Women on Top Award 2026: Nena Brockhaus and Franca Lehfeldt Promote Educational Equity in the Skilled Trades for the First Time

For the fifth time, Nena Brockhaus and Franca Lehfeldt are presenting the WOT Award through their media platform, Women on Top Media. What began as concrete support for young women who took financial risks for their future has evolved in 2026 into an even broader commitment to equal opportunity and educational equity in Germany. In addition to repaying a student loan, this year for the first time, a master craftsman’s apprenticeship is also being honored.

Over the past five years, Brockhaus and Lehfeldt have already used Women on Top Media to repay six student loans totaling 180,000 euros. This year, the entrepreneurial couple Nathalie and Frank Thelen are funding the student loan. In doing so, they are sending a clear message: “In Germany, a person’s background must not determine which educational path young people can pursue and what career opportunities are open to them.”

Nena Brockhaus explains: “Tonight was a true celebration of merit. It moves me deeply to see two young women stepping into their future debt-free starting today. The fact that we now have a future champion is a declaration of love to my father, who, as our family’s master craftsman, made everything possible for us.”

Franca Lehfeldt: “Women on Top—that’s five years of commitment to equal opportunity! Today we can say: The proof of concept is complete.”

Sabrina Hanna, CEO of the Bayernwerk Academy, is particularly pleased this evening about the initiative’s expansion into the skilled trades: “With this year’s award, we have created our own masterpiece. Together with Franca, Nena, and the Bayernwerk Academy, we’re building a sustainable initiative through which, year after year, we’ll honor a ‘Future Master’ and thus put true equal opportunity—between higher education and the skilled trades—into practice.”

The first “Future Master Craftswoman” to receive the award, Lena Widenmayer, adds with a beaming smile: “I’m incredibly happy about this year’s award, because through the Bayernwerk Akademie and Women on Top, I’ve experienced tremendous appreciation. I’m very happy to now be part of the WOT family. And I’m honored to serve as a role model and pioneer for all future ‘Future Masters.’” Anna Loos and Jan Josef Liefers also share the belief that one’s background in Germany should not determine educational paths, opportunities, or careers. The acting couple traveled to Düsseldorf specifically to support the initiative at Schillings in the Schauspielhaus.

In a live interview, Loos and Liefers emphasized how important it is to empower young people regardless of their social background and to give them the courage to forge their own path. Loos: “You’re creating role models. They’re going out into the world; they’ve been supported, and they’ll pass that on.” Liefers: “I am a man who is a 100 percent, flawless embodiment of how women should be raised.” Numerous prominent guests from politics, business, sports, and the media accepted the invitation. Among them were North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul, former national team goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, Germany’s most successful female Olympian Isabell Werth, journalist Paul Ronzheimer, and entrepreneur Caspar Brockhaus.

Heinrich Deichmann highlighted a particular point during the “Women on Top” business talk with investor Sibylle Wilhelm. Against the backdrop of growing concerns about students’ readiness for vocational training, securing a skilled workforce, and equal opportunity, the two discussed the situation of young people in the job market, the importance of vocational training, and career paths for women and men.

After this evening, Brockhaus and Lehfeldt feel even more confident in their initiative and are ready to add another zero to the five years.