The BioDesign Foundation is leanly organized and works passionately with renowned experts in their fields to fulfill its conservation goals. For us, non-profit conservation work is a very valuable privilege.
The BioDesign Foundation is managed by the Foundation Management. The Board of Trustees monitors, advises and supports the Foundation’s management in its activities. The BioDesign Foundation is represented regionally and thematically by its Ambassadors, who organize projects and activities for nature conservation on site together with the Custodians.
Foundation Board
Roberto Guerini
President
Arch. Roberto Guerini – architect, designer, entrepreneur, adventurer, event and concert manager, art and design curator.
Roberto Guerini has worked as a designer and interior architect after his studies and at the same time graduated in business administration in St. Gallen. He designed and marketed his own home accessories and furnishing collections and has been involved in culture event organizations for years. He is a filmmaker, author and keynote speaker on the topics of experiencing nature up close, rediscovering the beauty of nature, living in harmony with nature and pure nature design inspiration.
2007 – 2019 Roberto Guerini was direct assistant and BioDesign apprentice of Luigi Colani and became curator of his exhibitions – Triennale Milano, Moscow, Seoul etc. He is co-founder and CEO of Ylem GmbH and Albatros Management AG, Colani AG and ATMOS Warehouse Bio Lifestyle Store. He is the author of the Colani Biography and the BioDesign Codex. As director of the Colani Foundation, he continues Colani’s legacy – BioDesign. Roberto Guerini has been appointed Colani Chef Designer by Luigi Colani since 2013. As a Guest Speaker he shares his knowledge at the Uni Politecnico Milano and at various other universities.
Peter Hoedemaker
Vice President
Peter Hoedemaker is a leadership experienced manager and business development expert. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Roland Mills United GmbH & Co. KG and since 2013 has been a member of the Advisory Board of BEGO Bremer Goldschlägerei Wilh. Herbst & Co. KG.
Previously, he spent twenty years as CEO of KAEFER Isoliertechnik GmbH & Co. KG and was instrumental in the strong growth of the internationally active company with a turnover of 1.6 billion euros and 28,000 employees.
He studied at the Dutch Royal Military Academy and Erasmus University Rotterdam and earned a master’s degree from the international ESCP Business School. He is fluent in German, English, French, Spanish and Dutch. He is active in an honorary capacity as founder and president of the European Industrial Insulation Foundation, as chairman of the Society of Friends of the University of Bremen and Jacobs University Bremen, and also as founder and president of the Polo Club Hagen-Grinden e.V.
Giovanni Rolfini
Member of the Foundation Board
Giovanni Rolfini graduated in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering in Bologna in 1981. From 1982 to 1985 he was professor of topography at the Higher Technical Teaching Institute. From 1985 to 1991 he worked as a manager in the Finance Department of the Fininvest Group.
In 1992 he founded Progetto Europa, a company specialized in the research and production of technologies for the protection of the environment, whose main characteristics are that they are able to recycle the totality of plastic waste such as thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, any kind of polycoupled materials, tetrapaks, etc.. without emission of CO2 and pollutants of various kinds, since during the processing and recycling processes there is no combustion, no chemical reaction, but only physical-mechanical processes of sintering (combination of pressure and temperature, the latter generated by friction inside the plant and not provided by external heat sources).
From 1994 to 2020, he promoted the research and development of innovative energies and technologies, installed photovoltaic systems in the national and international field, filed patents in the environmental field, in collaboration with engineers and several Italian universities, including the University of Basilicata, mainly focused on environmental protection.
Piero Stinelli
Member of the Foundation Board
Piero Stinelli has been a serial entrepreneur for 30 years. He is involved in knowledge preservation, culture and sustainability. Studies at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). CEO of VADIAN.NET AG, co-founder of e-commerce & distribution companies Klang and Kleid in St. Gallen and Munich. Co-founder of numerous Swiss online media: wetter.ch, news.ch, jobs.ch, kredit.ch, domains.ch, wirtschaft.ch, etc.
Co-founder of greeninvestment.ch (2006 – 2016) and of eTaxi & Sharing concepts (2011). Co-founder of cultural project Palace.sg (2006). Co-founder and board member mandates in the field of mobile and online marketing: aspsms.com, Mediabox Digital AG, Montemedia AG, AdSpot GmbH, theINDUSTRY AG, etc. Co-founder of various design projects.
Engagements: Open Data, Investigative Data Journalism, Digital Arts, Archiving & Search Technology Projects.
Daniel Schaal
Member of the Foundation Board
Daniel Schaal has been a notary public for full-time practice in Baden-Württemberg since 2018 and has worked as a notary public since 2012.
Daniel Schaal studied at the Academy of Notaries in Stuttgart and holds a Master’s degree in Business Law and Restructuring from the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster.
In an honorary capacity, he is involved in the board of trustees of a subfoundation of the Kreissparkasse Heilbronn and the Diakoniestiftung.
He is a lecturer for the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Notaries and co-author of several legal books.
Foundation Management
The management of the Foundation manages and represents the BioDesign Foundation in public, in court and out of court. The foundation management is committed to the conscientious and efficient administration of the foundation’s assets.
Tom Veltmann
Foundation Director and Co-Founder
Tom Veltmann, was a consultant, author and keynote speaker in the field of sustainability & brand strategy for twelve years. He accompanied renowned companies, banks, organizations, chambers and associations in their exemplary positioning with sustainable added values. In interim management, he worked as a division or project manager and press spokesman for market-leading companies and banks.
Tom Veltmann is a keynote speaker for renowned speaker agencies in Germany and Austria. At the Academy of German Cooperatives, he conducted seminars for bank board members and executives. As part of the team of experts for sustainable business at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Berlin, he developed the national DIHK certificate course “CSR Manager (IHK)”.
He is a training partner of the German Federal Government’s Council for Sustainable Development and a lecturer on ethics, CSR, corporate governance, compliance, and communication in the master’s program at the FOM University of Applied Sciences, as well as a lecturer at other universities. As an author on sustainability & brand strategy, Tom Veltmann has published several books and articles in quality media. He has written sustainability reports according to international standards for market-leading companies in various industries and sustainability banks – with awards.
Tom Veltmann started his career with an apprenticeship as a banker at Deutsche Bank. He studied business administration in Münster and Krakow/Poland and worked for Polish State Television and WDR while studying. While working, he completed doctoral studies in communication science and economic policy at the universities of Düsseldorf and Münster.
Roberto Fiorello
Administration Director
Roberto Fiorello joined Colani Group as Chief Executive Officer in May 2020. He leads the structuring and organization of the business units and their activities, further establishing the new course of the Colani Design Studio. He successfully guides the design vision of the key categories of mobility, art and design/architecture through a very challenging context. In doing so, he involves all employees at all levels of the organization in their valuable roles in developing the business strategy to further grow the company with great motivation.
Previously, he has held leadership positions managing the development and maintenance of luxury brands at multinational companies. He started his professional career in the strategic department of Millward Brown/WPP Group, American multinational leader in the consulting sector for brand strategy, advertising and business development. In 20 years now, he has filled the career levels up to the board of directors of large organizations such as Campari Group, Pernod Ricard, The Absolut Company, Venini and Damiani Group.
Roberto Fiorello has worked in several markets and categories. In the premium brand segment in several countries, he was deeply involved in design and art creations. He backs up his business expertise with his university degrees in Economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Master’s studies at the University of Berkeley, California, and at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He is a passionate, motivated and positive person, convinced that the beauty and power of nature will guide future generations.
Ambassadors
Ambassadors are the representatives of the BioDesign Foundation in the regions
Ambassadors are private individuals and embody the BioDesign Foundation as firm representatives, ambassadors and networkers at the highest level of membership. Through their ongoing commitment, they ensure the achievement of the BioDesign Foundation’s goals, its dissemination and its sustainable growth.
Ambassadors are the BioDesign Foundation’s key players and networkers in the regions. They are part of the BioDesign Foundation’s inner circle and attend its regular meetings.
Custodians
The Custodians are supporters and activists on the ground, who are committed to nature conservation in projects and actions with sense and understanding. They are the people who courageously participate in the fight for nature, stand up for the preservation of nature in the community of the BioDesign Foundation and further develop and communicate the knowledge in this regard.
Custodians support the Foundation activistically and/or as financial supporters. In the community of custodians, they are united by the recognition of the BioDesign Code for Custodians as a common document of responsible shared work and values.
Custodians’ conservation projects and actions are publicized in www.thecustodians.org.