About
NGO Academy aims to build up and strengthen skills and know-how in topics relevant to the development and sustainable implementation of projects within NGOs and Social Enterprises in Central and South-Eastern Europe. By offering a range of high-quality programmes for executives and members of these organisations, NGO Academy enables building up capacity, as well as transnational networks within its community.
The NGO Academy is a joint initiative of ERSTE Foundation and the Competence Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship of Vienna University for Economics and Business. It was founded in 2013 with the goal of strengthening the civil society sector in Central and South-Eastern Europe by providing further educational opportunities. NGO Academy offers a range of high-quality capacity building programmes designed specifically for executive managers and staff members of NGOs. By transferring knowledge, imparting skills and helping participants to build up networks, NGO Academy supports the organisations themselves, and, indirectly, also their beneficiaries.
Our offers consist of three programmes, the Social Innovation and Management Programme, the Regional Programme and the Professional Master Programme.
NGO Academy in a Nutshell
Why
In the work with our partners, we identified that NGOs and Social Enterprises in Central and South Eastern Europe are facing various challenges on multiple levels. These challenges include little and volatile financing possibilities, little room for building knowledge and methods for professional work, as well as a lack of financial means and possibilities to benefit from existing capacity builders. This is where we come in.
What
The NGO Academy team carries out three different programme formats to achieve its desired impact: the Social Innovation and Management Programme, the Regional Programme and the Professional Master Programme.
Our programmes aim to convey knowledge focussing on: Resources and Innovation, Implementation,Leadership and Strategy and Regional Topics.
All of NGO Academy’s offers are designed to be easily accessible in geographical, financial and language terms for our community.
What for
NGO Academy supports civil society organisations and its employees through capacity building, leading to higher benefits for their target groups and beneficiaries. This is achieved by:
Supporting organisations’ executives in acquiring competences
Building international networks among like-minded persons and experts
Offering insights into recent trends and developments
Focusing on hands-on skills for employees’ daily work and concrete new projects
For whom
NGO Academy’s programmes are designed to address members and executives of civil society organisations in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, the programmes are accessible only for organisations within NGO Academy’s community, except the Professional Master Programme.
Team

Martin Mehrwald
Programme Coordinator
WU Wien
Vienna University of Economics and Business

Yvonne Reif
Programme Coordinator
WU Wien
Vienna University of Economics and Business

Marianne Mann
Programme Coordinator
WU Wien
Vienna University of Economics and Business

Nicole Traxler
Project Manager
ERSTE Stiftung

Reinhard Millner
Academic Programme Director
WU Wien
Vienna University of Economics and Business

Peter Vandor
Academic Programme Director
WU Wien
Vienna University of Economics and Business