Dr. Julia Freudenberg has been the CEO of Hacker School in Hamburg since 2017. After working in the private sector, completing her studies, and earning her doctorate, she took over the leadership of the non-profit organization. Its vision is to inspire young people across Germany to learn programming, equip them with 21st-century skills, and show them opportunities in the IT job market. Hacker School focuses on offering courses in schools, with a particular emphasis on empowering girls and socio-economically disadvantaged young people. A key success factor for its programs is sustainable partnerships with companies and universities. As a committed networker, Dr. Julia Freudenberg actively advocates for digital education and is a co-author of, among other works, the 2025 WAS IST WAS book titled “Smarter, Smartest, AI?”.