FOUNDATION BOARD

Christine Schärer, President

Chrisrine Schärer worked as a journalist and editor for Swiss Television during more than 25 years, for instance for the women's magazine "Lipstick" and the daily news. Towards the end of the 1980s, she was involved in the Zurich movement "Frauen macht Politik!" FraP ("Women make politics!"). From 1991 to 1993, she was responsible for women's concerns at the TV Studio Zurich. Her involvement made her realize how many structural hurdles women have to face every day, and she is very much aware of the huge potential of committed, networked women. When she retired, she set herself the goal of strengthening women across geographical and cultural borders with the help of the focus women foundation. 

 

Severina Eggenspiller

Severina Eggenspiller is an expert in development cooperation, project management and cultural management. After working for the ICRC, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the feminist NGO cfd, she worked for various Swiss foundations. She set up an office in Morocco for the Drosos Foundation and was in charge of the Morocco and Tunisia programme for ten years. She has broad thematic knowledge and work experience in East Africa, India, Central Asia and North Africa. She holds a Master's degree in History and International Law from the University of Zurich, as well as diplomas in Development Cooperation from NADEL at ETH Zurich and in Monitoring & Evaluation from INTRAC in Oxford.

 

Gabriela Neuhaus

Gabriela Neuhaus is a journalist and a filmmaker. She has been a co-owner of Offroad Reports GmbH, a media production company, since 1997. She holds a licentiate degree in history and constitutional law from Bern University and has been working as a journalist for print media, radio and television since 1982. Her specialties include international cooperation, more specifically researching and realizing reports and features from emerging and developing countries. In addition, she holds various project and advisory mandates for several NGOs and the DEZA.

 

Seraina Chowdhury

Seraina Chowdhury holds a Master's degree in International Development from the Graduate Institute of Geneva, specialising in power and conflict with a strong background in gender, race and diversity. Her Master's thesis focused on women's empowerment, conducting a discourse analysis of the concept in Swiss women's organisations. She has gained professional experience in various organisations working for social change. She currently works as a communications assistant at FSD (Fondation suisse de déminage), a Swiss NGO specialising in humanitarian demining.

Shazia Islamshah

Shazia is a social justice and humanitarian practitioner, ecological designer and coach. Her expertise comes from 20 years of experience in humanitarian, and human rights practice and social impact work, including senior management in emergency operations in regions experiencing conflict, disaster and displacement. She has worked across the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia and Europe with the UN, rights-based civil society organisations, the ICRC and philanthropy. She draws from her lived experience as a daughter of Kenya and her personal intersectional perspective.

She is passionate about integrating holistic, inclusive and a whole systems approach to our worlds complex challenges. Shazia has a BA in Political Science and Middle East Studies (McGill), MA in Humanitarian Action (Geneva), MSc in Creative Writing Edinburgh) and a MSc in Ecological Design (Schumacher College & Plymouth University).

 

MANAGEMENT

Antonia Banz

Antonia Banz is a set designer and a culture manager. She has been running her own design business raumprodukt gmbh for more than 20 years. The company focuses on designing and implementing socially relevant theme exhibitions. Antonia contributes to the focus women foundation with her experience in business administration and project management. As a General Manager, she is responsible for the Foundation's operational activities and acts as its contact person.

 

 

Consultant for
LATIN AMERICA

Maria Rudolph

Maria Rudolph is an experienced and passionate organisational consultant specialising in international cooperation. She has extensive skills in project management, strategic planning and impact orientation, and has experience in key thematic areas such as food security, democracy promotion, gender equality and sustainable economic development.
Through various long-term assignments in Africa and Latin America, she has gained valuable experience working with international NGOs and local grassroots organisations and has developed a deep understanding of their perspectives, needs and challenges.
Since 2019, she has been living and working as an organisational consultant, project manager and trainer in Peru, where she supports local organisations in strengthening their internal structures, developing clear strategies and implementing participatory processes.
Maria holds a degree in social economics with a focus on economic and labour law from the University of Hamburg and has continuously pursued further education. Her specialisations include business administration, green finance, change management and participatory methods.
For the Fokus Frauen foundation, she acts as a passionate bridge builder to partner organisations in Peru and Colombia, providing them with powerful support in achieving their goals.

 

 

Consultant for
East Africa

Maria Namuma Heise

Maria Namuma Heise is a part-time lawyer at Pair.fact Legal AG, a law firm based in Zurich. She holds a Master of Laws in Rule of Law for Development from Loyola University, Chicago, and has been a Licensed Advocate of the High Court of Kenya for 10 years. Her focus areas include: sustainable development (UNSDGs), food law and food rights, contracts for agribusiness value chain financing, women’s rights, and intellectual property law. Maria Namuma Heise has previously worked at the UN-Habitat’s Legal Division in Nairobi, Kenya, and in legal-technical consultancies for projects aimed at implementing gender-sensitive agribusiness value chains at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy. Most recently, she has worked collaboratively in sustainable peace projects in Ethiopia and the Global South with Peace Women Across the Globe and the African Forum for Rule of Law Development.

At focus women foundation, she works as a consultant for East Africa and acts as a bridge builder with partner organizations in the target region.

 

Consultant for
Bolivia

Luz Jiménez

Luz Jiménez Quispe is an Aymara indigenous academic specializing in anthropology and mathematics education. She is currently a part-time research fellow at graduate programmes of the Universidad Mayor de San Simón and Universidad Amazónica de Pando. She holds a master’s degree in bilingual intercultural education, with a major in educational planning from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón. She also has a Ph.D. in Philosophy with a major in Language, Reading and Culture from the University of Arizona (United States). Her work focuses on educational policies, indigenous rights, education of indigenous women, and teacher training. Throughout her career, she has founded several institutions to support educational quality and the empowerment of women and indigenous peoples. She took part in the global citizenship think tanks promoted by the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Santiago de Chile. She has been a member of linguistic and educational policy‑making commissions in Bolivia. One of her last contributions was the creation of the Graduate Pedagogical University, of which she is the vice-chancellor.