Sandra Retzer

Sandra Retzer has been Director of Department in the Client and Business Development Division of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Berlin since October 2020. Her department manages funding programs on behalf of numerous federal ministries, advises GIZ projects and clients on funding programs and development finance, and supports ministries in setting up and implementing policy thematic platforms. The thematic focus in the projects is on sustainability, climate protection and biodiversity.

Previously, Sandra Retzer headed the department of the Development Policy Forum: On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Development Policy Forum designs dialogue processes and events on future issues of development policy, especially on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Sandra Retzer has strong ties to and expertise in China. She spent almost 15 years there. Until February 2019, Sandra Retzer was Head of the Sustainable Urbanization, Transport and Energy Cluster at GIZ in Beijing. There she was responsible for Sino-German policy dialogues and technical cooperation projects in the fields of energy, sustainable mobility and urban development.

Over the past 25 years, Sandra Retzer has worked for large corporations as well as startups in large infrastructure, renewable energy and energy storage projects in more than 20 countries. Before joining GIZ in 2014, she was Managing Director Asia-Pacific of Younicos AG, a German company specializing in the management of battery storage technologies.

For Sandra Retzer, employees are the key to success in any company – which is why she is involved as a certified coach and as a mentor in organizations and for individuals. For example, she supports (junior) managers in career counseling and conducts coaching sessions for executives. She pays particular attention to gender and diversity in her work.

In China, she represented the Energy Lobby Working Group of the European Chamber of Commerce as Chairwoman. Currently, she is among others a member of the board and mentor of the Global Womens Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET).