Our Experts Close-Up
Katharina R. Vogeli
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
My enthusiasm and focus – in life and professionally – for the past thirty years has been to connect people, to build bridges and to build dialogue between stakeholders with different interests and priorities. With a long-standing commitment to Africa, my experience on that continent, but also in Switzerland, Germany and in the United States is one of strategic leadership, building and nurturing networks and institutions as well as designing and supervising programs in peacebuilding, human security, and public diplomacy.
The path to peace: negotiation < - > facilitation < - > mediation < - > arbitration
Political dialogue – Good offices/politics of good offices – Dialogue design and facilitation
Conflict resolution: the dilemma between “linguistic relativity” and “cultural relativism”
Conflict assessment – Dialogue design and facilitation
Post-conflict Prevention: Remembrance or “Dealing with the Past”
Dealing with the Past – Stabilization – Community Violence Reduction
“Fragile states”: between “peace” and “absence of war”
Program design and facilitation
Teach, train the trainers: knowledge <-> know-how <-> soft skills
Workshop design and facilitation – Mentoring /Coaching
Training and institutional support: understanding needs <-> improve skills <-> define objectives - lasting impact
Strategy development – Program formulation – Mentoring /Coaching
Katharina R. Vogeli
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
My enthusiasm and focus – in life and professionally – for the past thirty years has been to connect people, to build bridges and to build dialogue between stakeholders with different interests and priorities. With a long-standing commitment to Africa, my experience on that continent, but also in Switzerland, Germany and in the United States is one of strategic leadership, building and nurturing networks and institutions as well as designing and supervising programs in peacebuilding, human security, and public diplomacy.
The path to peace: negotiation < - > facilitation < - > mediation < - > arbitration
Political dialogue – Good offices/politics of good offices – Dialogue design and facilitation
Conflict resolution: the dilemma between “linguistic relativity” and “cultural relativism”
Conflict assessment – Dialogue design and facilitation
Post-conflict Prevention: Remembrance or “Dealing with the Past”
Dealing with the Past – Stabilization – Community Violence Reduction
“Fragile states”: between “peace” and “absence of war”
Program design and facilitation
Teach, train the trainers: knowledge <-> know-how <-> soft skills
Workshop design and facilitation – Mentoring /Coaching
Training and institutional support: understanding needs <-> improve skills <-> define objectives - lasting impact
Strategy development – Program formulation – Mentoring /Coaching
Katharina in her own words
After graduate (International Affairs: Africa/International Economics) and post-graduate (ABD: Conflict Management, International Law, Comparative Politics, Africa) studies at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, my work turned increasingly to strategic management in the public sector. I was the Executive Director of the Swiss Foundation of World Affairs, affiliated with SAIS, promoting political dialogue in a particularly divided Washington post 9/11 and later took on the position of the Deputy Director at the Geneva Center for Security Policy Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). These were fascinating assignments, but my passion for Africa, peace policy and promotion led to the decision to give my life a different turn and return to my professional roots.
I launched Catalysts for Impact (CatImpact Sàrl), a consultancy focusing on peacebuilding and public diplomacy, on strategic development and the facilitation of strategic reflections in the context of peacebuilding and human security, as well as on strategic partnerships in Africa.
From 2013 to 2018, on behalf of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, I designed and oversaw the Human Security Program (Peace Policy and Promotion) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Now based between Bordeaux (France) and Geneva (Switzerland), I continue to focus on peacebuilding and on Africa. My aim remains to be a Catalyst for Impact by creating or showing new paths toward peace: be it through the promotion of dialogue, by supporting partners to develop or improve their corporate or peacebuilding strategies and by building bridges between different actors and networks.
Katharina in her own words
After graduate (International Affairs: Africa/International Economics) and post-graduate (ABD: Conflict Management, International Law, Comparative Politics, Africa) studies at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, my work turned increasingly to strategic management in the public sector. I was the Executive Director of the Swiss Foundation of World Affairs, affiliated with SAIS, promoting political dialogue in a particularly divided Washington post 9/11 and later took on the position of the Deputy Director at the Geneva Center for Security Policy Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). These were fascinating assignments, but my passion for Africa, peace policy and promotion led to the decision to give my life a different turn and return to my professional roots.
I launched Catalysts for Impact (CatImpact Sàrl), a consultancy focusing on peacebuilding and public diplomacy, on strategic development and the facilitation of strategic reflections in the context of peacebuilding and human security, as well as on strategic partnerships in Africa.
From 2013 to 2018, on behalf of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, I designed and oversaw the Human Security Program (Peace Policy and Promotion) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Now based between Bordeaux (France) and Geneva (Switzerland), I continue to focus on peacebuilding and on Africa. My aim remains to be a Catalyst for Impact by creating or showing new paths toward peace: be it through the promotion of dialogue, by supporting partners to develop or improve their corporate or peacebuilding strategies and by building bridges between different actors and networks.