about me

To me it is clear that people matter profoundly. If we want to solve humanity’s most important and urgent challenges we have to make sure that people can thrive in environments (social as well as physical and technological) that allow their brilliant ideas to become reality.

I’m Vera Hofmann

What a joy to meet you!
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My Motivation

I have come to the conclusion that I want to use my life to detect and help to unfold the potential of people and organizations in a way that honors the boundaries of our homeplanet. Therefore I have carved out a personal mission that guides me in everything I do. I measure myself against it every single day. My mission is to strive towards and to point out opportunities to grow for me and others. By listening and observing with an open heart & mind and acting according to it I add depth and value in everything I engage in. I look for the positive and beautiful in my environment, in others and in me and (help to) unfold its full potential.

more about me

Moving from Knowing to Growing

During my studies in Psychology at the LMU in Munich, the Saarland University and the Università degli Studi di Trieste I observed that in our western world we seem to nearly exclusively focus on a) what can be measured and b) what needs to be fixed.

Even though I love the subject of Psychology I missed a way of approaching and working with humans in a way that acknowledged their complexity and the potential for doing good. I wondered why we stop paying attention once the problem is found and fixed. Actually here it would become interesting to learn what makes us thrive, wouldn’t it?

That’s why I was hooked immediately when I learned about an approach called Appreciative Inquiry (AI). I signed up for an internship with an internationally working AI practitioner and consultant and soaked up everything I could find about this human-centered and strength-based approach. In serendipity this internship was also the stepping stone for me to move from my home country to the Netherlands. I attended the 1st Global Conference for Positive Change in Amsterdam and swore to myself that sooner or later I would a) move to this cosmopolitan, liberal and tolerant city and b) that I’d find a way to earn my money in a way how most of the people I met during that conference did: by helping people and organizations to thrive.

It took me another year of starting and quitting my first full time job in the hospitality industry and applying in vein for a new position before I gathered all my courage to leave Germany for an uncertain future in the Netherlands. Without having a job offer and only with a few invitation to see apartments in my new hometown I packed my suitcase and moved. I found myself rewarded in the next days by finding a nice place to live and my first assignment as a project manager for the 2nd Global Conference for Positive Change. Sometimes you just have to trust life and the grace you may receive when you dare to imagine…

In the years that followed I combined the expertise and experience I gained in the hospitality industry and the world of consultancy when co-creating Prio.me, a start-up providing L&D solutions for service-minded businesses. With Dare to Imagine I  continue this journey, helping to make the world and our businesses more life-affirming places.

I do that as a facilitator and coach by allowing my clients to find, listen to and make meaning of the answers that are already within us. I also create and facilitate programs that help you understand the extra-ordinary times we live in. Times that allow us to shift from centralized to decentralized power structures, from a fear- and depth-based economy to a purpose-, maybe even love-centered way of doing our business. I facilitate a processes which allow us to become more conscious about our human and plenatary boundaries, that teach us to appreciate our uniqueness and the beauty in diversity.

My passion, curiosity and expertise lies in the fields and topics of courage, appreciative inquiry, intercultural psychology, Source and Money Work and the paradigm shifts we experience in these days.

Proud to deliver value in cooperation with

I’m proud to support together with Joep C. de Jong the leaders of the Workplace Culture Department of the UN World Food Programme to navigate these turbulent times and on their mission to Save Lives and Change Lives.

 

I’m proud and honored to be part of the lively European Appreciative Inquiry Community.  Till 2023 I supported the learning and bonding process of the network as community manager.

 

 

In a peak-point of their change process, I was called in to help the Management Team and several councils fo the Academy for Tourism of BUas to embrace Appreciative Inquiry in their way of communicating.

 

 

The ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehung is worldwide active to help build and maintain democracy, freedom and cultural diversity. I supported the leaders of the Department Dialogues in a troublesome time with process facilitation and coaching.

 

Michael Gleich is journalist, curator and researcher of vitality (Lebendigkeits-forscher). I had the pleasure to work with him in the context of the micelab:bodensee where we co-created together with Tina Gadow the micelab:expedition, a learning journey around “safety in times of uncertainty”.

 

I got to know and to appreciate Tina Gadow as an expert in process consultation, talent development, design of transformation & learning, group facilitation and culture development. I had the pleasure to work with her on the micelab:expedition.
I’m proud to support the leaders and experts of the Presence Group trough a customized Leadership & Organizational Development Trajectory. We support a new generation of leaders and this growing organization to thrive.

 

Heidi Sieber, artist and visionary, is an expert in Neurographik®, a tool that helps revealing insights from the unconscious. With GlobalheArt she empowers individuals and organizations. In 2020 we hosted the 22 Days of Grace.
In the realm of the the eku – Zukunftspreis, I collaborated with the SMEKUL to help change-makers creating more positive social and ecological impact through the Im Flow-Programm.

 

It was a great joy to work with the students of ESCP on the topic Conscious Career Choices within their Master studies in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
After having participated in the CU*money program myself, I was honored to co-facilitate the program with Nadja, the founder of ConsciousU, for the following cohorts.

 

 

In 2020 I co-designed and -hosted the micelab:Bodensee together with Tina Gadow and Michael Gleich. This project is an exceptional example for co-opetion (collaboration & competition) which points to new, innovative forms of learning & working.
Heike Aiello, MBA, is an expert in Appreciative Inquiry, an approach building upon the strengths of people. With CoreConnect she supports organizations, teams & individuals to discover their excellence and put it into action.
I’m very excited about the collaboration with Gitanjali Wolf. In April 2024 we’ll host the pilot for our Leader’s Program. Follow us on Linkedin & Instagram to learn more!

 

I am proud to be one of the winners of the eku – Zukunftspreis 2023 “Nachhaltig und bestens vernetzt” (engl: eku – future price 2023 “sustainable and well connected”) which helped us put the Im Flow Program together.

 

Team EPLÚ comprises a number of public speakers, trainers, guest lecturers and moderators, all of whom match the profile “a public speaker who makes a real difference!” To request me as a speaker, please contact Anne Marie Westra directly.