Insight Economy needs Civilisation.
Einsicht Ökonomie braucht politisch-moralische Einbettung.
Risk Analysis We identify the opportunities and limits of corporate responsibility in global supply chains.
Risikoanalyse Wir zeigen die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen unternehmerischer Verantwortung in globalen Lieferketten auf.
Best Practice Fewer normative appeals. More work on standards.
Best Practice Weniger normative Appelle. Mehr Arbeit an Standards.
Dialogue We identify the possibilities and limits of corporate responsibility in the area of conflict between business and ethics.
Dialog Wir identifizieren die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen unternehmerischer Verantwortung im Spannungsfeld zwischen Wirtschaft und Ethik.
Responsibility Creating values. Protecting human rights.
Verantwortung Werte schaffen. Menschenrechte schützen.
Economy The aim of our work is to minimise human rights violations in global supply chains.
Wirtschaft Ziel unserer Arbeit ist es, Menschenrechtsverletzungen in globalen Lieferketten zu minimieren.
Education No economic education without moral judgement, no ethical education without economic understanding.
Bildung Keine ökonomische Bildung ohne moralisches Urteilsvermögen.
Advocacy We act as advocates for business ethics issues with the aim of making ethical risks economically relevant for companies. 

Themenanwaltschaft Wir setzen uns für Fragen der Unternehmensethik ein, mit dem Ziel, ethische Risiken für Unternehmen wirtschaftlich relevant zu machen.
Research We promote the ability to discuss economic issues, make moral judgements and act responsibly.
Forschung Wir fördern die Fähigkeit, wirtschaftliche Themen zu diskutieren, moralische Urteile zu fällen und verantwortungsvoll zu handeln.
Mission Solutions for responsible business. Guidance for companies, politics and civil society.
Mission Lösungen für verantwortungsbewusstes Wirtschaften. Orientierung für Unternehmen, Politik und Zivilgesellschaft.
Education We are committed to firmly embedding business ethics competencies in education in the fields of economics and the social sciences.
Bildung Wir setzen uns dafür ein, wirtschaftsethische Kompetenzen fest in der wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Ausbildung zu verankern.

Founder and Board Member

Christian Steinberg Founder and Board Member

Founder and Board Member

Christian Steinberg has had a successful career as an entrepreneur. After selling his shares in the company, he set up this foundation, which he now chairs.

Here, in this country, he found everything that has made his success in life to date possible: an education and the freedom to make his own decisions about the course of his life. A high degree of legal certainty, which gave him the opportunity to act independently. Furthermore, Christian Steinberg belongs to the first generation in Germany to have been able to live their entire lives in peace and democracy. The desire to give something back was his motivation for founding the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik. At the same time, Christian Steinberg takes a critical view of many developments in the economic system. True to his entrepreneurial spirit, however, he is not content merely to call for a debate on the ethical foundations of this system; rather, he aims to make concrete contributions to its improvement through the work of his foundation.

Following the sale of his shares in the company, Christian Steinberg studied ethical and business ethics issues as part of the postgraduate programme ‘Master of Advanced Studies in Applied Ethics’ at the University of Münster. He is an active advisory shareholder in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Executive Board

Dr Jesco Kreft Executive Board

Executive Board

As Executive Director, Jesco Kreft is responsible for the foundation’s work.

He initially worked as a business journalist with a particular interest in the political and social context of the economy. After completing his PhD at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg, he went on to work for a consultancy firm with clients from the (financial) sector, the public sector and non-governmental organisations. 

Consultancy work in high-risk sectors, combined with a specialisation in labour disputes and political consultancy, not only fostered his interest in political and ethical frameworks but also reinforced his conviction that the problems in this field lie less in societal awareness and more in the implementation of solutions.

Since early 2005, he has been responsible for establishing the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik as its managing director, a role he continues to fulfil today as its executive director. Jesco Kreft is also a lecturer at the University of Hamburg on the didactics of business ethics and the economics of education, and serves on various advisory boards, supervisory boards and investment committees. Jesco Kreft has been a member of the Ethics Council of Welthungerhilfe since 2015.