I am an expert manager and management advisor. My focal areas are in project and programme management, communications, strategic management, management systems, cross-cultural management and management coaching. Moreover, I am well experienced in organisational development, process facilitation and adult education (incl. e-learning). I have worked in more than 25 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East. My main client / employer is GIZ (www.giz.de).
(;-) Website is slightly outdated: Since April 2020 I am on my fourth fixed-term assignment for GIZ, now as Program Manager for Sustainable Land Management in Ethiopia. Contact: markus.koerner(at)giz.de
Some professional achievements:
– project evaluations, situation assessments and strategy advisor for some of the most complex and politically sensitive programmes dealing e.g. with migration mangement, refugees, demobilisation, peace development in the Horn of Africa, in central Africa and around Syria; with volumes from 5 to 180 m EUR
– advisor and interim manager for large-scale EU-funded programmes to mitigate the refugee crisis around Syria and the Horn of Africa (75 m / 45 m / 20 m EUR)
– managed the establishment of the Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa (www.tanaforum.org), a security conference at Head-of-State level modelled on the global benchmark Munich Security Conference
– managed the establishment of the Africa Programme at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies of Addis Ababa University (in collaboration with the IPSS Director) as an important African think tank in peace and security (www.ipss-addis.org)
– led the development of Africa’s premier adult education programme in peace and security studies, the IPSS’ Executive Masters “Managing Peace and Security in Africa” (now with > 220 students from more than 40 countries, including Europe)
– contributed as chief advisor on project management and urban policies to the development of the 2002 Addis Ababa Urban Strategic / Master Plan; a three-year project
– was founding partner in the project management consulting practice Agora Associates in Zurich, consulting Swiss blue chips companies (www.agora-associates.com)
– published an acclaimed book on project management for innovation and change with Springer (www.geschaeftsprojekte.de) and spoke repeatedly at global conferences (IPMA World Congress), e.g. on “projects as expeditions” and “complexity in project management”
– researched and published on the management of organisational change projects at global blue chip companies with Institute for Business Administration, Univ. of St. Gall
– team leader in +25 project feasibility, planning and review missions for GIZ, DEZA, World Bank
– contributed twice to IPMA World Congress (International Project Management Association) as well as to numerous conferences in Germany and Switzerland.
My home base is Loerrach, Germany. There I also established and now manage a social enterprise, engaged in providing refugees with access to the labour market (www.loerrach-abc.de).
I am a reflective practitioner – professionalism also needs good concepts. See some of the material I wrote at: https://independent.academia.edu/MarkusKoerner
Contact: markus.koerner(a)interaktion.de
Markus Koerner 