Sophia Cornelißen
Sophia has joined us as the German Representative of our European branch.
Born and raised in Northern Germany, she spent her childhood playing in the woods, exploring beaches, or kayaking on rivers. With her empathy for the nature she soon realized that there were problems that she had to fight against. She focused her professional career to contribute for change and searching for solutions.
After a bachelor’s degree in social economics she grabbed her backpack and set off to hike in New Zealand and Europe for a while. Since October 2018 she studies in the master’s degree Interdisciplinary Nonprofit and Public Studies at the University of Hamburg.
Her specialization is the Nonprofit Sector, especially environmental issues with a focus on Circular Economy. In her master thesis she writes about the role of collaborations and how they impact value chains in a circular economy.
In November 2019 Sophia attended with Mark Minneboo (executive director of Plastic Ocean Chile and Regional director Latin America) at the Retech conference about “circular economy against marine littering” in Berlin, Germany.
In January 2020 she started as an intern for Plastic Ocean Canada and worked there until April 2020 within the Canadian Team of Adrian Midwood. A highlight of the stay in Canada were spending time in the stunning nature around Tofino at Vancouver Island and the Tedx Talk in February.
Back in Germany she settled in Hamburg for her last semester at the University of Hamburg while continuing her work for Plastic Ocean Europe in the role as the German Representative.
Her Mission: Catching the wave of activism to drive Europe in a plastic free, sustainable headspace.