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The family's story

Standing still is moving backward.

The Hamrin Foundation (formally the Carl-Olof and Jenz Hamrin Foundation) was established on November 30, 1985 by Jenz and her daughter Christina Hamrin. It was a pure survival maneuver: how could the inheritance and gift taxes of the time be combined with continued family influence over the Herenco Group?

The emergency solution - donating 33% of the company to a charitable foundation - did its job but also marked the start of something new. The original survival motive played its part and the shares in Herenco were sold in 2016. For us, it is history, but from its roots we can find our renewal journey if it is adapted to the needs of the present. Being curious and inquisitive to seek new knowledge is to be in an infinite market with eternal life!

Systematic groundwork was set in motion in 2020. What are we doing and what are we not doing? We took the most important step already in 2018 by stopping what we were doing, we needed a gap! We went to Israel, among other places, to gain perspective and the gap gave us the opportunity for many small talks. The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

—Standing still is moving backward.
Lovisa Hamrin, Chair of The Hamrin Foundation

It's great fun to kill yourself to be reborn in a new guise. It's equally fun to put on your shoes and hit the road, create meetings and curiously ask - can we be of use to each other? Is there something small we could do together? Our strategic guideline helps us to say no in order to choose the right thing, rather than doing the right thing.

 

The timeline of The Hamrin Foundation

  • Years and happenings

    1985
    The foundation is established on November 30, 1985, through a donation of 33% of the shares from Herenco AB.

    2016
    The shares in Herenco are divested.

    2018
    The foundation is put on hold.

    2020
    The rebuilding of the foundation begins. What should we continue with, and what should we not continue with?

    2023
    Hanna Ståhl is appointed CEO. A new phase begins for The Hamrin Foundation.

—The Hamrin Foundation vill skapa tvärvetenskapliga projekt som bidrar till förändring i samhället, akademin och näringslivet.