Founder Genevieve Van Voorhis started nannying in the US in 2011, moved to Berlin in 2014, and kept nannying until her own daughter was born in 2025. In 2023, she opened Lighthouse Nanny to help international families connect with top-tier, English-speaking caregivers.
During her time as a nanny in Germany’s capital, she realized that many families were highly motivated to supply their children with high level English-speaking babysitters and nannies, as a sort of language-enrichment-meets-childcare hybriid. However, there didn’t seem to be enough resources to find that level of care.
On the other side, as a non-German nanny, it was incredibly difficult to know what things were required to work professionally in Germany. There were little to no resources available on nannying in Germany—let alone any in English.
So, in order to meet these dual needs, Lighthouse Nanny was born.
These days, Genevieve sees things from every angle: as a person who spent over a decade doing the job, as a mother who now works with her own nanny and babysitters, and as an agency founder matching families with candidates for a wide variety of services.
For families, Lighthouse cuts out the guesswork by only presenting candidates who are fully qualified and genuinely want to work in private childcare. For nannies, Lighthouse is a resource for building a real career in Berlin’s private childcare market and beyond.
