Thomas Pfanner's work spans arts and cultural management, nonprofit leadership, and community advocacy. He currently guides the German International School Toronto through a period of change, bringing principles of participative decision-making, research-informed practice, and radical gentleness to his leadership.

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Thomas studied Arts and Cultural Management at Karlshochschule International University and Management, with a focus on Nonprofit and Public Management, at the University of Mannheim. In Austria, he produced an innovative classical music festival that pioneered new concert forms to create resonance with wider audiences.

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Since his teenage years, Thomas has worked alongside fellow activists at GoWest – Association for LGBTIQ to build lasting projects and initiatives for LGBTIQ people in Vorarlberg, Austria. He started the youth meetup group hobit and the visibility campaign Mission-Pride (www.mission-pride.at) — for which he collected and presented one queer story from every village in the state — and co-founded the queer film series Bunte Streifen. He led the creation of Austria's first municipal policy for the acceptance of LGBTIQ people through a participatory process with queer residents in Bregenz, and coordinated a lecture series on conversion therapy with the City of Heidelberg, the University of Heidelberg, and mosaik Deutschland e.V. that went on to secure federal funding for a subsequent research project.

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It was during an exchange at the Schulich School of Business that Thomas fell in love with Toronto and its people, and decided to make the city his permanent home.

Portfolio: www.tompfanner.ca