Alexander Zwissler is the Principal of Einstellung Labs, a consultancy working at the
intersection of the nonprofit and for profit sectors. Engagements include Google, NASA,
Arizona Science Center, The Crucible and Bay Area Resilient by Design.
Prior to the formation of Einstellung Labs, Zwissler was Executive Director/ CEO of Chabot
Space & Science Center in Oakland California from 2007 to June 2015, where he led the
Center’s fundraising efforts, raising over $25,000,000 through the cultivation and
stewardship of new individual, corporate and foundation support. Zwissler developed new
programs including Bill Nye’s Climate Lab, a NASA funded Climate Change Teachers
Institute, and the NSF funded Tales of the Maya Skies full-dome planetarium show. As a
result, he positioned the Center to address the community's needs and interests while
leading it to a position of financial sustainability and national prominence.
Before leading Chabot, Zwissler was the Executive Director of the Fort Mason Foundation in
San Francisco from 1999 to 2006. Prior to Fort Mason, Zwissler had a 17-year career as a
senior executive in the cable television and telecommunications industry in the US and the
UK.
Zwissler serves in the leadership of both local and national non-profits including recently the
Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Association of Science and Technology
Centers. He is co-Chair of the Gateways Eastbay STEM Network, on the Advisory Board of the
Climate Readiness Institute at UC Berkeley, on the Board of Cool the Earth and is a
Commissioner on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Zwissler graduated with a BA (Hons) in Political Science from the University of California at
Berkeley, and went on to become a Postgraduate Research Fellow at the Centre for Mass
Communication Research at the University of Leicester, England. In 2008 Zwissler was a
fellow of the Noyce Leadership Institute.
In his free time Zwissler can be found mountain biking in Marin and planning to become a
poet.
Prior to the formation of Einstellung Labs, Zwissler was Executive Director/ CEO of Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland California from 2007 to June 2015, where he led the Center’s fundraising efforts, raising over $25,000,000 through the cultivation and stewardship of new individual, corporate and foundation support. Zwissler developed new programs including Bill Nye’s Climate Lab, a NASA funded Climate Change Teachers Institute, and the NSF funded Tales of the Maya Skies full‐dome planetarium show. As a result, he positioned the Center to address the community's needs and interests while leading it to a position of financial sustainability and national prominence.
Before leading Chabot, Zwissler was the Executive Director of the Fort Mason Foundation in San Francisco from 1999 to 2006. Prior to Fort Mason, Zwissler had a 17‐year career as a senior executive in the cable television and telecommunications industry in the US and the UK.
Zwissler serves in the leadership of both local and national non‐profits, including recently the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. He is co‐Chair of the Gateways Eastbay STEM Network, on the Advisory Board of the Climate Readiness Institute at UC Berkeley, on the Board of Cool the Earth and is a Commissioner on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Zwissler graduated with a BA (Hons) in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and went on to become a Postgraduate Research Fellow at the Centre for Mass Communication Research at the University of Leicester, England. In 2008 Zwissler was a fellow of the Noyce Leadership Institute.
In his free time Zwissler can be found mountain biking in Marin and planning to become a poet.
