∞ Hilistina Banze (she/her) ∞

I approach technology, leadership, and social innovation through the lens of systems thinking, believing that sustainable change begins by understanding how people, structures, and relationships shape one another.
Every system tells a story about whose voices matter. Some open doors, create opportunities, and empower people to shape their own future. Others leave people unheard, unseen, or excluded. Throughout my life, I have been driven by one question: How can we create systems that enable everyone to flourish?
That question has guided every step of my journey—from teaching and social work to leading digital transformation and IT projects.
At first glance, these worlds may seem far apart. To me, they are deeply connected. Every digital transformation is ultimately about people. Every system reflects values. Every decision can either reinforce existing inequalities or create new opportunities for participation, dignity, and growth.
For more than a decade, I have worked alongside refugees, migrants, children, families, and people experiencing homelessness. Today, I lead projects that shape digital change in public services.
My backgrounds in social work and humanities allow me to understand people's realities; my experience in IT enables me to transform those insights into sustainable, human-centred solutions.
Beyond my professional work, I am an author, lecturer, entrepreneur, and founder of an initiative dedicated to intersectionality, community empowerment, and social innovation. I bring both lived experience and professional expertise to conversations about leadership, equity, and systemic change. I believe that those most affected by decisions should have the power to influence them.
Whether I am managing a project, writing, speaking, or building new initiatives, my purpose remains the same: to contribute to systems that are not only more efficient, but more just—systems in which people are seen, heard, trusted, and empowered to shape their own future.
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Who am I?

My name is Tina Banze. I was born in 1989 in the German Democratic Republic as a mixed-race Black German and lived in a small town in Eastern Germany until I finished high school. I then studied Romance philologies at the University of Leipzig. After my Master's degree, I realised on the job market that studying humanities was fun but didn't pay much. So I decided to gain further qualifications and first obtained my BAMF licence to teach German as a foreign language while working and later studied social work at a distance-learning university (Bachelor's degree) and at ASH Berlin (Master's degree).
I have been working in the social field for 9 years, mostly in schools. I managed projects for four employers, the last project being responsible for 20 employees. Due to the social skills I gained during this time, I decided to train as an IT project manager and SCRUM Master. I now work full-time as an IT project manager.

After leaving school, I rarely stayed in one place for long and lived in different countries. In these always very different settings, I gained valuable knowledge and insights which, in addition to my professional qualifications, are an enrichment for globally networked and operating companies.

I am open to venturing into new spheres professionally in order to be able to apply and deepen my communicative, language skills as well as my socio-educational knowledge from critical diversity management to project management to personnel development.