Organization

Doing good together

The WaterFoundation brings together committed people from different professions who are pursuing a common goal: the realization of the human right to water and sanitation.

Executive Board

Chair of the executive board

Monica Denomy

Monica Denomy joined the WaterFoundation team in July 2020 as Senior Project Manager. Since 2022, she has been a member of the board and responsible for operations and program development. Since 2025, she has served as chair of the board. As an international development specialist, she has 20 years of experience in planning, managing, budgeting, and monitoring projects for NGOs such as Plan International and NPH Germany.

m.denomy(at)wasserstiftung.de
Deputy Chair of the Executive Board

Robert Balthasar

The graduate economist has been contributing his expertise in finance and law to the foundation since 2018. After initial professional positions at IBM and BMW, he worked at Siemens Arts Program from 1999. In 2009, he played a key role in the establishment and organizational development of the Siemens Foundation, where he took over the management of administration and controlling. He has been CFO of the Siemens Foundation since 2024.

r.balthasar(at)wasserstiftung.de

Team

Donor support

Annemarie Balthasar

Annemarie Balthasar has been responsible for donor relations at the WaterFoundation since 2017. After training as an advertising executive, she worked as an executive assistant for eleven years before becoming an interim manager for the back office in 2005. She has been working at the Menschen für Menschen foundation since 2022, initially in donor relations and now in the major donations and partnerships department.

a.balthasar(at)wasserstiftung.de
Sustainability Advisor

Marius Beulich

He has been supporting the WaterFoundation in sustainability issues on a voluntary basis since 2025. He has been working for the Tübingen-based company DO Climate GmbH since 2022. After completing his BA in Resource Efficiency Management at Pforzheim University, specialising in sustainability and environmental management, resource conservation and climate protection, he is now working towards a degree in Environmental and Bioresource Management a
Technology Advisor

Dr. Stefan Grotehans

Stefan Grotehans has been supporting the WaterFoundation team in all technical matters since 2014.
He has a doctorate in physics and has been working in the software industry for over 20 years. He has worked as a manager for well-known companies such as MarkLogic, Box, Brainloop, Microsoft, IBM, MarkLogic and SiliconGraphics. Until 2025 he was Director Solutions Architects at Elastic.

s.grotehans(at)wasserstiftung.de
Head of Communications

Susanne John

Susanne John has been responsible for communications at the WasserStiftung since 2019. Until starting a family in 1998, she managed the press offices of the publishing houses Klett-Cotta and Carl Hanser. Since then, she has worked as a freelance copywriter, editor and proofreader for scientific institutes, universities and publishers.

s.john(at)wasserstiftung.de
Culture and Water

Dr. Serafine Lindemann

Serafine Lindemann has been supporting the work of the WaterFoundation since 2012, primarily in editorial matters and with projects to expand the Water Foundation’s circle of supporters. After studying art history, archaeology, and history, she founded the art forum artcircolo in 1989 and continues to be involved in international and experimental art and cultural programs on the topic of changing values in relation to water.

s.lindemann(at)wasserstiftung.de
Project manager

Luca Wesel

Luca Wesel has been a project manager at the Foundation since August 2024. After completing a MA degree in International Relations and Development Policy, he worked as a consultant for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). He joined the WaterFoundation in 2022 as part of an internship at the Gesellschaft für nachhaltige Entwicklung (GNE) after completing further professional training in Project management/climate protection.

l.wesel(at)wasserstiftung.de

Trustees

Chair of the board of trustees

Wolf-Dietrich Pfaelzer

Wolf-Dietrich Pfaelzer was chairman of the board of the “Private Wirtschaftsschulen Sabel” foundation in Munich.

As chairman of the board of trustees of the WaterFoundation, he is particularly involved in financial and organizational matters.
Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Beate Grotehans

Beate Grotehans has been with the WaterFoundation since 2012, from 2016 as a board member, whose chair she took over in May 2020. In 2025, she moved to the Foundation Council. After studying history and philosophy and teaching at universities, she joined Siemens Arts Program as a project manager. At the Siemens Stiftung, she was responsible for projects in the areas of development cooperation and social entrepreneurship from 2009 to 2021.

b.grotehans(at)wasserstiftung.de
Trustee

Prof. Dr. Martin Grambow

Martin Grambow has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the WaterFoundation since its foundation. He is a spokesperson for the International Expert Group on the Preservation of the Earth System (IESP). Until mid-2024, he headed the water management division at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection. Since 2012, he has been honorary professor of international water policy and water law at the TU Munich.
Trustee

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Günthert

Wolfgang Günthert is an internationally renowned water expert who has been working for the WaterFoundation for many years.

Although Wolfgang Günthert retired in 2014, he continues to be involved in urban water management and waste technology at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich.
Trustee

Georg Huber

The Munich native and graduate in business administration has been supporting the WaterFoundation as a member of the board of trustees since the beginning of 2025.
Georg Huber is chairman of the board and shareholder of the family-run international company for wastewater technology Huber SE, based in Berching (Oberpfalz).
Trustee

Christiane Lohrmann

Christiane Lohrmann has been contributing her expertise in marketing and fundraising to the WaterFoundation since 2024. After working for the Goethe-Institut and the European Commission in Brussels, she spent more than 20 years in leading positions in media and marketing communications (FOCUS, Hubert Burda Media). In 2019, she moved into the non-profit foundation sector and is now a member of the management board of the Heraeus Education Foundati

c.lohrmann(at)wasserstiftung.de
Trustee

Senait Michiel

Senait Michiel ist gebürtige Eritreerin und berät die WasserStiftung seit ihrer Gründung.

Sie kennt die Kultur und Mentalität der Menschen in Eritrea und ist deshalb wichtige Vermittlerin und Ratgeberin in allen Fragen, die ihr Heimatland betreffen. Sie lebt mit ihrer Familie im oberbayrischen Königsdorf und arbeitet in einer Tierarztpraxis.

Founder

Founder

Ernst Frost

Ernst Frost and Henner Lang founded the WaterFoundation in 2000. After training as a typesetter, he worked as a designer for various magazines. As managing editor of the magazine “natur”, he organized fundraising campaigns for nature conservation projects in Germany and an initiative to re-green the city of Sarajevo. From 2000 to 2014, he worked for a Munich-based news magazine. Ernst Frost died on the 27th of February 2025.
Founder

Henner Lang

Henner Lang and Ernst Frost founded the WaterFoundation in 2000. After graduating from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt with a degree in Business Administration, Henner Lang taught organization and marketing. He worked for various companies and was involved in the Evangelical Church as a church councilor.
In May 2020, he retired from his position as chairman of the board and became a member of the foundation council. Henne

Organigramm

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