Dear HOPE’87 Partners,

Dear Friends,

Dear Madam,

Dear Sir,

All good things must come to an end, and a fulfilled working life inevitably comes to an end with retirement…

And so our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Robert Zehenthofer, and I, Secretary General Robert Ottitsch, will retire from active professional life at the end of October 2024.

First of all, I would like to assure you all that nothing will change for the organization, although this is a one-time event.

We have been planning the change with great care since May to ensure that everything continues as you are accustomed to…

Now is the time to share details of that change with you…

Ms. Anna Riedl, BA BA MA, who you may have known for some time, will take over the management of the finance department from Robert Zehenthofer. As you may have noticed, Anna has taken on more and more tasks from Robert Zehenthofer and me in recent months… she has now grown very well into her new position. In October, Robert provided her with the tools she still needed as part of a targeted training and handover process.

Anna is an extremely well-qualified, warm-hearted, empathetic and precise colleague who will always be at your side with help and advice. In addition to financial matters, she will also provide technical support for selected projects in project management.

As for my successor, after a lengthy selection process, we, together with Dr. Maisa Khalil and the board, have agreed on an extremely talented and disciplined woman with unique sensitivity. My successor will be Ms Sabrina Kiss, BA BA MA.

Sabrina completed an internship with us in Vienna during her studies from July to December 2013. Even then, we were impressed by her willingness to fully commit herself to the service of HOPE’87… During those six months, she took on tasks that went far beyond what we had ever expected from interns. She surprised us time and again with her problem-solving skills, her empathetic way of communicating with country offices worldwide, her persistence in tackling problems and her sense of responsibility…

In the following years, Sabrina completed her studies at the University of Vienna with a bachelor’s degree in International Development and English/American Studies. This was followed by a master’s degree in International Humanitarian Action (specialization: armed conflicts and humanitarian action) at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and the University of Warsaw (Poland).

In 2016, Sabrina joined the Austrian Armed Forces as a professional soldier. She completed her basic military training and then worked in the guard command. Since then, she has been a militiawoman with the rank of sergeant.

Until 2022, she remained in the service of the Federal Ministry of Defense and worked in research coordination and project management for the ministry, as well as at Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, based in Warsaw.

In October 2022, Sabrina joined Caritas Austria, where she worked in the field of basic services for refugees.

And now I am extremely happy that Sabrina has agreed to “come back” to HOPE’87 from November 1, 2024, to continue the good work and make our organization even more successful and sustainable!

I myself will move to the Board on November 1, 2024 and will always be there for the organization during my term of office, but also to give our new Secretary General security and support in the coming months.

After 34 years of service to HOPE’87 and in view of the overwhelming and successful achievements we have made together, the joy we have always had, the consideration we have always shown for each other and the cohesion in good and less good times, the undeniable cohesion that makes our HOPE’87 family what it is and makes it strong, I ask you to place the trust you have always placed in me in Sabrina and to support her…

After a full working life, I am now retiring but will remain connected to HOPE’87 for the rest of my life. Together with so many colleagues in Vienna and our country offices worldwide, friends, partners and donors, we have created something extraordinary: from a small idea for the UN International Year of Youth in 1987 with a budget of just €27,000, a respected and successful organization with an annual turnover of millions has developed.

Unfortunately, I cannot mention everyone by name, but I would like to thank you all for the trust you have placed in me and for your decades of support.

I would like to thank all our country offices, the directors and the entire staff. You accomplish incredible things and have always filled me with pride.

I would like to give special thanks to our CFO Robert Zehenthofer, who has supported me through thick and thin for 34 years and is and always will be a pillar of our organization.

The success of HOPE’87 is also your success, and you can be proud of it!

I am now placing the fate of HOPE’87 in the hands of Sabrina Kiss and I am firmly convinced that she will lead the organization to further successful heights.

With my thanks to you, I now bid you farewell and ask you to place the same trust in Sabrina Kiss as you have given me.

In friendship,

Robert Ottitsch

Secretary General Emeritus

HOPE’87