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Justus Kramer

Justus is a big football fan and supporter of SC Freiburg, even though he was born and raised in Berlin.

He studied Public and Non-Profit Management for his Bachelor's and Human Resources Management for his Master's. During this time, he lived three times in Spain and called it his favourite place to be.

For him Common Goal is perfect to combine his love for football with creating something with purpose.

 

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Kami Mainkar

Kami joins us from Istanbul, Turkey where she worked at the United Nations Population Fund on sexual and reproductive health and rights with a focus on humanitarian conflict. She was born in India but has lived and worked in many countries including Germany.

In her free time, Kami likes to cuddle with other people's dogs. She doesn't have her own yet...and runs in Berlin hoping that common goal can have its own run club.

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Katja Baier

Katja joined in 2018 as an intern as part of her Bachelor’s studies. As a passionate football fan, you will most likely find her at the stadium of 1. FC Magdeburg, watching the team lose their home games. Despite that, the atmosphere she experienced there made her believe in the power of this beautiful game on a global level.

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Laura Lebens

With an academic background in International Economics and professional experience in development cooperation, Laura is passionate about promoting girls' and women’s rights, gender justice and sustainable development. She is a Senior Project Manager and joined Common Goal in 2023.

As a football enthusiast and former field hockey player, sport has always played a big part in her life. She strongly believes in the power of football to create meaningful social change, transform stereotypical gender norms and challenge patriarchal structures.


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Laura Stolz

Laura joined Common Goal as Project Manager for Move For The Planet, following a winding path that finally led to her true passion: sport for good.
Having worn many professional hats, she now focuses on spreading the transformative power of sport across the globe.
A loyal VfL Bochum supporter, she knows a thing or two about resilience—and when not working, you’ll probably find her hiking boots-deep in nature.

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Lukas Münker

Lukas has an academic background in political science and sociology with a special focus on Indian and European Politics.

Known for his defence on the pitch, he is not the kind of guy you want to have in front of you when trying a new trick you saw on YouTube. He will also school you in ping pong and throws a mean frisbee.

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Luke Fairbairn

Luke is part of the Common Goal North America team. He is responsible for the design, facilitation, and implementation of Play Proud- Common Goal's LGBTQ+ inclusivity training program. Luke is responsible for the vetting and on-boarding of new Community Organizations as well as supporting with player acquisition in North America. Luke has been involved in the sport development space across many different roles as a program coordinator, event manager, and coach for a number of Common Goal's community organizations in North America. 

Luke is a box-to-box midfielder through and through; he is a team player and enjoys doing the hard work and getting stuck into the projects he works on. 

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Marcela Munoz

Marcela is our Membership Lead, looking after our industry members and making sure they feel the impact of their pledges. Proud Colombian and Latin American, Marcela joined our team in Berlin in 2020 after living in Cusco, Peru where she managed a non-profit organisation.

Although chances of finding her on a hike are higher than finding her on a pitch, she still enjoys celebrating wins, especially if it's for FC Barcelona or, of course, the Colombian national team.   

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Marios Papaloizou

Marios joined Common Goal in September 2019 and has an extensive background in sports media and communications. On the pitch he likens himself to John O’Shea – happy to perform any role in the team to a totally adequate standard (no offence John!).

He’s an avid Manchester United fan but, during his time in London, also took Dulwich Hamlet to his heart and could often be found at Champion Hill on Saturday afternoons.

 

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Marla Cruz

Passionate about design, social causes, and football, Marla is of the belief that if you can put it all together, even better! She divides her heart between Palmeiras (her Brazilian team since a little kid) and Liverpool FC and ALWAYS gets emotional when listening to "You'll never walk alone."

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Mary Connor

Mary joined Common Goal in 2024 as the USA Executive Director overseeing the North America region. With an academic background in philosophy and sociology, Mary is also a former professional footballer and co-Founder of Common Goal Community member Soccer Without Borders. A passionate advocate for creating belonging through football, she loves assists more than goals and can be found celebrating the US Women's National Team at most major tournaments.

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Mitsy Barriga Ramos

Mitsy has an academic background in political theory, gender studies, and public policy. She joined Common Goal as Project Manager for Gender Equity.

Before joining the organization, she worked to advance gender equality and social inclusion and promote sustainable development at an international level.

Mitsy is deeply committed to fostering social change and championing equal opportunities for women and girls.

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Noah Lichtenhäler

Noah has previously been working in Sports for Development projects predominantly in the middle east. Having grown up in Yemen, Noah has always felt passionate about using sports to leverage positive change in communities. Noah has also enjoyed some time coaching women's teams in both Egypt and the United States.

He loves being active, spending time outdoors, playing football and ultimate frisbee. However, unfortunately, he has a very lazy dog, who prefers spending time on the couch and watching the weekend's games together.

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Olivia Baston-Pitt

Olivia grew up playing football for Cambridge United and previously moved to America to follow her passion for the Beautiful Game.

She has worked in the sport and charity sector for her whole career and joined the Common Goal team in 2021 to lead with Impact Sponsorship.

She is a loyal Liverpool fan, with Michael Owen a particular favourite growing up – a spot now taken by Common Goal’s own Jurgen Klopp.

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Paula Guidugli

Paula joined Common Goal's Marketing department in 2019 as a Visual Communications Designer. Her previous experience designing large-scale events for NGOs and other game changers inspired her to apply to our team. Now as Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Paula supports Common Goal in connecting with our partners, industry members, and network communities, to share our values, fostering collaboration and amplifying impact.

With an expertise in visual communication, and a passion for problem-solving, Paula brings a thoughtful and proactive approach to every challenge. As a Brazilian living in Berlin, she's vowed to (mostly) silence her football opinions since that ill-fated world cup in 2014.

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Paulina Iannotta

Paulina, originally from Poland, has a background in Education Studies, complemented by her later expertise in Project Management.  Her career trajectory reflects a deep commitment to using education as a catalyst for positive change.

Driven by her passion for education for good, Paulina finds a profound connection with Common Goal. She recently discovered a new tool to leverage education as a change agent: football.

This marks a significant expansion in her approach to inspiring and facilitating change through the universal language of sports.

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Sam Cook

Determined to take his love of football beyond the pitch, Sam studied the Common Goal page for job openings after moving to Berlin from the UK. After almost four years in Germany, he’s now back in his hometown of London helping grow the movement in his own backyard just a stone’s throw from his beloved Arsenal.

 

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Simon Zengerling

Simon works on partnerships in the DACH region, bringing with him a background in sports economics and years of experience at FC St. Pauli.
His love for sport started with basketball (he was barely taller than the ball) and evolved into a belief in football as a driver of positive change.
Now based in Berlin, he’s always up for a game, a conversation about football’s social impact, or a new coffee spot in the city.

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