Why Connexus
Foreword from our co-founder and director
Born in East Germany at the time of the supposed end of history, I grew up in a world of countless stories – the world of literature of different countries and times taught me empathy and solidarity.
Since then, and following a trajectory of studies, work and even personal and family choices along these lines, I have honed my understanding of the meaning of connecting as a principle and as a practice. It is with this perspective, of being agents who facilitate, create and consolidate bridges, that I founded Connexus International with friends I met along my transnational and multicultural path. We draw on internationalism and the foundations of popular education to passionately plant and water seeds of dialog, understanding, as well as sustainable and sustained development.
We invite you to get to know a little more about our work through some of the stories and partnerships we share here, and, of course, having our doors and windows open to turn a gaze at the world we experience.
– Florentine Morales Sandoval
Who we are
As its name suggests, the main task of Connexus is to:
- recognise connections between past and present where others do not see them: through academic work, research and publications;
- create connections between actors from different backgrounds who are committed to the struggle for a more equitable world in the here and now: through intercultural exchange, participatory educational work and workshops that strengthen democracy;
- envision connections that harmonise people and nature and open up prospects for a better future.
To this end, Connexus awards restricted grants, supports research and publication projects and is directly active in the fields of intercultural communication, education and historical research.
Through those initiatives, we lend support and advance ideas of international solidarity and democracy, mostly buttressing vulnerable groups and often silenced voices, such as women and youth, in affirming and celebrating their diverse cultural heritages, fostering learning, and fomenting access to knowledge and participation.
We facilitate communication and collaboration among different organizations and work with project design and MEL processes that substantially provide for the co-creation of capacities and their transference.
Our team
Connexus’ expertise meets diversity to drive impactful change. Our team embodies a unique blend of on-the-ground consultants armed with unparalleled local knowledge and a multicultural staff based in Berlin fluent in over ten languages.
We believe in the power of gripping localised experiences as a tool to create shared glances, while embrace the know-how from our partners, deeply embedded within the communities we serve. Their firsthand experience and nuanced understanding of local dynamics enable us to craft tailored solutions that truly make a difference.
Complementing our ground force are our multicultural officers, a dedicated team fluent in a multitude of languages and steeped in diverse cultural backgrounds. This linguistic prowess allows us to bridge communication gaps, foster understanding, and forge meaningful connections across borders and barriers.
Together, our team synergizes the best of both worlds: the wisdom of grassroots insight and the global perspective of multiculturalism. Whether it’s advancing sustainable development, promoting social justice, or tackling humanitarian crises, we stand ready to leverage our collective expertise for positive change.
What we do:
Capacity Building: We offer capacity-building workshops, training sessions, and mentorship programs to strengthen the organizational capacity of our partners. We provide financial assistance and resources to organizations and initiatives that are making a difference in education, especially around human rights and international tolerance. Through our grant-making programs, we aim to amplify the impact of innovative projects and support organizations in their mission to improve educational outcomes.
Networking and Collaboration: We facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing among educational organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders in the Global South and Europe, always adopting cultural communication and gender mainstreaming as pillars. By building a strong network of partners, we create opportunities for synergies, learning, and collective action.
Research and Critical Thinking: We develop research projects and programmes and mentor young researchers and organisations, especially in the area of critical history and international solidarity.
Our accountability
As a German non-profit organisation, Connexus reports regularly on its activities to the Finanzamt, the body of the German Bundesministerium der Finanzen (Ministry of Finance). It thus has the prerequisites of serving society and exclusively uses its revenues for furthering the advancement of the organization.
We also make sure that projects are designed, implemented, and reported adopting a MEL approach, which, mixed with other technologies such as Agile methods and gender and socioenvironmental mainstreaming, is translated into offering tools to our partners and beneficiaries to better design and track processes from and for them and their communities.
Aiming to organically connect with global accountability networks, Connexus is a proud member of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft, a crucial mechanism to provide information, transparency, and public accountability of our financial and constitutive documents.
Furthermore, we are active partners of the Edge Funders Alliance, where we engage and interchange outputs and feedback about our work and processes in working groups, such as the Women’s and the Economic Justice Initiatives.