Upward mobility isn't a question of background. It's a question of institutions.

Hi, I'm Kirill and I study Computational Business Analytics at Frankfurt School. At TAM, I bring together my professional, international and civic experience to put upward mobility back into public debate as a civic idea.

I'm convinced that the middle of society in particular has what it takes to deal constructively with the challenges of our time. At the same time, I see many civic-minded people pulling back from the institutional competition for ideas and responsibility. That's exactly why I want to get involved myself.

Hello everyone, I'm Vural, a political scientist working mainly on comparative research into democracies and autocracies. I study at Heidelberg University and will soon start my doctoral project. At TAM, I mostly want to help examine empirically how social background and transnational educational mobility are connected, and to develop concrete forms of support from what we find.

My own path showed me early on that talent isn't what makes the difference. What matters is whether someone tells you that certain paths are possible at all, and how to take them. What really set me off was realising how much of what I had experienced as my own initiative depended on meeting the right person at the right time: someone who knew the deadlines, knew the funding options and, above all, knew that you're allowed to ask.

My name is Benjamin Thyssen. As a young serial entrepreneur, I combine experience with getting things done. At Transnationale Aufstiegsmobilität, I contribute an entrepreneurial mindset and help build structures that last.

Getting ahead was never a given in my family, and that shapes how I look at the topic. I support the association because, as a non-profit, it creates spaces where ambitious people who actually get things off the ground meet experienced entrepreneurs and investors. The current influencer boom shows the opposite all too clearly: self-employment becomes a performance, and closed systems take the place of real value creation. Spaces like these are what it takes to turn half-knowledge from social media back into real exchange, with genuine advice, mentoring and, now and then, a concrete deal.

Hi! I'm Jonas, born in Göttingen, the pearl of southern Lower Saxony, and now a Potsdam local by choice. Potsdam once marked the point where Western Europe gave way to Eastern Europe. I come from a German-Polish family, so I've always been interested in cross-cultural cooperation between Western and Eastern Europe, and I've worked in this field for several years, both professionally and as a volunteer. Over the last eight years, political volunteering in particular has given me a lot of experience that I want to bring to TAM.

The topic matters to me because young people with roots in Eastern Europe still run into glass ceilings in Germany, even in the second or third generation. And that's despite the Polish community in Germany being held up again and again as a model of successful integration. That success should show in career and social opportunities too!

Hello everyone, I'm Sebastian.

I'm studying Business Analytics (MSc) and hold a degree in Business Psychology (BSc), so I bring together solution-focused thinking and a real understanding of people. I want to use that to help Transnationale Aufstiegsmobilität e. V. develop solutions built around the actual needs and abilities of young people.

As a working-class kid with Eastern European roots, I know first-hand how much transnational upward mobility matters. That's why I'm committed to making sure potential gets a real chance.

I study Computational Business Analytics at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, specialising in Banking & Finance, and I'm especially interested in where data, business and strategic decisions meet. At TAM, I want to bring in this perspective to link educational work, business practice and entrepreneurial thinking more closely.

The topic matters to me because getting ahead often starts the moment people first see which paths could be open to them. What got me involved was the conviction that career guidance and entrepreneurship need to be taught earlier, more concretely and in a more approachable way, especially where these opportunities have barely been visible so far.

Hi, I'm Nick, a business psychologist specialising in HR and organisational development. At TAM, I want to help make social and economic advancement possible regardless of where people come from, and support young people in finding the right way in.

I noticed early on how strongly social background shapes the way we see things. I went to school in an affluent town while training in competitive sport in a deprived neighbourhood. That showed me first-hand that ambition exists in every social class, but information, support and real opportunities vary enormously.