Karin Achtelstetter

Karin Achtelstetter is an ordained Lutheranism pastor, Theology, human rights advocate, and global media communicator. She is the executive director of the Canadian Lutheran World Relief based in Winnipeg, Canada.
Achtelstetter is the first woman to become the general secretary of the World Association for Christian Communication. She serves with several humanitarian organizations including the Committee for World Service of the Lutheran World Federation, the The Humanitarian Coalition, and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. She was a member of the Canadian board of directors, which hosted the Parliament of the World's Religions 2018 in Toronto.
Achtelstetter was born in Schwabach, Germany. She resides in Canada with her daughter.
Her earliest postgraduate degree, a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies from the University of Kent, sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service, ignited an interest in women’s rights and how women are represented in media worldwide.
Achtelstetter speaks four languages including English, German, French and Spanish. She holds a Master in Theology from Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany, sponsored by Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, and a certificate in Humanitarian International Strategy from Fordham University. She was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration in India. In 2020, she completed a certificate in International Refugee Law with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law.
For more than 30 years, Achtelstetter has worked as a global rights communicator to strengthen interfaith dialogue and build bridges between churches, grassroots communities, and international bodies, such as UNESCO and UN Women, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Population Fund, and the World Bank Group. She has worked closely with faith leaders like Fijian human rights activist Akuila Yabaki to advance the communication rights of all people. 
She believes communication is a function of transcendence, “there is a sacredness in creating meaning that we share in common.” 
From 2010 to 2018, she served as the general secretary with the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and led the Global Media Monitoring Project, the largest advocacy initiative globally to change the representation of women in media. During this time, WACC became the general secretary of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender, and Achtelstetter served closely with ambassadors Kenyan human rights advocate Musimbi Kanyoro, American filmmaker Feminist: Stories from Women's Liberation, and political activist Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls of FemLINKPACIFIC. “The fact is, the portrayal of women in day-to-day journalism does not reflect their contribution to society,” said Achtelstetter, while presenting the latest five year results at the UN Women conference in 2015. “We need focused commitment and efforts from media houses, regulatory agencies, training institutions and civil society to raise professional standards and truly provide leadership about what constitutes ethical freedom of expression.”From 1994 to 2010, Achtelstetter served with the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, as the German Assistant Editor (1994-1999), Deputy General Secretary (2005-2006), and Director and Editor-in-chief (2002-2010). From 1999 to 2002 she was the media relations officer with the World Council of Churches, also in Geneva, Switzerland. 
Achtelstetter, Karin. In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Bd. XXVII. Berlin: Publizistik/Presse. S. 703-722. 
Achtelstetter, Karin; Dieter Koltermann, Wolf; Hopf, Fritz, eds. Wirtschaftsethik im Dialog. Auf der Suche nach der neuen Ethik. Verlag: Evang. Presseverband, 1998. 
Achtelstetter, Karin, Reidy Prost, Miriam, eds. Food for Life: Recipes and Stories on the Right to Food, 2008.
Achtelstetter, Karin, ed. Our Daily Bread: Communication as a Mission and Ministry of the Church. Lutheran University Press, 2011. 
Achtelstetter, Karin. Virginia Woolf and Androgyny: Women's Studies Occasional Papers. University of Canterbury Press, 1985.
Achtelstetter, Karin. God and her girlfriends: a discussion of non-sexist imagery for God in feminist. Women's Studies Occasional Papers. University of Canterbury Press, 1986.
Category:German human rights activists
Category:German theologians
Category:German media communicator
Category:People from Schwabach