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.

Co-founder & Managing partner | BONN
ostermann@thecivics.eu

Co-founder & Managing partner | SOFIA
slavkova@thecivics.eu

She is an Advisory Board member of the European Network for Civic Education NECE. In 2016 Louisa was a Ronald Lauder Visiting Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, NYC. From 2013 to 2016, she was programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Prior to joining ECFR, Louisa served for two years as an adviser to Bulgaria’s former Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov (currently Research and Analysis Director at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy). Before that, she worked with the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb). Since 2013, she is the founder and executive director of the Sofia Platform Foundation based in Bulgaria, a non-governmental organization working in the field of historical and civic education. She is the author and editor of several books and publications on foreign policy, democracy development and civic education. Louisa is the co-author of an upcoming textbook on civic education in Bulgaria. In 2021, she co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now heads the Hub in Sofia as one the three managing partners.

Project manager | SOFIA
hristova@thecivics.eu

Project assistant | BONN
kirbach@thecivics.eu

Project manager | ZAGREB
kurilic@thecivics.eu

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.

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.

Project 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 in the Hub in Bonn.

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.

Project coordinator | 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 coordinator at THE CIVICS Hub in Sofia and mainly involved in the project CIVIC SCOUTS.