Kerstin Griese (born December 1966 in Münster) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2000.
In addition to her parliamentary work, Griese has been serving Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the governments of Chancellors Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz since 2018. She also belongs to the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).
Education and profession
The daughter of a pastor, Griese grew up and went to school in Gerbrunn (in Lower Franconia, Bavaria) and in Düsseldorf. After graduating from high school in 1985, she completed a degree in Modern and Eastern European History, as well as in political science, at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, which she finished in 1997 with an M. A. (Magistra Artium) degree.
From 1987 to 1997, Griese worked first as a freelancer, and then until 2000 as a research associate, at the Memorial for the Victims of National Socialism in Düsseldorf.
Political career
Since 1986, Griese has been a member of the SPD and was initially involved in the Juso-Hochschulgruppe Düsseldorf. From 1989 to 1990, she was president of the AStA, and from 1990 to 1992 president of the student parliament, of the Heinrich Heine University. From 1989 to 1993, she was a member of the Federal Coordinating Committee (Federal Board) of the Juso-Hochschulgruppen, which she also represented in the Juso Federal Board. From 1994 to 1997, she was Deputy Chairwoman of the Lower Rhine Jusos. She was considered a representative of the undogmatic-reform socialist wing of the Jusos.
From 1995 to 2011 and since 2013 she has been a member of the Federal Executive of the SPD. From 1996 to 1999 she was chairwoman of the Youth Commission of the SPD Executive Board, from 2006 to 2011 she was a member of the leadership of the Forum Kinder und Familie and the steering group of Zukunftswerkstatt Familie. Since 2008, she is spokeswoman for the working group Christians in the SPD and district chairwoman of the SPD in Kreis Mettmann.
Member of the German Parliament, 2000–present
On 11 May 2000 Griese entered the Bundestag as a successor for the departed MP Willfried Penner. In the 2002 general election, she was elected directly with 45.3% of the first votes for the federal constituency Mettmann II (Heiligenhaus, Ratingen, Velbert and Wülfrath). In 2005, she was re-elected with 43.5% of the first votes. In 2009, she only received 35.6% of the first votes and was not elected. On 23 July 2010 she reentered the Bundestag after Angelica Schwall-Düren was appointed State Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media in the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the 2013 general election, she received 37.1%, and in 2017, 30.6% of the first votes. In each case, she entered the parliament via the SPD state list.
In parliament, Griese chaired the Committee on Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth from 2002 to 2009. Within her parliamentary group, she was speaker of the group of young delegates - "Youngsters" - in the SPD parliamentary group from 2001 to 2002., and was a member of the SPD Group Bureau. From 2006 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2018, she was SPD parliamentary group representative for churches and religious organizations. From 2014 to 2018, she was chairwoman of the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs. She is a member of the progressive-reformist Network Berlin.
Parliamentary State Secretary, 2018–present
In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Griese was part of the working group on social affairs, led by Karl-Josef Laumann, Barbara Stamm and Andrea Nahles.
On 14 March 2018 Hubertus Heil appointed Griese as Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs.
Church and Diakonie
From 1979 to 1989, Griese was active in the youth work of the Protestant parish Düsseldorf-Urdenbach and in the church district of Düsseldorf. From 1987 to 1989 she was a youth delegate to the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.
From 2001 to 2016 she was a deputy member of the Synod of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland. Since 2003, she has been a member of the EKD synod, which she previously served as a deputy member for six years. In 2015 she was elected to the church leadership, the 15-member council of the EKD.
From 2009 to 2010, she worked as a full-time federal executive member of the Diakonisches Werk of the EKD, responsible for social policy.