Our team members and their knowledge are our resources. They combine social science expertise and interdisciplinary competence. This is our basis for the creation of new concepts and realistic and viable solutions which lead to the development of models, processes and projects, achieving optimal results.
Jana Eckert is an executive partner and managing director at IFSI. She studied social sciences (Diploma) at JLU Giessen, majoring in sociology and political science, with secondary subjects in psychology and psychosocial medicine. Her studies focused on quantitative social research and health-related topics. She has been working for IFSI since mid-2013, particularly in the areas of care and the promotion of age-friendly environments, “Culture on Prescription,” loneliness, and the social, cultural, and digital participation of older adults. Jana Eckert speaks German and English.
Jesper Schulze is an executive partner and managing director at IFSI. He studied social sciences, specializing in sociology and social psychology, in Hanover, and then sociology at Goethe University Frankfurt. His academic focus was on theories and concepts of social inequality, with a particular emphasis on poverty and gender studies. His current areas of focus include aging, ageism, and caregiving. He is also involved in European educational projects and designs and evaluates innovative educational programs. Jesper Schulze speaks German and English.
Dr. phil. Katrin Fröhlich has been a research associate and partner at IFSI since April 2025. She studied political science and African studies in Leipzig (University of Leipzig) and London (SOAS) and earned her doctorate at the German Research Foundation (DFG) Research Training Group on “Transnational Social Support” at the University of Mainz in the Department of Education. Before increasingly focusing on social policy issues, she worked, among other things, in the fields of local government and development policy for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the German Institute for Development Policy (DIE/IDOS). In addition to her work at IFSI, she teaches at the Apollon University of Health Economics. Katrin Fröhlich speaks German, English and French.
Dr. Karl Mingot studied sociology in Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, and Giessen, where he received methodological training in objective hermeneutics and conversation analysis. His research focuses on the reception of intellectual constructs, the historical development of occupations in need of professionalization, poverty in Germany, and the lives and living conditions of older adults. As a freelancer at IFSI, his main responsibilities include project evaluations and conducting case studies (individual case reconstruction, typology development, and structural generalization). Karl Mingot speaks German, English, and French.
Leni Nicoline Koch has been working as a research associate at IFSI since March 2026. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology and political science in Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University) and Lisbon (ISCTE), specializing in social research and migration. She previously worked for IFSI for two years as a student assistant and was involved in Erasmus+ funded projects on the topics of aging and sustainability. She then worked for a year and a half in various departments of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), most recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Leni Nicoline Koch speaks German and English.
Renata Openchowska has been working as an administrative assistant for IFSI since December 2014. Ms. Openchowska completed an apprenticeship as a business technician specializing in finance and accounting and studied economics at the Bogdan Janski University of Applied Sciences in Łomża, Poland. She holds the IHK certificates in “Human Resources Administration” and “Bookkeeping.” At IFSI, she is responsible for general administrative tasks and, in particular, for the financial reporting of EU-funded projects. Renata Openchowska speaks Polish, Russian, and German.
Zoe Schaefer has been a working as a student assistant at IFSI since April 2026. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in applied social sciences with a focus on innovation and evaluation at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. During her studies, she has already gained experience in project work, most recently in an international research project in collaboration with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs in Tbilisi, Georgia. Zoe Schaefer speaks German and English.
Equality, participation and equal opportunities are central to the work of IFSI Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur. Within the organisation, we also strive to promote gender equality at all levels of work. Read more about this in our Gender-Equality-Plan (available in German language).
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us directly.