Rethinking Impact from the Inside: Joana Breidenbach on Mindset, Leadership, and Systemic Change

What does it take to create lasting impact? For startups today, it usually means creating a digital tool or something scalable in a 21st century world. But what does it really take to do this behind the scenes?

In our latest episode of the Impact Runde, we spoke with Joana Breidenbach, co-founder of betterplace.org, social entrepreneur, and co-founder of BRAFE SPACE, about philanthropy, leadership, and the often-overlooked dimension of inner transformation.

Listen to the full episode here! 👉 Spotify | Apple

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From Platforms to Mindset

Joana’s journey into the impact world did not start with entrepreneurship. She originally studied cultural anthropology and Eastern European studies, driven by a deep curiosity about how societies function.

During her studies, she was particularly interested in questioning the status quo of the society she grew up in. Cultural anthropology gave her a lens to understand that many things people consider “normal” are actually the result of historical and social power structures. For several years, Joana focused on writing books and popularizing anthropological research. But at some point, she felt that analyzing and deconstructing reality was not enough.

"As much as I enjoyed deconstructing reality… at some point I had the feeling that I wanted to put something more constructive next to it."

This realization eventually led her toward social entrepreneurship.

Building betterplace.org

The idea for betterplace.org emerged in 2006 during a trip around the world with her family. Along the way, Joana and her husband encountered many inspiring social initiatives and began thinking about how digital tools could help connect them with potential supporters. Their idea was to build a platform where social projects could present their work and collect donations online.

Together with a small founding team from different professional backgrounds, they turned that idea into what would become one of Germany’s best-known online donation platforms. Over time, betterplace developed a model that combines philanthropic giving with a sustainable organizational structure.

A Changing Environment for Impact

Looking back, Joana observes that the environment for social entrepreneurship has changed significantly over the past years. While the impact sector has grown, the broader conditions for social and ecological initiatives have also become more complex. Funding dynamics, public discourse, and corporate priorities have shifted. At the same time, Joana emphasizes that founders should take the time to deeply understand the problems they want to address. From her anthropological perspective, this requires careful observation and analysis of real needs before building solutions.

Social challenges, she notes, rarely have simple answers.

From External Innovation to Inner Work

In recent years, Joana has increasingly focused on another dimension of impact: the mindset and motivations of the people building systems and organizations. This perspective led her to co-found BRAFE SPACE, a network that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators to reflect on questions of leadership, motivation, and perspective. Instead of focusing solely on building ventures, the community creates space for introspection and dialogue across different experiences and viewpoints. The goal is not to promote a specific ideology, but to better understand how individual perspectives shape decisions, organizations, and ultimately the systems we create.

Why This Episode Matters

Conversations about impact often focus on new technologies, new business models, or new organizations. Joana Breidenbach adds another layer to that discussion: the people behind those systems. Her journey - from anthropology to social entrepreneurship and now to initiatives focused on reflection and perspective - highlights an important question: if we want to change the systems around us, how much attention should we pay to the motivations and mindsets that shape them?

If you’re interested in the intersection of social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and leadership, tune into the full episode with Joana Breidenbach.

‍Listen to the full episode here! 👉 Spotify | Apple

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