Rüdiger José Hamm

Head of Political Education and Research

Rüdiger José Hamm serves as the Head of Political Education and Research at BAG RelEx. He holds a degree in Political Science from the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin and has been active in political education since 2003. His academic expertise includes racism and antisemitism, with a particular focus on identity constructions, self-perception, and external perceptions of individuals with bi- and multiethnic backgrounds. He has also researched intersections and differences between racist discrimination and antisemitism.

Rüdiger has led educational and advisory projects since 2003, facilitated workshops and seminars, and conducted evaluations of civil society initiatives in the fields of anti-racism, antisemitism, diversity, and extremism prevention. He is a certified Diversity and Anti-Bias trainer. Additionally, he has taught at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Berlin, the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences, and Freie Universität Berlin, focusing on social work, diversity studies, and intercultural communication.

Frederik Braune

Project Officer

Frederik Braune has been with BAG RelEx since July 2023. He studied International Emergency and Disaster Relief at the Akkon University of Human Sciences and holds a degree in Social Work (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam). Prior to joining BAG RelEx, he worked for several years in homeless assistance at a Berlin-based addiction support organization.

At BAG RelEx, Frederik works primarily in public relations and is responsible for the newsletters of BAG RelEx. Additionally, he is involved in the planning and implementation of various events and publications, such as the journal Ligante. Fachdebatten aus der Präventionsarbeit.

Patrick Dehne

Student Assistant

Patrick Dehne has been working as a Student Assistant at BAG RelEx since April 2025. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the Georg-August-University of Göttingen and the Western Washington University. Patrick Dehne is currently studying Political Science for a Master´s degree at the Free University of Berlin. His academic focus is on democracy research.

At BAG RelEx, he is working on the knowledge-transfer-project „wissenschaft:praxisnah“.

Sandy Dost

Financial Administration and Event Management

Sandy Dost has been an administrative staff member at BAG RelEx since 2020. Originally trained in the hospitality industry, she became a certified business economist in 2017. Following her studies, she worked in the administration of a Protestant foundation. Since 2020, she has also been a volunteer board member of the Friends Association of Friedrichshagen Primary School.

At BAG RelEx, Sandy is responsible for event and office management and oversees financial administration and financial controlling.

Maida Ganević

Advisor for Interreligious Cooperation

Maida Ganević has been working as an Advisor for Interreligious Cooperation at BAG RelEx since April 2025. She studied Political Science and Islamic Studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen (BA) and continued her studies (MA) in Political Science and Sociology at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, which also took her to Istanbul for a study visit.

During her studies, she gained practical experience in areas aligned with the work of BAG RelEx, including at a counseling and support center dedicated to universal extremism prevention with a focus on especially vulnerable youth. Since 2024, she has been a scholarship holder of the Deutschlandstiftung Integration (Diversify programme). She is also involved as a multiplier in political youth and adult education and gives workshops on topics such as anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism.

At BAG RelEx, Maida is jointly responsible for the implementation of the international collaborative project ShieldED (start May 2025) and the participation in the collaborative project PrEval Zukunftswerkstätten.

Miriam Katharina Heß

Advisor for International Cooperation and Counter Terrorism Analysis

Miriam Katharina Heß has been an Advisor for International Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism Analysis at BAG RelEx since 2025. Until December 2024, she was serving as an Expert on Religiously Motivated Extremism at BAG RelEx. She studied National and International Administration and Policy at the University of Potsdam, as well as Political Science at the University of Hamburg. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at the University of Leipzig, where she examines the security rhetoric surrounding terrorism in the context of securitization in Germany.

She is an Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and a member of the Working Group on “Internal Security and Terrorism” at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Since October 2023, she has been facilitating workshops on democracy and antisemitism with Zeitgeist e. V. From January 2022 to May 2023, she served as a Research Fellow in the Security and Defense Program at DGAP, where she led the project “Islamist Radicalization and Extremism in Europe’s Chechen Community.” Previously, she worked on the project “Analysis of Trends and Developments in the Tertiary Prevention of Islamist Extremism.”

At BAG RelEx, Miriam is responsible for international networking and cooperation and is coordinating the areas of knowledge transfer and international advocacy. She also analyzes current trends and developments in national and international counter-terrorism efforts.

Ulrike Hoole

Advisor for Radicalisation Prevention

Ulrike Hoole Ulrike Hoole has been working as Advisor for Radicalisation Prevention at BAG RelEx since 2021. She studied Arabic and International Relations (BA), Middle East Politics (MSc), and Islamic Studies (MA) in Leeds, Cairo, London, and Berlin. Her academic focus was on Islamic political ideologies and Islamist organizations in the MENA region.

She is a certified Systemic Counselor (DGSF) and has practical experience in counseling young people with refugee backgrounds and in primary prevention of Islamist extremism in schools.

At BAG RelEx, her focus is on practical approaches to radicalization prevention, particularly primary prevention, as well as knowledge transfer from and within the membership and the coordination of network activities within the membership. In addition, she is responsible for organizing the specialist conference, the journal Ligante. Fachdebatten aus der Präventionsarbeit, and, together with Charlotte Leikert, the podcast KN:IX talks .

Charlotte Leikert

Advisor and Public Relations

Charlotte Leikert is Advisor at BAG RelEx and responsible for its Press and Public Relations since 2020. She studied Communication Science and Psychology (BA) in Jena and Nice, and completed a Master’s degree with a focus on political communication at Freie Universität Berlin. The implications of digitalization for extremist actors are among her areas of interest, which she has explored both during her studies and in her work at BAG RelEx. Her comparative analysis of the framing of the Identitarian Movement and Generation Islam was published in the KN:IX Report 2023. She has also been working as a freelance moderator since mid-2023.

In addition to her press and public relations work, Charlotte is also responsible for internal and public event formats at BAG RelEx and co-hosts the podcast KN:IX talks together with Ulrike Hoole.

Ivo Lisitzki

Advisor for Politics and European Networking

Ivo Lisitzki has been an Advisor for Policy and European Networking at BAG RelEx since 2025. Until December 2024, he was serving as an Expert on Religiously Motivated Extremism at BAG RelEx. He studied Political Management (BA) and International Relations Middle East (MA) in Bremen, Istanbul, and Durham. Following his studies, he primarily worked on religiously motivated extremism in the context of criminal justice, probation services, and reintegration into society at the Senator for Justice and Constitution in Bremen, where he also published his findings. Additionally, Ivo has contributed to various European projects focusing on radicalization, risk assessment, and evaluation.

At BAG RelEx, Ivo’s focus, in addition to the work in the field of religiously motivated extremism, is primarily on networking and coordinating projects within the European context, as well as representing interests in politics and administration.

Shajan Zanjani

Student Assistant

Shajan Zanjani has been working as a Student Assistant at BAG RelEx since March 2025. He completed his Bachelor of Science in ‘Public Governance across Borders’ at the University of Münster and the University of Twente. There he specialised in the field of Public Administration. Shajan is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Potsdam.