Managing Director Dr Heiko Weißleder retires from GFA after three decades
‘My driving force has always been helping to fight extreme poverty around the world’, says Heiko Weißleder, reflecting on what drew him to the international development cooperation sector. He joined GFA as a consultant in 1996, after completing a PhD in agricultural economics, researching the economic consequences of food aid in regions affected by famine. After an intensive period of international assignments, including in West Africa, the Maghreb, and on a major land registry project in Georgia, he became Managing Director of the subsidiary GFA Medica GmbH just four years later – combining his economic expertise with a growing interest in health issues.
‘HIV/AIDS was one of the most pressing issues at the time, and it was in this field that I first experienced what it meant to make a real, tangible difference to people’s living conditions’, he recalls. ‘GFA’s key strengths have always been the strong values of its employees and a genuine sense of purpose’.
In 2008, Heiko Weißleder joined the management board of GFA Consulting Group and its parent company, GFA Holding, taking responsibility for finance, administration, quality management, and compliance. After founder Johannes Lagemann and fellow director Günter Schmidt stepped down in 2009, Weißleder shared the management role with Dr Klaus Altemeier and Dr Christoph Schaefer-Kehnert. When they left in 2019, Weißleder continued to lead GFA’s operations alongside Anja Desai and Dr Ilona Schadl.
Heiko Weißleder’ s tenure as Managing Director has been marked by sustained growth: the workforce expanded from a few dozen in the 2000s to around 1,700 people working across the globe for the GFA GROUP today. Meanwhile, the group’s turnover rose from €58 million to around €200 million. During this time, GFA has also faced challenges – in response to the recent upheaval in the international cooperation sector, management restructured the organisation, integrated departments and services more closely, created new hubs in project regions, and strengthened collaboration between the GFA GROUP companies. Weißleder remains optimistic: ‘We have set the right strategic course. GFA will continue to grow in the coming years.’
Heiko Weißleder will take early retirement on 30 June. His successor, Christian Dürr, joined the GFA management team in early April and has been gradually assuming Weißleder’ s responsibilities. ‘The generational transition has gone smoothly, opening the door for fresh, new ideas’, says Heiko Weißleder, who will remain one of GFA's major stakeholder to maintain financial continuity.
