Founder of Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
Berlin Area, Germany
- Current
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- Founder and Executive Director at Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
- Past
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- Senior Steward - IT at i-Scale - Innovations for Scaling Impact
- Consultant at International Alert
- Assistant to the Director at oneworld.net
- Consultant at Organisation Mondial Contre la Torture
- Consultant at Volunteers in Technical Assistance
- Internet Specialist at UNESCO International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC)
- Founder, Owner, Consultant at Kabissa Communications
- Consultant at West African Newsmedia and Development Centre (WANAD)
- Network Administrator at USAID Famine Early Warning System Project (FEWS)
- Education
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- University of Sussex
- Georgetown University
- International School of Kenya (ISK)
- Washington International School
- Lafayette Elementary School
- Frankfurt International School
- Lafayette Elementary School
- Recommended
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15 people have recommended Tobias - Connections
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- Industry
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Tobias Eigen’s Summary
My deepest motivator for what I do is the desire to make the world a better place for future generations, including my own children. As a child myself of a doctor and a World Bank director, I have always had a heightened awareness that there are many problems in the world, and that many idealistic and courageous people around the world are struggling constantly to figure out ways to improve their condition. I feel strongly that ICT plays a key role in this, and I am an eager "foot soldier" in the global struggle to improve the world, community by community.
I am a born troubleshooter, and love working with others to find solutions to common problems through the innovative application of technology. I am particularly thrilled when I am immersed in a project that involves identifying and developing new tools or approaches that help hard working development practitioners in the field to overcome barriers to getting their work done.
Tobias Eigen’s Experience
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Founder and Executive Director
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
(Information Technology and Services industry)
November 1999 — Present (10 years 2 months)
Founded non-profit connecting people and organisations for Africa.
Manage online community built using the open source platform Drupal and CiviCRM. Initial support for the site provided by Ford Foundation and Open Society Institute Information Program.
Publish newsletter sharing content contributed by members as well as original articles on innovative uses of ICT and Web 2.0 in African civil society.
Managed website hosting service, providing tech support and domain hosting to over 400 Kabissa members.
Developed Time to Get Online training curriculum and manual (available as a free download in English, French and Arabic) and used it to run ICT training workshops in Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Ghana. Managed transformation of the manual into an interactive wiki.
Launched and developed leading African human rights e-mail newsletter that would become Pambazuka News, in collaboration with Fahamu and SANGONeT. -
Senior Steward - IT
i-Scale - Innovations for Scaling Impact
(Information Technology and Services industry)
2007 — June 2009 (2 years )
In charge of organisation-wide IT strategy, including evaluating and implementing Web 2.0 tools and services to meet requirements for team collaboration, e-conferencing, event management, community website, and constituency relationship management.
Managed development and launch of Web 2.0 enabled online community website for iScale. Site is based on open-source Drupal platform with the CiviCRM module for Constituency Relationship Management.
Co-stewarded the Social Media Community of Practice, with a strong emphasis on supporting participants seeking to understand and utilize Web 2.0 and open source software. Co-organized three workshops in Stockholm, Geneva and Bonn in 2007-2008.
Transitioned organization to Google Apps for geographically dispersed team so that all can access email, chat, contacts and shared calendars online as well as on computers and mobile devices. -
Consultant
International Alert
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
2000 — 2000 (less than a year)
Set up resource centre for journalists in the Press Union of Liberia and provided training on the use of computers and the Internet for reporting.
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Assistant to the Director
oneworld.net
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Human Resources industry)
1999 — 1999 (less than a year)
Researched and helped coordinate the change process for transforming oneworld.net into an international network of autonomous centres contributing to a website portal for global justice.
Performed feasibility study in collaboration with the British Council for NigeriaNet, a proto Web 2.0 site for the human rights community in Nigeria. Led NGO consultative forum in Lagos and introduced the project to Lagos-based donors.
Co-wrote funding proposals submitted to the European Commission and the Ford Foundation -
Consultant
Organisation Mondial Contre la Torture
(Civic & Social Organization industry)
1999 — 1999 (less than a year)
Coordinated and monitored EC-funded Internet capacity-building project for ten Nigerian human rights groups based in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Abuja and Kaduna.
Evaluated project progress and provided strategic advice n effective use of Internet for networking and information exchange during three two-week visits to all ten groups.
Redesigned the OMCT website. -
Consultant
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
(International Trade and Development industry)
1998 — 1998 (less than a year)
Assisted rural non-profit information centre in Moramanga, Madagascar to develop a strategy for joining the Internet and utilising it to serve the village community and environs.
Collaborated with centre staff to create structure and guidelines for a website project. -
Internet Specialist
UNESCO International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC)
(International Trade and Development industry)
1997 — 1998 (1 year )
Promoted the use of Internet to improve exchange of information and experiences in the international network of UNEVOC centres.
Planned, launched and managed specialist e-mail mailing lists.
Developed and implemented strategy for publishing full-text documents on the web and CD-ROM. -
Founder, Owner, Consultant
Kabissa Communications
(Information Technology and Services industry)
1993 — 1996 (3 years )
Provided Internet strategy consulting for international organisations and NGOs.
A selection of Kabissa projects:
Transparency International: introduced international nonprofit to Internet through strategy consulting, website development, and training for international partners and staff at the Berlin headquarters.
Afrovision TV News Exchange: assembled and tested turnkey e-mail systems in cooperation with the NY office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation for each of the consortium's 13 bureaux. Provided support from Washington for hands-on training in Dakar.
Africare: regularly assembled and tested e-mail software on laptops and trained staff as they prepared to depart for missions throughout Africa. Advised administrators on server operation at headquarters in Washington. -
Consultant
West African Newsmedia and Development Centre (WANAD)
(Information Services industry)
1995 — 1995 (less than a year)
Investigated viability of computer network for news agencies in West Africa.
Introduced Cotonou staff to the Internet and showed them how to operate an online service.
Advised news agencies and newspapers in Nigeria on their networking and computing needs. -
Network Administrator
USAID Famine Early Warning System Project (FEWS)
(International Trade and Development industry)
1991 — 1993 (2 years )
Developed and maintained a private e-mail network for field offices in a dozen countries across the African Sahel region.
Provided training and tech support for field officers.
Tobias Eigen’s Education
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University of Sussex
MA , Culture, Race and Difference , 1996 — 1997
Studied history and nature of "western" understanding of culture, race and difference, and the impact of theories of difference on government policy and society as a whole.
Dissertation title: The dilemma of national identity in German Romanticism. -
Georgetown University
BS , German and African Studies , 1990 — 1995
Coursework in German and African literature, history and society.
African Studies senior thesis on Internet in Africa.
Founder and president of the student African cultural Baobab Club.
Mentor in the Positive Peers after-school programme for underprivileged children. -
International School of Kenya (ISK)
IB , 1988 — 1990
Higher level coursework in German, French and History.
Extended Essay on The development of the Rastafarian movement.
Organised AIDS information dissemination events in Nairobi villages. -
Washington International School
IB , 1983 — 1988
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Lafayette Elementary School
4th - 6th grade , 1980 — 1983
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Frankfurt International School
3rd grade , 1979 — 1980
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Lafayette Elementary School
Kindergarden - 2nd grade , 1977 — 1979
Additional Information
Tobias Eigen’s Websites:
Tobias Eigen’s Groups:
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NetSquared -
Alumni Network - University of Sussex -
Georgetown University Alumni Group -
Africa ICT Network -
Web2forDev - Participatory Web 2.0 for Development -
webstartAfrica
Tobias Eigen’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
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- new ventures
- job inquiries
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- reference requests
- getting back in touch
