About us
democ is a non-profit association of journalists, academics and media professionals who work together to observe, document and analyse anti-democratic movements. We explore how these forces work, why they are gaining strength and how they can be countered. We make our observations and reflections accessible to the public in articles, videos, workshops, lectures and a web documentary.
Let’s get in touch
kontakt@democ.de
Telefon: +49 30 57712221
Postal address: democ e. V., P.O. Box 44 06 48, 12006 Berlin, Germany
Team
Executive Board Member
Tuija Wigard has devoted many years to monitoring and analysing anti-democratic movements. A political scientist and Arabist, she focuses on contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and Islamism. From 2017 to 2019, she worked as an editor in the monitoring team at the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Antisemitism (JFDA). She has been a member of democ’s executive board since late 2019.
Managing Director & Executive Board Member
Linus Kebba Pook, a member of democ’s executive board, co-manages the organisation with Grischa Stanjek. Through the polkom agency, he advises organisations on communicating about antisemitism, conspiracy thinking and right-wing extremism. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Theatre Studies, followed by an MA in Interdisciplinary Antisemitism Studies.
Managing Director & Executive Board Member
Grischa Stanjek is a founding member of democ and is on the executive board. Together with Linus Kebba Pook, he forms the organisation’s management team. He was previously Director of Communications at the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA) and Head of Media at the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Antisemitism (JFDA). After studying Communication Design (BA) and Art in Context (MA), he has worked as an education officer, programmer and photographer in Berlin, New York and Tel Aviv.
Executive Board Member
Puneh Abdi is a member of democ’s executive board. Before working as a project officer at democ for three years, she was a research associate on the Digital Hate project, examining online hate speech, conspiracy ideologies and antisemitism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. She studied Sociology (BA) and Musicology (MA), conducting research into antisemitism and conspiracy ideologies in German rap and other (sub)cultural contexts.
Programme Officer
Elisabeth Steffen works on digital participation and security as well as civic tech at democ. She previously worked in research and teaching at HTW Berlin, contributing to several research projects on artificial intelligence and data science, antisemitism and conspiracy ideologies. She contributes an interdisciplinary perspective that combines computer science with the social sciences and humanities.
Executive Board Member
Matthias Schröder has worked with civil society organisations to counter anti-democratic movements for many years. A political science graduate, he has experience in addressing antisemitism and right-wing extremism in education. He co-founded democ in late 2019 and serves on its executive board.
Programme Officer
Yannis Illies supports the technical implementation of digital projects at democ. He has worked in civic education for many years and is particularly interested in anti-modern ideologies and movements. He studied Philosophy and Computer Science and has worked as a web developer and data engineer since 2022.
Programme Officer
Monique Momberg holds a BA in Social Sciences from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where she concentrated on political science and sociology of technology. Since 2019, she has specialised in information security, focusing on cybersecurity from both technical and political perspectives. She currently studies for an MA in Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin.
Public Relations and Communications Officer
Before becoming democ’s Public Relations and Communications Officer, Antonia Kruse worked as an editor for the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation (EVZ). She holds a BA in Literary and Religious Studies, followed by an MA in Interdisciplinary Antisemitism Studies. As a member of the polkom agency, she also advises organisations on communicating about antisemitism, conspiracy thinking and right-wing extremism.
Head of Administration & Risk Analysis Officer
Tobias Messerer heads the democ administration and is also responsible for risk analysis. He studied Political Science at the University of Regensburg (BA) and Freie Universität Berlin (MA). For many years, he has supported projects in the fields of civic education against antisemitism, educational science and integration work with refugee children and young people – in terms of both content and administration.
Executive Board Member & Programme Officer
Stephan Cleef is a founding member and on democ’s executive board. After studying Media Design and Media Art at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, he worked as a multimedia producer and visual editor for the Berlin-based OSTKREUZ Agency of Photographers, as a freelance photographer and videographer in Berlin, as a project team member at the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Antisemitism (JFDA), and as a content creator for the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.
Programme Officer
Before joining democ, Marie-Helen Jakob worked for the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA). She completed her BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology in Berlin and Beirut and is currently studying for an MA in Interdisciplinary Antisemitism Studies. Her research focuses on historical and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.
Programme Officer
Ada Baumkötter works on research, content development and monitoring across several projects. Her areas of focus include antisemitism, conspiracy ideologies and right-wing extremism on social media platforms.
Programme Officer & International Project Manager
A programme officer and international project manager at democ, Niv Zonis has many years of experience in education, training, project management and P-CVE. His academic background includes a BA in Biblical Studies and Jewish History, an MA in Jewish History specialising in Holocaust studies, and a teaching certificate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board, chaired by Benjamin Fischer, supports and advises the Executive Board, management team and project leaders on the strategy of the organisation and its projects
Benjamin Fischer
Benjamin Fischer is an expert in European online regulation and minority protection. His work brings together technology policy, civil society and evidence-based interventions against disinformation and extremist networks. After serving as Programme Director at the Alfred Landecker Foundation, he is currently Director of Development, Europe, at Bellingcat, where he oversees the expansion of European partnerships and institutional support for open-source investigations. He chairs the Advisory Board of CeMAS, sits on several other boards, and formerly served as President of the European Union of Jewish Students and founding President of the Jewish Student Union of Germany.
Constantin Ganß
Constantin Ganß studied History, Political Science and Public Administration in Bamberg, Potsdam and Leuven. He is Vice-President of the German-Israeli Society (DIG) and an Associate at the American Jewish Committee Berlin. He previously worked in the German Bundestag and at the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA).
Helena Mihaljević
Helena Mihaljević holds a PhD in mathematics and works as Professor of Data Science at HTW Berlin, affiliated with the Einstein Center Digital Future. Her interdisciplinary research explores the intersections of data and machine-learning algorithms, including the algorithmic detection of conspiracy theories and antisemitic hate speech.
Benjamin Steinitz
In 2015, Benjamin Steinitz established Germany’s first Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) in Berlin. Since October 2018, he has served as Managing Director of the RIAS Federal Association, which works to ensure that antisemitic incidents are recorded consistently and comparably throughout Germany. Moreover, he has coordinated the European Network on Monitoring Antisemitism (ENMA) since 2023. Benjamin Steinitz has also written a manual on the practical application of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.