Girl power – high-powered women

At Borussia Dortmund, transfers are handled by Zorc – and from summer 2022 by Sebastian Kehl – as sporting director. Sponsorship deals continue to be handled by managing director Carsten Cramer, while Hans-Joachim Watzke oversees pretty much everything at the club. Still, BVB now employ significantly more women with decision-making authority and influence than they have done in the past. "It's good that we now have four women in senior positions who have an excellent reputation here because they do a very good job," says Cramer. The women he is speaking about are Corinna Borgmann, 31, who is head of human resources, Kerstin Zerbe, 39, who is director of merchandising, Svenja Schlenker, 38, who has been in charge of the new department for girls' and women's football for over a year, and Marieke Köhler, 33, the manager of BVB's "leuchte auf" foundation. 

You have probably heard of the four seasons, the four gospels, the Fantastic Four, the four elements, the four points on a compass, the Four Musketeers, the four phases of the moon and Connect Four. Today, we present to you four strong women from Borussia Dortmund. Four women who were entrusted with important tasks according to the 4C principle – they are clever, competent, communicative and creative. They got to where they are today thanks to their knowledge, ability and ambition. The quota of women at clubs which the "Football can do more" alliance in Germany would like to establish as a mandatory requirement, has no relevance in Dortmund when it comes to filling key positions – and for good reason. CEO Watzke is adamant that women "have equal opportunities in all areas." And Cramer points out that Borussia already have "a lot of women working at different levels". He continues: "You can see that football – and particularly football as an employer – is also becoming more interesting as a professional environment for women. The more women work in a company, the more it becomes natural that women also take on leadership roles." 

"I get support from all sides at BVB" – Svenja Schlenker  

Silke Seidel, 59, who joined in 2015, and Judith Dommermuth, 45, who came to BVB in 2020, round off this quartet of high-powered women on the club's supervisory board. The Borussia Dortmund supervisory board meet five to six times a year – following the withdrawal of Gerd Pieper for health reasons since 24 September 2021, under the chairmanship of Christian Kullmann (Chairman of the management board of Evonik). Silke Seidel, as head of the real estate division of DSW21, was instrumental in the design and implementation of the BVB training ground in Brackel, which was financed by DSW21, and is currently providing the benefits of her experience in the redesign of the Borusseum. Judith Dommermuth, managing director of JUVIA Verwaltungs-GmbH, brings the entrepreneurial expertise of her own fashion brand with her. As wife of Ralph Dommermuth, the founder of United Internet AG, she represents the main sponsor "1&1" on the supervisory board. Watzke characterises both as "very lively" members of the board, with a smile. 

For six years, Silke Seidel has been carrying out her "wonderful task", as she herself says, on the board with plenty of passion and enthusiasm. "Borussia are a great standard bearer for Dortmund." For them, "knowing and understanding the club and acting on the board are closely linked". She is now very familiar with these interrelationships between committees and structures. "Thanks to the construction of the training centre from 2005 to the present day – and we oversaw some seven phases of construction – I got to know the club intensively." Her credo is: "Having the club at heart and acting economically in the spirit of board."  

Judith Dommermuth, who lives in Montabaur, also has a Black-and-Yellow-tinged history. "I come from Westphalia, have been a BVB fan since school and have been in the stadium plenty of times, especially during my studies in Essen." For many years, she has maintained a close friendship with Roman Weidenfeller. With her JUVIA brand, she has tapped into a wide range of customers in her profession and is particularly successful in the online sector, which is becoming increasingly important in football. "I have been running a company with a turnover of tens of millions for eight years and would like to bring my expertise as far as the new media is concerned to Borussia Dortmund." She describes her interactions on the Black and Yellow supervisory board, which is still dominated by men, as warm: "It's a very nice group, and people are always laughing in between [the serious issues]."

With the insight of Marco Rose talking about the benefits of a 4-4-2 diamond system or three-striker formation, Corinna Borgmann describes the special input she and her colleagues can provide. “Women bring with them new methods that the workforce both demands and supports," she says. Specifically: "Empathy on certain issues and a calmer approach. Women bring in a different way of doing things that has a positive effect in the male-dominated domain of football." 

Kerstin Zerbe is regarded as a shining example of the fact that all the doors are open to women at BVB. For her, it was a happy coincidence that there was very little time between her unsolicited application and the corresponding need for her appointment following her almost-namesake Matthias Zerber's decision to leave (to join Inter Milan). “Kerstin impressed us with her qualifications and the way she has inspired us," says Corinna Borgmann. Kerstin Zerbe has the perfect BVB CV. She understands the club because she completed her vocational training here, and she understands the business because she gained nine years of valuable experience with sporting goods manufacturer Nike before moving to the management consultancy Accenture in Kronberg im Taunus. "With this career path, she was destined to take her role here with us," Cramer emphasises. Kerstin Zerbe was influenced by the fact that she grew up close to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, opposite the Dortmund police headquarters, watching the Black and Yellow crowds pile past her house every two weeks.  

The extent to which the club's human resources policy is characterised by the fact that Dortmund does not think in terms of quota conventions was only made clear in the summer when another leading role was cast: It would have been all too easy for Svenja Schlenker to hire a coach for the new women's team in the Kreisliga who would have been more in line with the Zeitgeist and the call for more gender equality. "But I had to decide who fits Borussia Dortmund best," she reveals, "and that turned out to be a man." His name: Thomas Sulewski, who reminds us a little of the American actor and comedian Jack Black because of his stature and appearance, and already in the first weeks of his tenure, he and his team had shaken up the Dortmund Kreisliga. 

As one of the driving forces behind the formation of the women’s team and head of the women's football department, Svenja Schlenker can be found in the stands at every match. As a former player, having most recently played for Wambeler SV in the Verbandsliga, she is probably still itching to be out on the pitch, especially as she watches the team which she and a small group put together dominate through a group of ten clubs as if they were playing in seven-league boots. In her new job, she will be helped by an attribute that her all-male colleagues in her former team at the administrative office were able to notice: "I don't put up with much on the pitch." Cramer praises the high integrity of the project manager, her enthusiasm, "the gift of getting the right people together," but also her background in the marketing department of the club: "She has a real sense of football. She knows what's good for football and what might be going a little bit too far." 

"Increasing merchandising turnover toward €50 million" – Kerstin Zerbe  

Svenja Schlenker has never looked at her watch in her 14 years at Borussia. Because she says she has "always been football and BVB mad", it is hard to clearly distinguish between her private and professional life. "It's very much intertwined," she reveals, "I have a great passion for both." That is why she didn't have to think too hard about whether to take part in the second management course run by the DFB and DFL. This further education course means she has had to be in Frankfurt since the second week of October, and also has time-consuming online obligations. Svenja Schlenker is looking forward to 18 intensive months with "many great colleagues". Four out of the 16 participants are women, incidentally. Svenja Schlenker has never found asserting herself in football, which is regarded as a male-dominated bastion, too difficult: "I get support from all sides at BVB". I feel very supported and appreciated."

Corinna Borgmann is also highly regarded and accepted by the 800 employees at BVB, and is responsible for all those at the club who do not fall under the banner of sport, which comprises only approximately 200 active and functional members. Within five years of getting her start as a human resources officer, she had climbed the ranks to become head of human resources in early 2021 and has since attended a directors' meeting every Monday, where, in addition to management representatives, she deals with Michael Zorc (sporting director), Sebastian Kehl (head of the licensed players department), Dr. Christian Hockenjos (organisation, administration and facilities), Mark Stahlschmidt (finance), Sascha Fligge (communication), Lars Ricken (youth performance centre) and Dr. Robin Steden (legal/investor relations). 

"Understanding the other person's problem, getting to the heart of the problem and finding a solution together." – Corinna Borgmann 

Corinna Borgmann has made good on her promise of acting decisively and vigorously – even as a newcomer in this esteemed company on the board. The fact that she speaks up and sometimes poses critical questions has long been accepted as part and parcel of Monday's meetings. “She brings people together, she is a winner, and she is clear," says CEO Cramer, "she is very good." It is certainly no disadvantage that Corinna Borgmann is around 6 feet tall – her size gives her an even greater aura of self-confidence. She is "determined" and acts in a "calm, competent and balanced” manner, according to Cramer. 

Corinna Borgmann tells us with sympathetic openness that she still needs to make up a little ground when it comes to being football crazy: "I can definitely still learn a thing or two." The fact that she has been converted from a Bayern fan (her family were fans) to now being a passionate supporter of the Black and Yellows is of course partly due to her employment at BVB since 2016, but is primarily down to her fiancé Daniel, who dragged her to a game at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK played at minus 17 degrees, which ignited great enthusiasm in her despite the bitter cold. "It was a fantastic experience," she recalls, "it was a really cool atmosphere." Whenever possible, she gets involved in the stadium and lets herself get carried away in the atmosphere. And when highly technical debates or possible offside discussions break out among the fans, she listens carefully to see what her neighbours in the stands are thinking. 

During conversations in the "Berlin" conference room at the BVB office, the only men who look down at Dortmund's high-powered women are those in oversized pictures adorning the walls. Incidentally, the men in question are Nobby Dickel, Frank Mill and Andreas Möller, who won the DFB-Pokal in the capital in 1989 and thus secured the club's first silverware since the European Cup Winners' Cup victory in 1966. Svenja Schlenker and Corinna Borgmann's good humour is infectious, and if this is an indication of the general atmosphere behind the scenes at BVB, it must be good – excellent even. Once a week, their paths also cross when they are among the nine members who attend the weekly works council meetings, chaired by club bedrock Fritz Löschermann. What is most important to them when it comes to staff representation at the Bundesliga side? "First and foremost, it is important to keep calm," explains Corinna Borgmann, "that helps enormously in understanding the other person's problem, getting to the heart of the problem and finding a solution together."   

Kerstin Zerbe, who will later talk about her first six months on Strobelallee via video call, has just come back from a family holiday in Italy. Even the fact that she came home with a mild cold could not dampen her high spirits: it was the first and "very successful" time off she has had since starting work on 1 April this year. Since then, she has been responsible for purchasing, sales, managing the product range, pricing, logistics and marketing. The vast range boasts some 2000 (!) items, including garden gnomes and rubber ducks, and buyers have the option of picking up the vast array of merchandise in the fan world at the stadium itself, in four stores in Dortmund, three more in North Rhine-Westphalia (Hagen, Essen, Oberhausen), as well as the online shop, which is open 24/7. The assortment is to be gradually whittled down by around a third. In the medium term, Kerstin Zerbes' goal is to increase the merchandising turnover from €32.6 million for in financial year 2020/21 "toward €50 million" and thus generate higher returns. 

The fact that football continues to be dominated by men also requires a calm, strict and sometimes resolute approach in the merchandising guru's area of expertise. "I would agree to that," says Kerstin Zerbe, who, unlike in her own house, has noticed a "tendency to underestimate" her at the negotiating table among those she does business with. Those who face her over the negotiating table in the (foolish) belief of having an easy time getting what they want from her quickly realise that they are mistaken, meaning that sometimes the talks do not lead to a resolution – or become more expensive for them than expected. The lesson: Kerstin Zerbe is not someone who you can simply wrap around your finger. 

For ten years, she played football at SV Brackel. At the age of twelve, she fell in love with BVB and – like Svenja Schlenker later – was the only woman on her vocational training course who played indoor football with the office team on Mondays. Football is her "number one sport," she reveals, admitting she is "crazy" about the game. Still, at some stage she shifted her focus to basketball because of the "greater action" on the pitch, she says. She would probably have enjoyed handball too, and who knows, maybe she would have faced off with Marieke Köhler, who even played in the Bundesliga for TV Beyeröhde. Today, like Corinna Borgmann, Svenja Schlenker and Kerstin Zerbe, she is one of the female executives at BVB as manager of the "leuchte auf" foundation. 

The foundation, established in 2012, has provided more than €1.9 million to some 248 projects to date – Marieke Köhler  

Marieke Köhler has been managing the foundation's activities for almost two years, developing projects that are in line with the foundation's purpose, and arranging the foundation's events. BVB have been actively and sustainably committed to important social issues for many years – very much in the spirit of club founder and honorary president Franz Jacobi ("The quality of a football club is evident in how it fulfils its social tasks") – and established the foundation in 2012. In the meantime, 248 projects have been funded – to the tune of €1.9 million. The foundation focuses on Dortmund and the Ruhr region. 

In the end, it comes down to only one question: how bold is the vision that a woman will one day also be the one making the decisions on budgets, contracts and transfer fees at Dortmund? As former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt mocked, should you go straight to the doctor if you consider such a scenario in the medium or long term? "No," Svenja Schlenker replies, "If there is a woman with the right level of expertise and if you know that she will help the club, and if there is no one else, be they male or female, why not?"
Author: Thomas Hennecke
Photos: Mareen Meyer