Change of Leadership at the Robert Bosch Stiftung

•    Atje Drexler to become CEO on May 1, 2027
•    Dr. Bernhard Straub to retire on May 31, 2027

Berlin/Stuttgart, October 9, 2026 – The Board of Trustees of the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH has appointed Atje Drexler as CEO effective May 1, 2027. Drexler, currently Senior Vice President of Futures and Networks and a member of the Foundation’s senior management team, will assume sole responsibility for the Foundation’s management as of June 1, 2027. The current CEO, Dr. Bernhard Straub, will retire on May 31, 2027, after serving two terms.

“With Atje Drexler, we have found an outstanding successor from within our own organization,” says Christoph Kübel, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. “At a time when civil society organizations around the world are operating under increasingly challenging conditions, her extensive experience and strong personal network are invaluable. We very much look forward to working with her in her new role and are confident that she will provide important impetus for the Foundation’s future.”

For 25 years, Atje Drexler has helped shape the work of the Foundation in a variety of key positions. Among other roles, she served as Senior Vice President of the Global Issues program area. She represents the Foundation on the Board of Philea, the European philanthropy association.

Dr. Bernhard Straub has led the Robert Bosch Stiftung since July 2021. Before moving to the nonprofit sector, he spent around 30 years in various international leadership positions at Robert Bosch GmbH, most recently as President of the Electrical Drives division.

“Over the past years, Bernhard Straub has guided the Robert Bosch Stiftung with great foresight, strengthening its financial position, modernizing its organizational culture and clearly positioning it in an increasingly challenging social and political environment,” says Christoph Kübel. “Drawing on his many years of leadership experience at Bosch, he has consistently focused the Foundation on strategy and impact. His strong commitment to our affiliated institutions, including the Bosch Health Campus, has been particularly important in ensuring that they are well positioned for the future. We thank him for his exceptional dedication and highly successful work and wish him all the very best for the future.”

Atje Drexler (52) is a member of the Robert Bosch Stiftung’s Executive Management Team and has headed the newly established Futures and Networks department since 2024. She joined the Foundation in 2001 and has held a wide range of positions within the organization. After working in the areas of health and science, she headed the International Relations Europe and Its Neighbors department from 2013 to 2019, where she established the Foundation’s first Africa portfolio, among other initiatives. From 2019 to 2024, she was one of three Senior Vice Presidents leading the Global Issues program area, with responsibility for the Foundation’s work on peace and inequality. Drexler represents the Foundation on numerous bodies in the philanthropic sector, including the Board of Philea, the European philanthropy association. Before joining the Foundation, she worked in industry. She studied Slavic studies and economics at the University of Göttingen, where she earned a Magister degree.

Dr. Bernhard Straub (63) has been CEO of the Robert Bosch Stiftung since July 1, 2021. In this role, he also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of UWC Robert Bosch College in Freiburg and Co-Chair of the Bosch Health Campus (BHC) in Stuttgart. He also represents the Foundation in Forum Bildung Digitalisierung e.V. and on the Board of Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart.
Before joining the Foundation, he spent around three decades at Robert Bosch GmbH. He held numerous international leadership positions, including in Japan and India, before heading the Electrical Drives division for seven years. Dr. Bernhard Straub studied industrial engineering in Karlsruhe. He earned a master’s degree in information systems from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and subsequently completed a PhD (Econ.) in information systems and sociology.