Eckhard Forst, Chairman of the Managing Board
Eckhard Forst is Chairman of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK and is responsible for Human Resources, Corporate Development, Legal and Internal Audit.
Eckhard Forst first trained as bank clerk at Deutsche Bank AG in Düsseldorf, before studying law in Bonn and Lausanne. From 1990, he held several roles at Deutsche Bank AG in Düsseldorf, including positions in the Legal Department and in corporate and key account management. In 2000, he joined Deutsche Bank AG in Paris as Managing Director in charge of Corporate Banking. He became a member of the management of Deutsche Bank AG in Bielefeld in 2003 and was responsible for Corporate and Investment Banking in his capacity as Managing Director.
From 2007 to 2016, Eckhard Forst was a member of the Managing Board of Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) in Hannover, where he was in charge of Corporate Banking including Housing and Agricultural Banking. His responsibilities also included Structured Finance (Energy and Infrastructure), Institutional Clients as well as Commercial Real Estate Financing. Born in Düsseldorf, Eckhard Forst has been Chairman of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK since 2016.
He is married with two children.
Besides his role as Managing Board Chairman, Eckhard Forst holds various mandates, including Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Portigon AG, President of the Association of German Public Sector Banks (Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands e. V.), member of the Supervisory Board of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG and member of Initiativkreis Ruhr. Mr Forst is also Honorary Consul of the Republic of France in Münster.
Gabriela Pantring, Deputy Chairwoman of the Managing Board
Gabriela Pantring serves as the Deputy Chairwoman of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. In her role on the Managing Board, she oversees front-office responsibilities, including Capital Markets, Promotion Programmes, and Special Finance, which encompasses Infrastructure and Syndicated Loan Business.
After completing her training at Sparkasse Osnabrück, Gabriela Pantring began her career at the savings bank as loan officer, before joining Sparkassen- und Giroverband Schleswig-Holstein as an auditor in 1991.
From 1997, she worked for Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, first in credit auditing in Düsseldorf and later in Group auditing in London. In 2000, she became Head of Group Audit in Düsseldorf.
In 2002, she joined the newly founded NRW.BANK, where she assumed responsibility for the Internal Audit unit. From 2006, she headed the Corporate Steering Division and, from 2010, the Special Promotion and Advisory Division. During this time, Gabriela Pantring obtained a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science in Strategic Focus from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
In 2013, Ms Pantring became a member of the Managing Board of ILB Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg, where she was responsible for Economy, Equity & Start-ups, Treasury and Bank Operations before returning to NRW.BANK as Risk Officer in 2016. She was appointed Deputy Chairwoman of the promotional bank in 2023.
Gabriela Pantring holds various mandates, including Vice President of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) and member of the Fin.Connect.NRW steering committee.
Claudia Hillenherms, Member of the Managing Board
Claudia Hillenherms is a member of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. She is responsible for Finance, Governance and Organisation, Information Technology and Services as well as Housing Promotion.
Born in Berlin, Claudia Hillenherms trained as a bank clerk at Deutsche Bank AG Berlin before studying business administration at the Technical University of Berlin. Her first professional position was as a project manager in the Business Administration Department at PwC Deutsche Revision AG. In 1999, she became Head of Business Valuation at EY / Arthur Andersen. During this time, she was appointed as a tax consultant and auditor.
In 2004, she joined Helaba. As Head of Department, she was responsible for the equity investments of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale, before taking over as Head of Risk Controlling in 2017. A short stint in 2008/2009 took her to the Special Financial Market Stabilization Fund (SoFFin), where she managed the stabilisation measures in the German banking sector.
In 2020, she joined Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank) as a member of the management, where she was responsible for Finance and Accounting, Risk Management as well as IT and Organisation. Claudia Hillenherms has been a member of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK since 2022.
She is Vice Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB). She is also a member of the Management Board of the Institut für Bank- und Finanzgeschichte e. V. (IBF – Institute for Banking and Financial History), the Association Council of Deutscher Verband für Wohnungswesen, Städtebau und Raumordnung e. V. (German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial Development) and the University Council of the EBZ Business School.
Claudia Hillenherms is married.
Dr. Peter Stemper, Member of the Managing Board
Dr. Peter Stemper is a member of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. As Chief Risk Officer, he is responsible for Risk Control, Credit Management and Business Support.
Dr. Stemper studied mathematics and computer science and obtained a doctorate from Gerhard Mercator University in Duisburg before spending several years in a senior position in risk management at WestLB AG from 1997.
In 2007, he joined its subsidiary, readybank ag, where he served as Head of Risk Control before taking over as CEO in 2012. From 2013, Dr. Stemper held various management positions at Portigon AG, initially as Head of Risk Services, before joining the Managing Board as CRO and CFO in 2014. In 2016, he was appointed Chairman of the Board. In this role, he was responsible, among other things, for the winding down of WestLB.
Born in Oberhausen, Dr. Stemper joined NRW.BANK in 2019, where he was responsible for Corporate Development. He became a member of the Managing Board in 2024.
Dr. Peter Stemper holds various mandates, including Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Portigon AG and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Stiftung Zukunft NRW. He is also a member of the Risk Management and Accounting Committee of the Association of German Public Sector Banks (Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands e. V.).
Dr. Peter Stemper is married with three children.
Johanna Antonie Tjaden-Schulte, Member of the Managing Board
Johanna Antonie Tjaden-Schulte serves on the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. In her capacity as a board member with front-office responsibilities, she oversees Transformation and Innovation, Grant-based Promotion, Equity Finance, and Promotion Programme Advisory Services & Customer Service.
After training as a bank clerk, she held various positions in the corporate clients business at Commerzbank AG, first as Deputy Head of the Foreign Trade Department, and from 2004 as a specialist in structured financing solutions for SMEs. At the same time, she completed her banking studies at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management with distinction. In 2012, she became Head of Process Management for Corporate Client Financing.
Ms Tjaden-Schulte then joined the management team of Commerzbank AG, where she was responsible for renewable energy project finance from 2013 and for structured corporate finance from 2015. In 2017, she became Head of the sales organisation for integrated corporate clients consulting in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to this, she was responsible for major change and transformation projects. In her role as Head of SME Credit Risk Management & Collateral Management Corporates Germany, which she took over in 2021, she was also responsible for the automation and digitalisation strategy. Ms Tjaden-Schulte became a member of the NRW.BANK Managing Board in 2024.
In addition to her long-standing role as Managing Director, Ms Tjaden-Schulte was also active as a mentor and Advisory Board member and was a strong advocate in networks for the economy and the future of the banking sector.
Besides her role as Managing Board member, she is also a member of the Advisory Board of Gründerfonds Ruhr.
Johanna Antonie Tjaden-Schulte is married with one child.