Board

Dr. Alexander Behrmann
President

Alexander Behrmann is the head of the Goethe-Institut San Francisco. For several years he was the Deputy Director of Communications at the headquarters of the Goethe-Institut in Munich. Before joining the Goethe-Institut, he worked as a freelance journalist, including for the German edition of Rolling Stone—a magazine that, interestingly enough, was founded right here in San Francisco in 1967, in the same year as the Goethe-Institut San Francisco opened its doors. In his spare time, he co-edits a literary magazine. He has a PhD in German Literature. He also studied political science and media studies, which included film and television history and theory.

Dennis M. Sullivan
Secretary and Treasurer

Bio Coming Soon

Franciska Obermeyer

Bio Coming Soon

Jale Yoldas

Jale Yoldas was born in Hamburg, Germany. She moved to Istanbul, Turkey in 1984. After completing High School in Istanbul she moved to Heidelberg, Germany to study German Literature, Linguistics, and Education. She holds a Masters of Arts in German Literature. From 1996 to 2000 she was a broadcast journalist for the German Radio Broadcast Company SWR (Suedwestrundfunk). In 1999 she was part of the initial leadership team at DaimlerChrysler TV, where she led a group of producers and translators, creating their daily internal news program in six languages. In 1999 she became the first director of the German-Turkish Forum in Stuttgart. Under her leadership this organization, which was initially funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation, grew into a major non-profit, which continues to offer a variety of programs and projects in the fields of culture, education, and politics always in support of cultural awareness and immigrant rights. In 2008 she moved to San Francisco and was first the Program Curator of the Goethe-Institut SF. Since 2018 she is the Cultural and Public Diplomacy Officer at the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco. 12 years after her departure from Stuttgart she was invited back to receive the Manfred-Rommel-Honorary Award by the German-Turkish Forum in appreciation for the formative role she played in the organization’s success. She is married, lives in San Francisco and has two children, Maurice and Mavi.