football" workshop will be presented as an exemplar project at the request of the BMZ.
