Civil society organisations form a vital part of our democracies, but they are often confronted with organizational and legal bureaucracy.
Managing a project team that receives grants and donations requires a considerable amount of time and effort in terms of operations and finance. This can include processing funds, paying out salaries, drawing up a budget, and figuring out taxes for specific jurisdictions among other tasks. And as a team gets bigger, more core infrastructure needs arise, such as thinking about team or project governance, accountability, human resources policies and procedures, and organisational or project structures to empower everyone to do the work they want to do.
This is where interalia comes in. We are committed to breaking down barriers for civil society to share and access resources. As radical administrators* we enable a project team to focus on the project work, instead of the administrative or financial side of things. For smaller project teams in particular, as well as those who might not have the interest or capacity to take on more administrative responsibilities, this can be incredibly helpful.
Our focus groups include human rights defenders, intermediaries, and technologists who require secure and sustainable funding mechanisms to support their work. Often, they lack the resources, networks, and experience necessary to navigate complex fundraising and financial management processes.
We aim to…
- support projects and organisations with our expertise in organisational development, change management, financial administration, operations and personnel development.
- create a formal legal entity in Germany that holds money on behalf of a community group, social movement or individuals.
- prioritise equity and governance structures and emphasise operational security for human rights defenders, providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to operate safely and effectively.
*term borrowed from Open Collective 🙂
Who we are
Paula Grünwald has helped various non-profits over the last two years build up and/or maintain healthy operational structures. Before that she has been working as Director of Strategy at the Center for the Cultivation of Technology. Prior to joining CCT, she worked for the Goethe-Institute Freiburg as head of administration. She served as Project Lead of Jugend hackt, a program run by the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany to encourage young people’s engagement in technology and civic society. Paula is also passionate about local organizing and operational security. She is based in Freiburg im Breisgau.
Kristina Klein is an executive with experience in international development and non-profit management. She has served as Executive Director of the Center for the Cultivation of Technology (CCT), a fiscal host that supports open-source technologists. Prior to her work at CCT, Kristina served as the CEO of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and is a board member of the organisation to this day. Her previous experience includes working at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, at UNHCR Myanmar, and at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Brussels. She is based in Berlin.
Zara Rahman is a British-Bangladeshi writer and researcher whose interests lie at the intersection of power, technology and justice. Her book, Machine Readable Me: The Hidden Ways Tech Shapes Our Identities was published in October 2023. Over the past 12 years, her work has focused on supporting the responsible use of data and technology in social justice advocacy. She has held fellowships with the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Data & Society. She serves on the Board of Saheli and on the Advisory Board of A People’s Guide to Tech. She is based in Berlin.