Who we are

The ES VICIS Foundation is a non-profit organization of global social entrepreneurs, based in Switzerland.
We create thriving communities by revitalizing villages. We promote neo-ruralization by fostering sustainable and planned migration from cities to rural towns to support their renewal and empowerment. We help to unlock their social and economic potential beyond agricultural business by harnessing technology and other opportunities.

Board Members and Founders Commitment

ES VICIS’ interdisciplinary board includes members with a wide range of experience in international affairs, economics, environment, and cultures, such as Ambassador Johannes Matyassy, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland; Dr. Hans Furer, renowned art promoter and influential social advocate, founder of the “Basler Stiftungstag” – Basel Foundation Day-.
The board is chaired by its co-founder, Daniel Winzenried, and the operative team is led by the other co-founder, Cintia Jaime. Jaime studied and lectured at the Center for Philanthropic Studies (Ceps) at the University of Basel on promising approaches to address global social challenges and wrote the thesis on “Economic Migration and Population Explosion in Urban Areas.”

Our Team

Our interdisciplinary team includes members with a variety of experience in mapping latent economic opportunities in rural regions of the world with demographic challenges due to internal rural-to-urban migration. The expertise is grounded in the 3 pillars of the “Welcome to my village” to achieve the program’s goals; welcoming and integrating newcomers (Welcome), the development of business and other economic opportunities (Business), as well as the construction of new housing (Home).
To carry out our expansion, we accelerate our work by training the trainers of the regional teams of our partners in each country with whom we share our knowledge and work. We provide them with tools needed for program management and execution.

Foundation Board

Johannes Matyassy
Board President
johannes.matyassy@esvicis.org

Daniel Winzenried
Founder & Board Member
daniel.winzenried@esvicis.org

Hans Furer
Board Member
hans.furer@esvicis.org

Thomas Pfirter
Board Member
thomas.pfirter@esvicis.org

Raffaello Tondolo
Vicepresident
raffaello.tondolo@esvicis.org

External Advisors

Felecia Bartow
NGO's Consultant & Fundraising
felecia.bartow@esvicis.org

Carla Della Maggiora
Financial Project Developer
carla.dellamaggiora@esvicis.org

Carlos García Iragorri
Advisory Board for Colombia

Operative Team

Cintia Jaime
Founder & Executive Manager
cintia.jaime@esvicis.org

Marcela Caso
Website maintenance and IT support
marcela.caso@esvicis.org

Daniel Haldemann
Communication & Graphic Design
daniel.haldemann@esvicis.org

Stefan Lenardic
Financial Accounting
stefan.lenardic@esvicis.org

Constanza Lisdero
Fundraiser & Events
constanza.lisdero@esvicis.org

Mercedes Manfroni
Country Coordinator & Communication (Argentina)
mercedes.manfroni@esvicis.org

Sofia Satragno
Digital Communication and Community Relations
sofia.satragno@esvicis.org