OUR MEMBER OF THE MONTH
This time, we’re shining the spotlight on Christine Funke — the heart behind HIWC 💙
Christine lives in Reutlingen, in the beautiful south of Stuttgart, and brings together a truly international background with roots in Maryland and California. She’s been in Germany since 2011 and switches seamlessly between English and German at home.
What she genuinely appreciates about Germany and the region where she lives? She likes the rules and orderliness of Germany which paired perfectly with life in the Schwäbische Alb, where forests, hills, and landscapes of every kind are right around the corner.
Her struggle in Germany? Eventhough her German is good enough, she is still not confident to pursue friendships in German. So she still prefers building her closest friendships in English — and that works just fine for her.
What she does? Professionally, Christine works full-time doing communications and content design for a network of the top AI researchers in Europe. She is a mom of two boys, aged six and eight, a partner to her husband, and a founder of the Women's Play Group for international women in the are where she currently lives.
Her hobbies: When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her reading, traveling, crafting, or unsurprisingly creating and running communities.
What she would like to make more time for? To be alone by herself.
Her guilty pleasure? Eurovision (no guilt involved!)
A fun throwback fact: Christine played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University while earning her Bachelor’s degree. And in case you didn’t know… Christine founded HIWC in 2018 — making this community what it is today.
We’re so grateful for you, Christine!