Landsberg am Lech, Germany
2007
2017
The online platform Waldorfshop was founded in 2007 by 16-year old Waldorf school student Armin Steuernagel to provide parents, teachers, and educators at Waldorf schools and kindergartens with learning materials that correspond to Waldorf education. Over the last years, the product range has significantly grown and Universnatur GmbH now offers more than 1400 products on its online market platforms Waldorfshop and Glomer.com. Products are shipped from five different locations and are distributed to more than 40 countries. The company’s mission is to support the Waldorf movement by distributing carefully selected and sustainable products to families and Waldorf institutions in close cooperation with suppliers.
To guard Waldorfshop’s values and mission in the long term, Armin Steuernagel sought to find an alternative ownership structure that would allow the business to be purpose- and not profit-driven. In 2017, Waldorfshop transitioned to steward-ownership to protect its independence and mission in the long run. Steward-ownership and its key principles ensure that the company’s values and principles continue to be an integral part of Waldorfshop’s corporate culture and identity in the future and profits are reinvested or donated. As the company’s steward, Sebastian Neu since April 2019, the business was restructured according to the company’s mission and values. Now the connection between the three guiding philanthropic principles head, heart, and hand are firmly engrained in Waldorfshop’s relationship with its customers, suppliers, and employees.
Steward-ownership creates a purpose-infused bridge between everyone involved in the company ‒ employees, management, and distributors alike. This creates a new and extraordinary connection between our team members, partners, and competitors. - Sebastian Neu, steward-owner
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2020