Cornelia Okpara appointed Chief Executive Officer of the BDSWThe new BDSW Executive Committee is focusing on experience, continuity and a practical approach and has appointed Cornelia Okpara as its new Chief Executive Officer. After taking over as interim managing director of the association for the second time in just a few years, the newly elected executive committee decided at its first meeting in May to appoint Okpara as permanent managing director. ‘With this decision, the association is sending a clear signal for continuity, professional competence and focused work,’ said BDSW President Werner Landstorfer.

Cornelia Okpara has been with the BDSW for 31 years and has played a key role in shaping the association’s work in the security industry during this time. She has been deputy chief executive since 2013 and acting chief executive of the association since 2022 and from mid-2024. A fully qualified lawyer, she is an expert in collective bargaining policy and has been responsible for the Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia regional groups as well as several of the association’s specialist committees for many years.

‘The decision to appoint Cornelia Okpara was based on her many years of experience, her extensive legal expertise and her proven leadership skills,’ said BDSW President Werner Landstorfer. She is a highly respected figure both within and outside the association and stands for reliability, objectivity and the balancing of different interests.

With the appointment of Cornelia Okpara, the BDSW intends to tackle the upcoming challenges in the security industry with clarity and strategic focus. ‘After a period of unrest, we are now focusing on stability and substantive work – Ms Okpara is the ideal person for the job,’ concluded Landstorfer.