Caroline Weimann

Finding, incubating, and connecting the political entrepreneurs in Germany, Caroline aims to shift the whole political system from a rigid, blind-loyalty-based one to a solution-oriented, innovative one. Through her work at JoinPolitics, Caroline not only brings new talent to German politics but also creates an ecosystem where any citizen can claim agency to change the old-fashioned political sphere in the country.

With her unique recruitment and retention model, Caroline aims to counteract the lack of innovation entrenched in traditional political career systems by bringing entrepreneurial political changemakers into the arena. By building an ecosystem for political innovation, Caroline aims to foster a culture that prioritizes changemaking and collaboration across party lines, rather than party affiliations.

The often rigid political system in Germany coupled with the increasing polarization in Europe, are creating invisible barriers to anyone who would like to be a part of this system to offer solutions. Looking beyond the party lines, Caroline sees a whole political ecosystem crippling due to a lack of new ideas as well as new faces. With their multi-partisan approach, JoinPolitics creates cohorts of political entrepreneurs who go through an incubation program and receive funding as necessary to bring their ideas to the agendas of political leaders. Championing this idea as an effort beyond party politics, Caroline manages to attract potential changemakers of all democratic ideologies to join their movement.

Caroline’s innovation unfolds on two levels: On the individual level, she works with people with new ideas for public issues, encourages them to be a part of politics, puts them through an incubation program to enhance their skills as well as network, funds them for more action if needed. At the same time, Caroline modernizes the recruitment processes of political institutions to lay the groundwork in case some new talent would like to work in politics and even run for elections. On the ecosystem level, she dismantles the party borders and ideologies. Caroline realizes that true innovation sparks when unlikely allies come together to find solutions, and she encourages this by (1) adopting a multi-partisan approach in their work, (2) bringing opposing sides together for collaboration, and (3) designing a funding pool of individual donors to support good ideas in politics instead of party agendas.

At a time when populism is rising in Europe and younger generations are often either polarized or alienated from the political ecosystem, Caroline is orchestrating a holistic intervention to pave the way for innovation in politics.

The rigidity of the political system in Germany is causing an important decline in the number of individuals who would otherwise be involved in bringing solutions to the country’s pressing problems. According to a survey commissioned by the German Civil Service Federation (dbb), the trust of people in Germany in the capability of their state has reached an all-time low. In addition to the declined trust, there is an issue of declined agency resulting in fewer young people being involved in politics –compared to past generations- and a decline in volunteering.

Caroline sees a three-fold problem in the current system. First, it seems almost impossible for individuals to intervene in German politics in a meaningful manner. The individuals lack the pathways and networks into the system although they have a solution and a community to support the implementation. Legal constraints, such as outdated non-profit laws and restrictive practices from authorities, pose challenges to the translation of innovative solutions from civil society into political action. These constraints, particularly regarding charitable status, discourage politically involved organizations from effectively engaging in advocating for change within the political landscape.

On the second level, there is the issue of rigidity within political parties. Over the years, the prioritization of loyalty and political party affiliation over personal competencies, expertise, or the issue at stake has created a culture where blind royalty is prioritized over new ideas and collaboration. This led to a shortage of fresh political talent within mainstream parties all over Europe. In 2023, party membership has plummeted to just 4.7 percent of national electorates across 27 European democracies. For young people in particular political parties often seem unattractive and appear as closed, homogenous, or “elitist” organizations. As a result, in the current German Bundestag (Parliament), the average age of a political party member is 60 years old.

The third and final layer of the problem makes itself visible across the party lines. Similar to many other democracies around Europe and around the world, German politics suffers from a lack of collaboration between influential actors as the political party leaders prioritize winning the next election over bringing long-term solutions to public issues. Society is segregated as supporters of specific parties rather than champions of solutions. Pressing issues like climate crisis, gender equity, and forced migration require parties to go beyond their usual agenda and collaborate with one another to propose valuable solutions at the parliament.

Despite all these challenges, Germany has a lively ecosystem of nonprofit work and a tradition of volunteering. Caroline understands the innovative solutions are not nonexistent but rather underrepresented in the current ecosystem of politics. Thus, Caroline and JoinPolitics create a holistic strategy to tackle the issue from the ground up.

JoinPolitics (JP) aims to shift the practices of political institutions as well as the individuals surrounding them. By proposing a new recruitment model for parties, creating incubators for political entrepreneurs, and inviting everyone for strengthened collaborations, JoinPolitics leads a movement of long-term change in the European political sphere.

The first goal of Caroline’s is to close the gap between the political institutions and the rest of society. There needs to be accessible and visible segways into politics in order to increase agency among citizens. Caroline aims to create an ecosystem of politics where anyone with a solution can improve it and then find the platform to voice and/or scale their idea. To achieve this goal, JoinPolitics designs and implements a talent scouting model aiming to find individuals who are values-driven, interact with integrity and respect, and are characterized by critical thinking, resilience, and a commitment to positive change. Leveraging a broad network of experts across academia, civil society, and politics, JoinPolitics encourages nominations, particularly focusing on local grassroots levels. These nominators act not only as scouts but also as catalysts, motivating identified local talent to apply to the JoinPolitics program with their concrete proposals for change. Evaluation criteria prioritize potential for innovation over party allegiance, reflecting JP's commitment to a non-partisan approach. An independent and diverse selection committee, which rotates regularly, follows set criteria to ensure transparency and fairness.

Once selected, JP provides these talents with a safe environment to experiment, test, and refine their ideas. Participants receive threshold support in three key areas: (1) Mentoring & Coaching: A network of over 34 mentors from politics, media, entrepreneurship, and civil society guide the political talents through coaching and mentoring; (2) Training: JP provides workshops and masterclasses to provide talents with skills and know-how necessary for effective political work. This ranges from strategic consulting and networking events to press campaign work; and (3) Funding: Talents can receive financial support to cover living expenses for themselves and their team members as well as material costs for their initiatives. To do so, JP has set up a fund aiming to fill a crucial gap in the political innovation landscape. This fund enables non-partisan financial support and engagement in political innovation, navigating around, and respecting, non-profit law regulations. Funders back the mission and values of JP but have no influence over decisions and selection processes, ensured structurally and systematically through the JP Charta, company agreements, and operational procedures. Selection, support, and mentoring of political talents are carried out exclusively by the Talent Committee, Fellows, and the JP team. By successfully redirecting private funding into politics, Caroline not only directs previously untapped resources into the field but also creates new political engagement opportunities for individuals and donors.

The second pillar of strategy focuses on changing the way political parties recruit new talent. By showing the exemplary work of their talents, JoinPolitics paves the way for their program graduates or similar political entrepreneurs to enter political institutions, especially political parties. Leveraging their wide network and existing impact, Caroline approaches political parties to convince them to hire political talent with concrete proposals instead of a loyalty hire. Through networking efforts spanning the democratic political spectrum, Caroline positions JP's talent pool as an invaluable source of fresh perspectives and solutions. By showcasing success stories, with over 60% of talents engaging in long-term political involvement, and increasing publicity for emerging talents, JP pressures political parties to reassess and refine their recruitment and retention strategies. As parties become more aware of their structural deficits, they are encouraged to revitalize their HR and organizational structures, making politics more appealing to young talents. Caroline conducts workshops and shares open-source models with the political parties as well as the party-affiliated foundations, establishing best practices for talent recruitment and retention.

The integration of these two strategic pillars has had a significant impact over the past few years. Since its inception, JP has received over 600 applications and supported 43 talents through its intensive Talentprogram. Out of 17 talents who decided to run for office, 7 were directly elected to office into influential positions, and 10 of the initiatives’ policy proposals have been implemented in party programs or legislative drafts. Additional talents are preparing for upcoming elections with promising prospects. Successful graduates (talents) include Christina Bukalo (29), who, through innovative community engagement, successfully advocated for a new citizenship law, involving previously non-politically engaged individuals.; Luca Piwodda (23) who was previously engaged with the social democrats and benefited from JoinPolitics mentoring to found a new party. The new party (FPA) pioneered community-based politics in Eastern Germany which resulted in the election of 7 young mayors in the region. There are many similar examples of new talents who stated that without JP support, they either wouldn't have had the confidence, resources, or support to implement their vision, or they wouldn't have even considered political engagement in the first place.

The third and final pillar of strategy increases the potential for collaboration in the system. During their regular networking meetings, JP facilitates open and agile discussions among participants to align on themes rather than party lines. This results in a powerful network of political changemakers who support, push, and activate each other. The fast-growing network enables cross-pollination of ideas and exchange across party lines with like-minded individuals. The members become multipliers promoting a culture of tolerance and respect for others, regardless of party affiliation, setting new standards for democratic cooperation inside the parliament. One example is the collaboration between an incubation participant from the Green Party and another participant from the Conservative Party coming together to lead a nationwide campaign on menstrual health.

Finally, JP aims not only to create a bridge between civil society and politics but also to reshape the perception of politics as an arena ripe for innovation, making it more attractive to young talent. This is achieved through communication campaigns that highlight exemplary talent as role models and through direct activation formats targeted at young people before they have made their career choices. One such initiative is the "Political Impact" workshop, where JP collaborates with universities, schools and other communities of young people in order to make the profession of "politician" appealing to students during their university years.

The impact of this mindset shift can be seen through a couple of metrics: First, JP talent indicates that the cross-party networking, which already occurs during the support process, has influenced how they would engage in politics from that day on, building trust relationships with members of the opposition parties, and initiating new cross-party alliances. Second, the powerful political parties in parliament such as the Green Party and the Social Democrats are approaching JP to learn ways of collaboration. Additionally, Caroline and the rest of the team are invited as thought leaders to roundtable meetings, events, and so on.

By 2028, JP aims to have supported over 100 political talents with visible potential for change, forming a cross-party community where at least 30% of these individuals would have had no prior engagement with any political party. Additionally, at least 50% of the supported talents will have successfully run for and held political offices and mandates. Caroline is currently establishing the second fund for political innovation, projected to exceed the first fund's volume of €3.67 million. As of today, she has already secured €3.7 million in commitments, with a target of €4-6 million by 2025. To ensure the continued success of this model and to drive change within political parties, building further trust is crucial. Caroline envisions JP's role in providing strategic guidance and expertise to other political parties and affiliated foundations in establishing similar structures and fostering a community of political changemakers. The training and funding model pioneered by JP has already been replicated internationally, with one European political party implementing its own training and recruitment model based on the JoinPolitics blueprint.

Like many Germans of similar age, Caroline was born into a family who did not speak much about the consequences of the Nazi regime or what followed it in politics. At a very young age, Caroline realized that her surroundings, classmates, teachers might not candidly talk to each other although they see the same injustices happening repeatedly. Longing for spaces where the issues can be discussed openly and brought to a solution, Caroline started to envision a career in the European Institutions. Realizing the rigidity of the European Commission and Parliament thanks to her Bluebook Traineeship, Caroline turned to the organizations of action; non-profits and social enterprises. While working with respected organizations in various corners of the world, populism made a swift rise again in the Global West. Seeing how young volunteers in her network were dissociated from politics, Caroline decided to take action. What started as creating safe spaces for younger voters to discuss the issues that are close to their heart, quickly became the first iteration of JoinPolitics.