THE CIVICS is a pan-European non-profit organisation, founded in 2021 by three professionals with extensive background in democracy development and civic education. It is supported by partners in different European countries and advised by stakeholders, philanthropies, experts, and civic education agencies in Europe.
Meet the Team
Caroline Hornstein Tomić
Co-founder & Managing partner
Co-founder & Managing partner | ZAGREB
hornstein-tomic@thecivics.eu
Caroline Hornstein Tomić, PhD is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar in Zagreb specializing in high-skilled and return migration, diaspora and identity politics, post-socialist transformation processes in Southeast Europe, and civic education. Besides engaging in academia and the civil sector – as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of THE CIVICS, Co-Founder and Management Chair of the Zagreb based foundation Wissen am Werk / Znanje na djelu, Board member of the European Forum Alpbach Foundation, Member of the Networking European Citizenship Education (NECE) Advisory Board – she has also worked in the public sector as Operative Division Head at the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (2016 – 2018). Caroline is based in the SOE region since 2000; from 2001 until 2005 she served as Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Anja Ostermann
Co-founder & Managing partner
Co-founder & Managing partner | BONN
ostermann@thecivics.eu
She is a comparatist, historian and Germanist (University of Bonn/ University of St Andrews). She has been managing the education and event agency labconcepts in Germany since 2005. Her focus is on consulting on educational strategies and networking in the field of European civic education. In addition, she develops concepts for dialogue and participation formats on topics from politics, education, media and science. Since 2019, she has headed the funding and qualification program for rural areas “MITEINANDER REDEN – Gespräche gestalten – Gemeinsam handeln”. In 2021, she co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now heads the Hub in Bonn as one the three managing partners.
Louisa Slavkova
Co-founder & Managing partner
Co-founder & Managing partner | SOFIA
slavkova@thecivics.eu
Louisa is a political scientist and author with extensive experience in foreign policy, democracy development and civic education. She received her MA in political science, history and American literature from the University of Cologne and is pursuing a PhD at the University of Sofia. Louisa has held various positions throughout her career, including a visiting fellow at Columbia University, programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to Bulgaria’s former foreign and climate ministers.
In 2013, she founded the Sofia Platform Foundation, a non-governmental organization focused on civic education and dealing with the country’s communist past. She is the co-author of two textbooks on civic education in Bulgaria and has authored and edited several books and publications on foreign policy and democracy development.
In 2021, Louisa co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now serves as one of its three managing partners, overseeing operations in Sofia. She is also a civics course instructor at New Bulgarian University and a frequent contributor to Bulgarian and international outlets on democracy in Bulgaria and the region.
Ana Doneva
Project assistant
Project assistant | SOFIA
doneva@thecivics.eu
Ana holds a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the European Programme of the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and Philosophy from Amsterdam University College. Her personal interest lies in the protection of the environment – she wrote her Master’s thesis on the topic of Environmental Ethics and their effect on environmental law under the supervision of Åbo Akademi in Turku, Finland. In her personal life, she has been active in volunteering and supporting organizations committed to human rights, democracy, and environmental protection.
Martin Kirbach
Project assistant
Project assistant | BONN
kirbach@thecivics.eu
Martin holds an MLitt degree in Security Studies from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and majored in International Relations and Human Geography during his undergraduate studies in the Netherlands and semester abroad in Morocco. He has a particular interest in the post-Soviet space as well as the SWANA region, identity politics and the field of Urban Studies. Aside from pursuing his second MA degree in Development Policy Martin was also a part-time lecturer at the Cologne Business School, lecturing about entrepreneurial culture and intercultural competencies. With his expertise and enthusiasm, Martin is supporting THE CIVICS team in the CIVIC SCOUTS and Young Climate Professionals project as a project assistant in the Hub in Bonn.
Maja Kurilić
Hub manager
Hub manager | ZAGREB
kurilic@thecivics.eu
She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Central European University in Budapest and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Zagreb. During her studies, she took part in academic and cultural exchanges in the USA and Poland. Before joining THE CIVICS in its Zagreb Hub in March 2021, Maja worked in public sector consulting, focusing both on project preparation and on the implementation of projects funded by the EU funds. Maja has over three years of formal working experience, complemented by seven years of active involvement across the non-governmental sector and academia through volunteering, internships or freelance arrangements. Maja’s primary area of expertise is policy analysis, project management and policy writing.
Magdalena Lipovac
Project assistant
Project assistant | ZAGREB
lipovac@thecivics.eu
Magdalena holds a Master’s degree in English and pedagogy from the University of Zagreb. She has experience in international projects concerning social entrepreneurship, vocational guidance, and connecting the education system with the world of work. Prior to turning to project management, she worked as a business English lecturer and a primary school English teacher. Outside of work, Magdalena has also been actively involved in voluntary work providing support to long-term unemployed women for several years. In February of 2023, she joined THE CIVICS’ team in the Zagreb hub.
Damir Mužina
Project assistant
Project assistant | ZAGREB
muzina@thecivics.eu
Damir is a co-founder and president of YouthBank Croatia and an associate of YouthBank International, NGO´s that promote young people as decision makers and active citizens. He has more than five years of experience in programme design, management and youth training, in Impact Hub Zagreb and UNUO, working mostly around topics of project based learning and social entrepreneurship. He is also providing those services through his private company as a freelancer, helping NGO`s to deliver their programmes and companies to improve their CSR strategies. Damir is also a trained chef that is always finding ways to incorporate cooking in his private and professional life, from organizing community lunches, working as a freelance chef or delivering cooking classes. In March 2023, he joined THE CIVICS team as project assistant in the Zagreb hub.
Alla Petrova
Project assistant
Project assistant | BONN
petrova@thecivics.eu
Alla holds a Master´s and Bachelor´s degree in International Relations from the universities of Eichstätt and St. Petersburg respectively. Alla has gathered experience in the spheres of international event and project management in UNHCR and UNIDO in Vienna. She is particularly interested in peacebuilding and human rights protection. Currently she is also a human rights volunteer in the Shalom for Justice and Peace working group. In March 2023, she joined THE CIVICS team as project assistant in the Bonn hub.
Darija Sesar Petrić
Project manager
Project manager | ZAGREB
sesar-petric@thecivics.eu
Darija holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Mostar. She spent a year as an exchange student at the University of Granada. She was a trainee in the European Parliament in Brussels and the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna. Her professional experience includes working as an administrator in the EU Info Center in Mostar, a liaison officer in the Central European Initiative in Trieste, a sustainability consultant in a Zagreb-based NGO, and expert advisor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Zagreb. Darija’s primary interests are education, human rights and sustainable development. In March 2023, she joined THE CIVICS team as a project manager in the Zagreb hub.
Sabrina Räpple
Hub manager
Hub manager | BONN
raepple@thecivics.eu
Sabrina holds a bachelor’s degree in regional studies of Latin America with economics from the University of Cologne (Germany) and studied one semester abroad at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brasil), strengthening intercultural competences as well as multilingualism. She has experience in cultural and event management and operated two years as a project manager at the education and event agency labconcepts in Bonn, focusing on sustainable project management. She was involved in projects in the field of European political education as well as education in the field of sustainable development. Since July 2021, she has been supporting THE CIVICS as a project manager. Since September 2023 she is also responsible for the Hub management in Bonn.
Leonie Sichtermann
Project manager
Project manager | SOFIA
sichtermann@thecivics.eu
Leonie holds a MA in Peace and Conflict Research from Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and studied politics and sociology (BA) in Eichstätt (Germany) and Brussels (Belgium). She is project coordinator and assistant at the Sofia Platform Foundation in Sofia (Bulgaria), an NGO that focuses on history and civic education. Previously, she was focusing on social and political transformation processes in fragile contexts. Leonie is co-editor of publications in the field of civic education. Since the beginning of 2022 Leonie is project manager at THE CIVICS Hub in Sofia and mainly involved in the project CIVIC SCOUTS.
Kameliya Tomova
Project manager
Project manager | SOFIA
tomova@thecivics.eu
Kameliya has over nine years of professional experience working with high-performing international civil society organisations. The areas in which she specialised include organisational effectiveness and good governance, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of her various roles at Accountable Now, Transparency International, Greenpeace International, and Vessy.com Kameliya reviewed and assessed the management and governance systems of small, medium, and large entities and provided guidance on how to improve their management strategies by focusing on transparent and accountable processes and practices. Kameliya has a master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Bristol, having studied Contemporary Identities and Multiculturalism whilst also volunteering with a campaign to defend the rights of asylum seekers in the UK.
Partners
ERSTE Foundation
German Federal Agency for Civic Education
(Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb)
Robert Bosch Stiftung
Stiftung Mercator