Risk competence is rooted in context – not in models.

Confident decisions require data, models – and the ability to read context. With more than two decades of field-based and analytical experience in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, I help decision-makers and teams to turn complexity into clarity.

Operating in Eastern Europe and Central Asia brings unique challenges, from high-risk environments to diverse cultural and economic settings.

I grew up in East Germany, fled to the West before the Berlin Wall fell, and have spent nearly 25 years working across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Before that period in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, I was active in entrepreneurship and politics during East Germany’s turbulent 1990s transformation.

From the early 2000s until the mid-2010s, I was privileged to be part of a then relatively small circle of international experts with hands-on experience in pioneering innovation ecosystem development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. During this period, I had the opportunity to closely observe the dynamics of early-stage entrepreneurship across the region.

My background spans deep involvement in early-stage entrepreneurship  and tech investment,  as well as politics, academia, science, intergovernmental work,  and conflict-zone experience.

KEY MILESTONES

1993 - 1996: State Executive Manager (and co-chairman) Saxony, Young Liberals of Saxony (JuliA); Germany (political youth organization).

In 1995, initiation and coordination of a humanitarian aid convoi (by Young Liberals of Saxony in cooperation with Liberalna Stranka BiH) to Sarajevo, which was under Serbian siege at this time.

Sarajevo 1995 © Stefan Schandera

1995 - 1999:  Co-founder of PR company Zastrow & Schandera Public Relations Dresden (Germany). Specialized in designing and rolling out events with substantial media effects, as well as political campaigning. See case study Since 1999, continued as Zastrow & Zastrow (www.zzdd.de).

1999 - 2000:  Lecturer (Lehrbeauftragter) for Marketing and for Startup Management at HTW Dresden University of Applied Sciences (Germany).

1999 - 2002: Lead consultant and interim CEO at Mentor Unternehmerberatung GmbH (Germany). Management and startup consulting company with close ties to Dresden universities.

2000:  Russian language studies and research on software outsourcing potentials in Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

2002 - 2004:  UN: SME Development Expert for United Nations Volunteers at SODBI Business Incubator Shymkent (Kazakhstan). See case study

Kazakhstan 2002 © Stefan Schandera

Since 2004 and to this day: Independent advisor and analyst for strategy,  risk management, and organizational development. Clients include private enterprises, development agencies, governments, NGOs, as well as scientific and academic institutions. Focus on Eastern Europe and Central Asia. For work examples, please see Reference chapter.

2006 - 2014:  World Bank: Regional Facilitator for the World Bank’s infoDev program in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. infoDev was a World Bank program that supported high-growth entrepreneurship in developing and emerging economies. See case study

2009 - 2013:  Coordination of an international climate tech scientific project, led by the DBFZ German Biomass Research Centre (Federal German gov), and connecting leading German and Eastern European (Belarus, Russian Federation, Ukraine) scientific institutions in the area of bioenergy. Policy consulting on climate tech development. See case study

2013 - 2015:  Head (principal / rector) of an international business school in a conflict zone in Northern Kosovo. The International Business College Mitrovica (IBCM) is a Higher Education Institution (German accreditation) offering Danish Bachelor and Master's degrees. See case study

2016:  Full return to entrepreneurship (see "Current" below) as entrepreneur and angel investor.

Since 2022: Extensive humanitarian and economic development work in Ukraine (2022 - 2023: Bus-loads of Hope and Buses for Bucha; since 2023 ua.ventures (fka Ukraimpulse)

CURRENT (2025):  Managing partner and co-founder of:

Gigahertz Ventures GmbH
Provides business angel investment to hardware and deep tech start-ups (focus Germany, industrial).

ua.ventures GmbH (iG)
Offers early-stage funding for Ukrainian tech start-ups and scale-ups. Risk management Ukraine.

EDUVISO GmbH
An international HR and capacity-building service provider, with a focus on the medical sector.

Independent risk and crisis management and strategy advisor and analyst.

Maidan Kyiv February 2014 © Stefan Schandera

EDUCATION

Business administration (Dipl.-Kfm. FH) at Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW Dresden); East European Studies (M.A.) at Free University Berlin (FU Berlin); Irish National Diploma in International Marketing (International Business Studies) at RTC/IT Sligo (Atlantic Technological University Sligo), Ireland.

Russian language studies at Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute Ukraine (ХПI) in 2000, and at St Petersburg State University Russian Federation (СПбГУ) in 2007. Completed carpentry apprenticeship (German Dual Vocational Education).

Certified risk and crisis manager. Certified turnaround consultant.