Yasmin Fahimi

Fahimi was born in Hanover. Her Iranian father died in a traffic collision before she was born; her mother is German. Her mother's family comes from East Prussia and fled during World War II. Fahimi has one older brother who was born in Tehran. Fahimi's mother, who was employed at the Ministry of Justice, raised the children alone.

Fahimi studied chemistry at the University of Hanover from 1989 to 1998.

Between 1998 and 2014, Fahimi worked in various capacities at the IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie. From 2012, she also served as founder and board member of the Innovationsforum Energiewende, a group convening unions and companies from the energy sector and energy-intensive industries.

Corporate boards

KfW, Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2023)

Telefónica Germany, Member of the supervisory board (since 2023)

Bayer, Member of the supervisory board (since 2022)

Fahimi has been a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1986. She was a member of the federal executive board of the party's youth organization and from 2009 to 2013 deputy chairwoman of the SPD in Hannover.

In a special party conference on 26 January 2014 Fahimi was elected with 88.5% of the votes to be Secretary General of the SPD under party chairman Sigmar Gabriel, and therefore successor of Andrea Nahles. By late 2015, Gabriel replaced her with Katarina Barley.

From 2016 until 2018, Fahimi served as State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs under the leadership of minister Andrea Nahles. In this capacity, she oversaw the ministry's activities on occupational safety and health; pensions; matters concerning people with disabilities; and international employment and social policy (including relations with the International Labour Organization).