Meet Our Team
Annamaria Olsson
FOUNDER & CEO (SHE/HER)
Annamaria Olsson is a Swedish activist, writer and social entrepreneur. In 2012, she founded Give Something Back To Berlin (GSBTB), an NGO dedicated to fostering community among migrants, refugees, and local residents to fight xenophobia and anti-migrant discourse. GBSTB has become an internationally acclaimed best practice, awarded with over ten German and global prizes from institutions like the UN and the city of Berlin. The organization has hosted visits from prominent figures, including Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, the King and Queen of Sweden, German ministers such as Franziska Giffey, Katarina Barley, and Germany's First Lady, Elke Büdenbender.
Annamaria is a respected speaker and educator, having presented at the UN headquarters in New York, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the Global Forum for Migration and Development. From 2023 to 2026 cycle, she is serving as a standing guest lecturer at Harvard University on refugee integration in Germany. Her extensive global network in philanthropy, politics, and NGOs makes her uniquely qualified to embark on this new funding journey.
Find Annamaria on LinkedIn.
Pamela Chomba
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR (SHE/HER)
A passionate and internationally recognized advocate for immigration justice. Before joining Beauty Parlor, Pamela worked at FWD.us, a bipartisan immigration and criminal justice advocacy organization, where she enhanced the organization’s border, asylum, and migration program. In this role, she streamlined cross-departmental projects to release studies supporting expanded legal pathways, trained stakeholders for media engagement in English and Spanish, and led political advocacy efforts to the White House and Congress with organizations from the southern border and the interior.
Pamela is a German Marshall Fund Fellow, often developing Transatlantic Programming between the US and Europe, to support marginalized communities. She is also a current member of the Women’s Media Center, a non-profit working towards media equality in the US. As a recipient of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Pamela brings her lived experience as an undocumented immigrant to her advocacy work. Her personal journey fuels her commitment to immigrant rights and women’s voices around the world, making her a powerful force for highlighting untold stories globally.
Find Pamela on LinkedIn.
Silke Georgi
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIST (SHE/HER)
Lawyer, activist and executive business coach who grew up in the United States with a German passport and raised her Mexican-German children in the Netherlands. Silke has built her career largely in the NGO world, with a short interlude practicing law. Her NGO experience spans from working for nuclear disarmament fresh out of college to then working with refugees and migrant women, advocating in the field of disability rights and most recently directing a nationwide volunteer mentoring program for apprentices and trainees (Auszubildende) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education.
She brought the Stolpersteine project to Eindhoven, Netherlands. For this she researched and co-authored the book “Ze waren onze buren” (They were our neighbors) about the Jewish residents of Eindhoven who were murdered during the Holocaust. She has been the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the NGO Give Something Back to Berlin and is a founding member of WahlheYmat, a grassroots initiative that fosters a vibrant coexistence between German citizens and international residents.
Kern Mangan-Walker
FUNDRAISING (THEY/THEM)
Leader, connector, and problem-solver with expertise in fundraising, business development, and sustainability. Kern has coordinated million-dollar appeals and contributed to meaningful large-scale campaigns. As a delegate at the Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute, Kern participated in the UNFCCC Climate Negotiations in Peru and the Social PreCOP in Venezuela in 2014.
Phoebe McIndoe
PODCAST PRODUCER (SHE/HER)
Award-winning radio journalist and sound artist. My recent series for BBC 4, County Lines was Amnesty, BJA & Save The Children nominated and won silver for best factual series at the recent ARIAS. I have worked with BBC’s Woman’s Hour, The World Service and with charities like NSPCC to tell survivor-led documentaries, such as Endemic Truth for the BBC. I am also the co-creator of Telling Stories podcast, featured in Bello Collective's Top 100 Outstanding Podcasts and nominated for most inspiring podcast at International Women's Podcast Awards. Production credits include working with independent podcast clients, BBC 3, BBC 4, Transom & The Guardian.
Sarah Rassem
COMMUNITY MANAGER (SHE/HER)
A politics and economics student from Alexandria, Egypt, Sarah is passionate about supporting grassroots initiatives and uncovering stories that connect culture, identity, and empowerment. As part of the PR department at Stories from the Beauty Parlor, she is eager to explore how culture and tradition embody power in communities and foster unity. Her interests also include examining how beauty practices shape and reflect societies worldwide.
Spencer MINQ
SOUND ENGINEER (THEY/THEM)
Spencer is a sound artist, DJ, and radio host, supporting local creative initiatives with a focus on QTBIPOC communities. They are pursuing an MA in Sound Studies and Sonic Art at the Universität der Künste Berlin. They are deeply committed to supporting local, creative community initiatives, acting as a mentor for music production students at the Open Music Lab and hosting the monthly show Sonic Utopias on Refuge Worldwide.
George Tran
INTERN (THEY/THEM)
Born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam, George studies at Haverford College on Lenape land in Pennsylvania, United States. They recently relocated to Berlin, where they quickly found love, safety and belonging in the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community. Having lived in several countries and occupying different positionalities in each place, they strongly believe one grows the most through partaking in collective actions. They are equally passionate about fighting for material changes for marginalized communities as bringing more joy and pleasure to the world.
Our Board Members
Rula Ali
(SHE/HER)
Rula Ali, visual artist, textile artist and cultural manager, originally from Syria. In 2021, Rula co-founded with her two sisters a collective called Melon Seeds collective, where they focus on feminist issues, activism, sustainability from a feminist, anti-colonial perspective, and cultural heritage.
Rula participated in several exhibitions in Germany and received several art residencies in Germany and abroad. In her work, she addresses socio-political issues of discourse, communication between different cultures and political borders. At the same time, she focuses on the space that is occupied and controlled by the fluctuation of power in politics.
Monika Kalinowska
(SHE/HER)
Monika Kalinowska is a Berlin-based entrepreneur, artist, and mentor. She founded Plant Circle, a successful plant retail and e-commerce brand, and later co-founded the ADHD Collective, a community supporting neurodivergent women. With years of experience building businesses from the ground up, she now shares her knowledge as a mentor while continuing her artistic practice, where she explores identity, vulnerability, and social issues through painting.