Rose Volz-Schmidt founded wellcome in 2002 and serves as its owner and manager. Before starting her award-winning organization, Rose worked in family education for many years. She has studied social pedagogy and is a certified coach. In 2007, she was honored as Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation and has been awarded in 2009by the German Federal Cross of Merit for her outstanding work in civil society. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been a patron of wellcome since 2007. Rose is a member of several advisory boards and juries in the fields of social innovation and digitalization of the social sector in Germany.