Meet Our team of facilitators and coaches

Dirk has been committed to the civil society sector for more than 25 years. With his passion, positive energy, optimism, and autonomy, he likes to see people grow and find their true meaning and values. His international experience in different leadership positions throughout Asia and Africa qualifies him as a facilitator, trainer, and coach: preferably with you in one of the CSA courses, otherwise as an outdoor trainer at YEP Academy. Dirk's center is his family and nature.

Passionné du développement, Georges rêve d’un monde où chaque individu peut exercer son pouvoir de mener une vie épanouie grâce à une alimentation saine et en harmonie avec la planète.

Titulaire d’un Diplôme d’Ingénieur de l’Environnement et entre autres, d’un Master en Solidarités et Actions Humanitaires, il totalise plus de 15 ans dans la coopération et sa carrière professionnelle s’est construite autour de la gestion de projets et programmes de développement au sein d’ONGs Internationales, notamment dans des contextes post-conflits. Georges est actuellement en poste au Burundi où il occupe la fonction de Directeur Pays pour l’ONG Welthungerhilfe.

Helina’s eclectic skillset and interests have led her on a meandering path cutting across a global consulting firm, a publishing collective, a feminist social enterprise, and organizations working in the development sector. As a Coordinator for CSA Africa, she now works on gradually nurturing the entity into an impactful changemaker in the local civil society ecosystem and beyond. She values the inspired vision and progressive values of CSA and finds herself at home in training spaces where collective knowledge is woven into meaningful strategy. She spends the rest of her time on creative outlets and cultivating meaning, knowledge, and connection.

Herbert has consulted for organizations of all sizes in the industry, commerce, education and healthcare, both in Europe and Australasia. For more than 25 years, he has been leading organisations and leadership development programmes for senior management. Since 2011, he is consulting with Welthungerhilfe and the European Network Alliance 2015. His facilitation and coaching skills are unmatched!

Joachim is passionate about social justice and co-creation. In 2014, he left his NGO career to embark on a mission to support like-minded civil society actors and social entrepreneurs in becoming more powerful and innovative. Together with his colleagues, he started the Civil Society Academy, which initially became active in India and then expanded to many parts of the world. In 2023, Joachim founded the Civil Society Academy International as a social enterprise in Germany. Joachim is an outstanding trainer and coach. He loves facilitating collective processes for organizations and networks that are fun and creative, yet focus on creating impact with disadvantaged groups. He excels in producing results in leadership, culture, innovation, and strategy. After more than 20 years in Africa and Asia, he is now based in Berlin.

Jonathan is an award-winning Innovator, Civic Journalist, Trainer and consultant in the areas of Human Rights, Media Development, Media Literacy and Good Governance in Africa. Over the last 15 years of his career, he has consulted for the Ford Foundation/Uganda Land Alliance, Disability Rights Fund, DW (Deutsche Welle) Akademie, and Boehm Gladen Foundation, among others. One of Jonathan’s social innovations aims at creating more spaces for diverse voices in the media and gives leaders an opportunity to listen to their citizens, and generally make better decisions. He believes that a community without a voice breeds disorder, suspicion, and a lack of public trust.

Josantony is Advisor (Maharashtra) to the Commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court of India on Food Security. He is on the Board of Creative Handicrafts, a Fair Trade organisation in India. Josantony was instrumental in setting up and conducting advocacy programs for the National Center for Advocacy Studies in India. He is an international resource person who has worked in Africa, the US, Canada and many countries in Europe and the Far East.

Leonore has been engaged in international development for over 14 years. From microfinance to the energy transition, land governance and human rights-based advocacy, her professional range spans widely but always turns around one central feature: capacity development. Whether in Mozambique, Madagascar, India or Ethiopia – Leonore is everywhere at home and comfortable in more than 5 languages. An excellent, highly-engaging facilitator, she joined CSA in early 2022 and is currently leading strategic planning workshops in both anglophone and francophone countries, developing training materials and coaching fresh facilitation potentials. Leonore holds a MA in International Economics and has previously worked for GIZ, GOPA and PlanetFinance.

Marita has been working in the education and development sector for almost three decades and became a consultant in 2014. Her thematic priorities include community development, human rights and peace education, strategic planning and visioning, programme management, team and leadership building, and communication skills.

Dr. Moritz Gekeler is a strategic consultant, coach and facilitator for co-innovation and design thinking. Over the last ten years he has gained professional experience in various institutions such as the foresight department of Daimler AG, the HPI School of Design Thinking and the SAP Design and Co-Innovation Center. In 2015 he founded dolaborate as a co-innovation consultancy. Moritz works with international companies of all sizes in the process of participatory strategy making especially in regard to design and innovation. He also enables them by teaching creative methods, facilitating innovation events and as a key-note speaker. Besides working in the business sector, Moritz has also taught at various universities in Germany. He is a member of the expert team of the German design research network design:transfer.

Petra’s mission is to be a source of inspiration and love that holds a space for everyone to grow and flow. She has been working in different sectors in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Being an organizational psychologist, economist and political scientist with a doctorate in change management, her trainings, lectures, and coaching are nurtured by her interdisciplinary approach.

Retta Menberu Woldetsadik (M.D., MSc) stands up for civil society-state dynamics, good governance, advocacy, and a rights-based approach to development. Since 2018 he has been part of CSA, built up, and leads the Africa office to advocate for change and empower the youth. After working more than two decades in development and health leadership, as a trainer, researcher, and consultant in clinical medicine and public health, Retta developed himself to a broader development leadership and facilitation role by operating as Country Director for ActionAid International, and as regional Strategy Adviser for Rush Foundation. Additionally to his work with CSA, he works as a coordinator, researcher, adviser, and facilitator of international development and humanitarian organizations, alliances, and multi-actor partnerships in diverse contexts across Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Rishi is Sr. Facilitator for training and Innovation for CSA India. His aim is to contribute and learn constantly to bring changes in people’s lives and he believes future-ready individuals can only build a sustainable future for all. He is working in the development sector since 2011 and has valuable experience in leading agile teams, innovations, collaborations, and partnerships. Rishi has thematic exposure to institution-building for livelihoods and allied activities, health, and nutrition. As a facilitator at CSA, he is facilitating the scaling up processes, and courses on facilitation, Digital tools, design thinking, leadership, and fundraising. Rishi has done B. Tech in Biotechnology from MNNIT Allahabad and pursuing an Executive MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies.

Sohini has a Social Science background with master degrees in Geography and Regional Planning. She is a certified Life and Leadership Coach. She has more than two decades of experience in the development sector supporting the work of many social change organizations on issues of local self-governance, right to information, and land rights. She has worked on capacity building of civil society organizations, from grassroots community groups to large networks. Sohini is passionate about civil society strengthening and holds space for those who are enthusiastic and ready to learn - this is reflected in her facilitation style.

Stefan is a Coach and Facilitator with 20 years of experience with international organisations, NGO, commercial and public sectors. He coaches individuals and leaders who want to see more authenticity, joy and direction in their lives. In organisations, Stefan works with the moderation method, facilitating processes in organizational development, team building and participative strategic planning.

Stefan is experienced in setting up training modules in the fields of inter-cultural communication and in the training of trainers. He is a skilled researcher with a postgraduate university degree (MA) in Sociology from the University of Hamburg.

Tesfaye holds a Doctor in Transformational Leadership/DTL in Entrepreneurial Organisational Transformation, MA in Organisational Leadership and BSc in Agricultural Economics. Previous to founding Sankofa Consultancy Service (SCS), he had worked with the government as well as NGOs in different leading positions. Tesfaye established SCS in 2014 and ever since he has been facilitating workshops and trainings on diverse topics such as change leadership, project cycle management, and organisational capacity assessment of CBOs.

Trang holds a degree in Social Sciences and has worked in different governmental as well as non-governmental organisations in Germany, Vietnam, and India. She joined CSA in 2015, where she initially overlooked marketing communication, and gradually moved over to facilitation, mentoring, and coaching. Her thematic focuses are innovation and social entrepreneurship, resource mobilization, and marketing communication. Trang is a creative and forward-thinking person who loves to learn, share, and connect with like-minded people. Since 2020, she is also a professionally trained Life and Leadership Coach.