By Tatjana Büchler
The entire team at the next media accelerator (NMA) contributes to the EU Projects, the NMA is involved in. Yet when it comes to the coordination of MediaFutures, two women run the show: Fernanda Rojas Aizpuru and Dr. Tanja Deuerling. They are the faces behind the EU Project coordination of the NMA
“I only want to jump into projects where innovation happens”, states Tanja
Tanja’s passion is media innovation and curiosity has driven her since she was a kid. She started her career as a journalist and worked in different leading roles in the TV business: She was a head author, format developer, producer, editor in chief and head of organizational development:
“I have always been excited when new things came around and always wanted to be part of it. That’s why I stepped out of her corporate career and did my doctorade on “Innovation Management for New TV”.”
She started her own business as an innovation and change management consultant and helps media organizations in handling the digital transformation. Being a freelance consultant gives her the chance to only jump into projects where innovation happens. So it was only a matter of time for her to be joining the NMA team: “Here, radical innovation happens virtually every day.”
Tanja’s Role at the NMA: Managing the EU Projects and fostering Acceleration
Tanja joined the NMA team to coordinate the EU projects. For MediaFutures she is responsible for the project management and helps the startups master the acceleration program. She works closely together with NMA newbie Fernanda Rojas Aizpuru and Louise Enjalbert from IRCAM who is leading the artistic part of the MediaFutures support program. In the past six months they developed the framework of the program and how they want to manage it.
“After about 100 remote meetings and many more pages of paperwork, we are now very happy to finally have the first MediaFutures cohort kicking off in April. Especially matching artists with startups is really exciting and I am super curious about the projects they will develop.”
One thing Tanja knows for sure: The projects will be innovative!
Audiophiles, listen up!
For all the audiophile German Speakers amongst you: Here is the NMA Weekly podcast episode in which Tanja shares her career milestones and explains her tasks in the MediaFutures EU project.
Fernanda: “My passion is to collaborate with different cultures”
Fernanda recently moved to Hamburg City and joined the NMA team. She is originally from Mexico and came to Northern Germany to pursue her career in business. Currently she is studying MSc Business Development at HSBA. She has been working in the startup industry for the past four years and had the opportunity to interact closely with founders from the US, Canada, Mexico, and now Germany!
“Working with entrepreneurs has been extremely enlightening and has helped me to discover her biggest passion which is to collaborate with different cultures and help them to grow and connect.”
Fernanda’s Role at the NMA: Building the Bridges for MediaFutures
Her job as Junior Project Manager is to improve the networking connections, engage in collaboration, and interact directly with the startups. Fernanda is their contact person, she will connect them with the appropriate mentors as well as introduce them to the NMA network.
“Working together with Tanja for the past weeks has been an extraordinary experience and has opened her mind to a new and exciting sector: Media and Art. I am really looking forward to starting the work with the selected MediaFutures applicants in April and watching them succeed in the media industry.”
As the NMA team, we are happy to have you on board! We are very much looking forward to kicking off the first cohort of MediaFutures with you, Fernanda and Tanja!
Dr. Tanja Deuerling and Fernanda Rojas Aizpuru
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Graphics: Benjamin Eckert