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About us

Our governance and our team

Your donation is a vote of confidence in our organisation. We have made a commitment to turn every donation into concrete assistance for those most in need. To guarantee responsible and transparent management, a number of statutory bodies ensure that donations are used as effectively as possible to help vulnerable people in Switzerland and around the world. 

Swiss Solidarity’s president

Pascal Crittin

President

Pascal Crittin has been the president of Swiss Solidarity since 2018. He has also been the director of Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) since spring 2017 and in this capacity is a member of the SRG SSR Executive Board.

 

Executive team

Miren Bengoa

MirenBengoa

Director

Ernst Lüber

ErnstLüber

Director of Programmes & Evaluation

Judith Schuler

JudithSchuler

Director of Communication & Fundraising

Foundation Council

As the highest body of our organisation, the Foundation Council plays a key role in shaping the direction and evolution of our work. It approves our strategy, manages responsibly and ensures that we maximise the impact of the donations entrusted to us as we continue to pursue our development for the future. The Council is made up of equal representation from SRG SSR, our humanitarian partners and humanitarian experts.

 

  • Pascal Crittin, President, RTS 
  • François Besençon, Vice-President 
  • Barbara Hintermann, Chief Executive, Terre des hommes Foundation 
  • Grégoire Castella, independent representative 
  • Felix Gnehm, Solidar Suisse 
  • Alex Ziegler, SRG SSR 
  • Melchior Lengsfeld, Helvetas 
  • Sabine Maier, Vivamos Mejor 
  • Corina Albertini 
  • Robert Ruckstuhl, SRF 
  • Sylvia Schaller 
  • Stefania Verzasconi, RSI 

 

Observer: 

  • Silvio Flückiger, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) 

 

Consultative voice: 

  • Miren Bengoa, Director of Swiss Solidarity 

International Project Committee

The International Project Committee ensures that your donation is used to fund the most useful projects aimed at helping people affected by disasters around the world.

Made up of independent humanitarian aid experts, representatives of partner NGOs and the Swiss Solidarity management and programmes teams, the International Project Committee evaluates, challenges and recommends the approval or rejection of projects submitted by Swiss Solidarity’s partner NGOs that require over CHF 300,000 in funding.

Its members hail from all the technical fields relevant to the successful deployment of the projects (health, construction, water and hygiene, education, child protection and economics). This make-up allows for an informed evaluation of the projects. The Committee meets several times a year and is chaired by a person with independent status.

Relief projects involving sums of less than CHF 300,000 are reviewed by the Swiss Solidarity programmes team and approved by the Foundation’s executive. 

President: 

  • Michelle A. Gysin, independent expert 

 

Experts: 

  • Nadia Carlevaro, construction expert 
  • Fabienne Lagier, training and education expert 
  • Louisa Seferi, expert Livelihood
  • Manuel Krähenbühl, WASH expert 
  • Martin Schneider, health expert 
  • Mirela Shuteriqi, child protection expert 

 

NGO representatives: 

  • Alex Brans, Save the Children 
  • Lukas Frohofer, Solidar Suisse 
  • Laurence Gaubert, Terre des hommes Foundation 
  • Christian Gemperli, Helvetas 
  • Sebastian Zug, HEKS 
  • Katherine Kelland Arnold, CBM 
  • Johan Ten Hoeve, Medair 
  • Brigitte Müller, Swiss Red Cross 
  • Marion Schröder, Caritas 
  • Linh Groth, Médecins du Monde 

 

Independent observer: 

  • Elias Wieland, observer/SDC 

 

Representatives of Swiss Solidarity: 

  • Miren Bengoa, Director
  • Ernst Lüber, Director of Programmes & Evaluation 

Swiss Project Committee (COPRO-CH)

Supporting people in difficulty in Switzerland is an integral part of our story. We fund projects run by social institutions in Switzerland to support vulnerable people, in particular children, young people at risk of social and occupational exclusion, and homeless and marginalised people.

The Swiss Project Committee evaluates and makes recommendations to approve or reject projects submitted by Swiss associations and institutions. It studies project proposals requesting funding of between CHF 100,000 and CHF 150,000 for social action and over CHF 200,000 for natural disasters. Below these amounts, as for international projects, the projects submitted are evaluated by the Swiss Solidarity programmes team and approved by the executive team. 

COPRO-CH is made up of independent experts hailing from academia, public institutions active in social welfare, and members of the Swiss Solidarity management team. These experts represent Switzerland’s four linguistic regions and have a solid knowledge of Switzerland’s associations. 

Acting President:

  • Claudia Paiano, Director of Prozessbüro 
  • Independent expert

 

Experts: 

  • Manolo Caviezel, Section Chief, Service de protection des mineurs Genève
  • Matthias Drilling, Professor FHNW, Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit 
  • Patricia Ganter, Integration Delegate, Canton of Graubünden 
  • Paola Solcà, senior lecturer and Head of the SUPSI Bachelor’s degree in Social Work 
  • Jean-Pierre Tabin, Professor, HETS Lausanne 
  • Laurent Wicht, Professor, HES Genève 

 

Representatives of Swiss Solidarity: 

  • Miren Bengoa, Director
  • Ernst Lüber, Director of Programmes & Evaluation 

Accreditation Committee

The Accreditation Committee is the decision-making body responsible for evaluating and certifying Swiss NGOs as Swiss Solidarity’s privileged operational partners for the delivery of international humanitarian aid and child relief.

To ensure the quality of the projects carried out, the Foundation regularly verifies that its partner NGOs are in compliance with the accreditation criteria.

President: 

• Sylvia Schaller 

 

Members: 

• Christian Grau, independent expert 

• Koenraad van Brabant, President of the International Project Committee 

• Ernst Lüber, Swiss Solidarity’s Director of Programmes & Evaluation (non-voting member)

Financial Management Committee (COGEFI)

The Financial Management Committee is responsible for developing and implementing the organisation’s investment and financial strategies.

The Foundation’s investment approach is conservative and prudent. To ensure consistency with our values, a Responsible Investment Charter sets out the ethical principles to be respected, based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

The President of the Committee and the experts are appointed by the Foundation Council.

President: 

  • Alex Ziegler 

 

Members: 

  • Sophie Cathala, finance and investment expert 
  • Miren Bengoa, Director of Swiss Solidarity 

 

Permanent guests: 

  • Pascal Crittin, President of Swiss Solidarity 
  • Pascal Frei, PPCmetrics
  • Mélanie Guarin, Head of Finance & Audit, Swiss Solidarity

Our team

In Geneva, Zurich and Lugano, our staff strive to turn your donation into effective assistance for those most in need in Switzerland and around the world.

Programmes & Evaluation Department

Rahel Bucher

RahelBucher

Assistant of Programmes Department and and volunteer manager

Charline Franz

CharlineFranz

Humanitarian Programme Manager

Aurore Geiser

AuroreGeiser

Humanitarian Programme Manager

Constance Theisen-Womersley

ConstanceTheisen-Womersley

Head of Humanitarian Aid

Tabea Wäfler

TabeaWäfler

Programme Manager Switzerland

Tino Wehrle

TinoWehrle

Humanitarian Programme Manager

Stefanie Werder

StefanieWerder

Head of Social Action Switzerland

Communication & Fundraising Department

Corinne Bahizi

CorinneBahizi

Communications Manager

Sephora Benamran

SephoraBenamran

Digital Marketing Manager

Marco Caruso

MarcoCaruso

Digital Marketing Manager

Fabian Emmenegger

FabianEmmenegger

Communications Manager

Marianne Ernstberger

MarianneErnstberger

Responsible Philanthropy

Martina Futterlieb

MartinaFutterlieb

Communication Assistant

Michèle Volonté

MichèleVolonté

Delegate (Italian Switzerland)

Stephanie Wiss

StephanieWiss

Communications & Social Media intern

Julia Zbinden

JuliaZbinden

Junior Communications Officer

Admin/HR, Finance, IT departments

Réginald Clérismé

RéginaldClérismé

CRM Assistant

Graziella Della Luce

GraziellaDella Luce

Accounting & Finance Manager

Mélanie Guarin

MélanieGuarin

Finance & Audit Manager

Nicolas Haddad

NicolasHaddad

Information Systems Manager

Andreas Haile

AndreasHaile

IT Assistant

Corinne Mora

CorinneMora

Administration & Bequests Officer

Charlotte Roberts

CharlotteRoberts

Coordinator for Administration and Training