About Us

Dr. Wolfgang Jamann is the Executive Director at the International Civil Society Centre in Berlin. He has been working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for most of his professional life, in the past 15 years in CEO positions at international aid organisations like CARE International, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe and CARE Deutschland. As a strong supporter of inter-organisational collaborations, he has lead strategic partnerships like the ‘Alliance 2015’ or ‘United for Africa’, to promote collective approaches toward large ambitions under the Sustainable Development Goals.

Helene joined the Centre in May 2011 and was appointed Deputy Executive Director in May 2013, overseeing the general management of the Centre and its projects. Prior to joining the Centre team, Helene worked as a Research Officer at the International Crisis Group’s headquarters in Brussels and as a Junior Consultant at a strategic communications consultancy in Berlin. Helene holds an MA in EU Politics and Government from the London School of Economics and has also studied Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and in Wroclaw, Poland.

Åsa joined the Centre in 2009 as PA to the Executive Director. Between 2010 and 2013, Åsa acted as manager of the INGO Accountability Charter (Accountable Now). In September 2013, Åsa took up the role as Director of Development, innovating the Centre’s fundraising and communication efforts. Since October 2016, Åsa has been Director of the Global Standard and has additionally taken on the role as the Centre’s Programme Director in mid-2017. Originally from Sweden, Åsa earlier worked for a consultancy, evaluating social projects within the public and civil society sector. Åsa studied European Studies and Sociology at universities in Gothenburg and Berlin. She completed her education with a Master’s thesis on the role of civil society in European governance.

Månstråle joined the Centre as Finance Manager in January 2018. She is responsible for planning, administering and monitoring the Centre’s finances. Månstråle has a masters’ degree in development economics. Prior to the Centre, she worked for Medecins sans Frontiers travelling on several missions and as Programme Officer on human rights and civil society for Swedish International Development Agency at the Swedish Embassy in Moldova.

Theresa joined the Centre in January 2018 as the Operations Coordinator. She supports the Deputy Executive Director, oversees a variety of general administrative and HR tasks, troubleshoots technical issues, and communicates with external service providers. Before working at the Centre, she worked for a Berlin-based consultancy firm focused on disruptive technologies. Theresa is originally from the United States, where she worked for three years as an elementary school teacher through “Teach for America,” a nation-wide programme which strives to end educational inequity by training graduates to teach in low-income schools in need of educators. Theresa received her B.A. in Comparative Cultures and Politics from the James Madison College at Michigan State University.

Outi joined the Centre in January 2018. She supports the Executive Director in organisational matters and coordinates the Centre’s governance and legal processes. Her background is in Social Sciences and Environmental Policy. She holds a BA in Social Sciences awarded by the University of Lapland from her native Finland and an MA in Environmental Policy and Planning from the Technische Universität, Berlin. In her master’s thesis, Outi studied the framing of urban climate change adaptation to heat stress in Europe.

Kathrin joined the Centre as Project Officer in January 2017. Before, she worked with the Hanns-Seidel Foundation in Tanzania where she was responsible for research, communication, project evaluation and the launch of a civic education project. Previously, she completed an internship with the Green Party at German Parliament. Kathrin also is a freelance journalist and worked for political talk-shows on RBB, RTL, ZDF and an African radio show broadcasted at Deutsche Welle. Kathrin holds a M.Sc. in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam with a focus on international political economy, and a BA in Political Science from the Free University Berlin.

Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.

At the beginning of 2007, Burkhard founded the International Civil Society Centre, originally the Berlin Civil Society Center, together with Peter Eigen and shortly thereafter, became Executive Director of the Centre. Burkhard has over 20 years’ experience of international cooperation and management of civil society organisations (CSOs). From 1998 to 2007 he was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Save the Children Alliance, located in London. Before this, Burkhard was CEO of Greenpeace Germany and terre des hommes Germany. As a field director in Papua New Guinea, Burkhard also worked for the German Development Service. Burkhard has been Board Chair and Board Member of various CSOs in Italy, Switzerland, India, Korea and Japan, and has actively participated in a number of major UN conferences, as well as at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Peter joined the Centre in January 2013, back then as a trainee. He completed the traineeship in the advocacy & campaigning office of World Vision Germany. Peter now coordinates the Leave No One Behind project and contributes to the development and implementation of various other strategic formats. Before joining the Centre, Peter worked for various organisations and think tanks in the development sector, being an expert in multi-stakeholder processes. He studied at the University of Bonn and graduated with an MA in Political Science with a focus on multi-actor advocacy for climate policy.

Brandi joined the Centre as Campaign Manager for the Civic Charter in May of 2017. In her role as Campaign Manager, Brandi develops and oversees a global campaign strategy to defend the space for civic participation by supporting activists and organisations in running local and national campaigns using the Civic Charter as a basis for joint action and solidarity. Prior to joining the Centre, Brandi worked with The ONE Campaign in Washington, DC where she managed grassroots campaigns advocating for US development funding to help end extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Brandi holds a BA in Political Science from Winthrop University where (in addition to finding her activist roots) she conducted original research on the Occupy movement to argue for the adoption of new methodologies to examine the impact of emerging social movements.