Who we are

Prename /Name
Daniel Winzenried

Nationality
Swiss

Languages
German /English /Spanish /French

Education
Economist UAS Basel, Executive MBA UAS Lucerne, Certificate Servicing-Marketing of University Bern, Diploma in Coaching UAS Basel and MAS Change Management & Leadership

Career
Holding leading positions over 20 years, last as COO of Aon Companies Switzerland and now Manager of a Swiss foundation in the area of special-care home with 300
employees, he was leading numerous change-management projects, such as merging acquired companies and their subsidiaries, developing Shared Service Centers, in- and outsourcing as well as organisational- and re organisational projects. He also was board member of several mid- and larger sized Companies and now founder of ES VICIS foundation.
Captured by the idea of planning the migration of families to villages, to give a comprehensive solution to the global migratory problem, Daniel worked out with Cintia and the ES VICIS team, the pilot project.
He also branded and shaped the organization in order to expand the social business model worldwide. He became the first financial backer to set ES VICIS legal entity and to carry out the first pilot project, “Bienvenidos a mi pueblo”, in Argentina.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Founder & Board Member

M +41 79 628 71 55

Prename /Name
Dr. Hans Furer

Nationality
Swiss

Languages
German /English/ French

Education
Lawyer – Basel University

Career
Since 1988 he has been running his own law firm, focusing on labor law, matrimonial and inheritance law, art law and foundation law. Passionate about the development of civil society, he promoted and was founder and chairman of the first Basel Foundations Day “Basler Stiftungstag” (2011), which is still celebrated.

Since his earliest youth, Hans Furer has been artistically active; he created his first painting in 1971 and was able to settle in his first studio in 1975. He has worked in the field of art for the Association of Swiss Galleries as secretary (1995-2010), for the Im Obersteg Foundation (since 2001), the Friends of the Kunstmuseum and the Museum für Gegenwartskunst Basel (since 1998), as well as for the Kunst für den Tropenwald (Art for the Tropenwald) Foundation founded by Ernst Beyeler (since 2002).

For decades he has been politically active as a member and chairman of a school board (from 1980 to 1991), lobbyist in Bern (from 1994 to 2010), board member of Travail Suisse (from 2001 to 2007) and in the Basel-Landrat (from 2011 to 2015) he has been defending the interests of workers for decades.

As of October 2021, he is happily committed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the ES VICIS Foundation to drive the Welcome to my Village program to solve the unsustainable migration to cities and their overpopulation by boosting the revitalization of rural communities suffering from a spiral of decline.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Board Member

hans.furer@esvicis.org

Prename /Name
Thomas Pfirter

Nationality
Swiss

Languages
German / French / Italian / English / Spanish

Education
Certificied Swiss Master Painter and for more than 20 years Expert for Swiss Master Painter exams

Career
As a certified Swiss Master Painter and being appointed during 20 years for the position of an Expert of the Swiss Master Painters exams, I was also holding a position of the Board of Master Painter Union of the canton Basel-Land, whereby the last 10 years as their President. Until 2008, as a Co-Owner in the third generation of the family owned Paul Pfirter & Cie. AG, I held the position of the technical Director. During my entire business career, next to my specialized and in-depth knowledge in industry painting, I was able to get broad experience in all sector of the construction and building industry.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Board member who brings in a lot of expertise in the construcción and building sector to ES VICIS – at the same time he is travelling frequently to various Latin American countries to support social projects.

Prename / Name
Raffaello Tondolo

Nationality
Swiss

Languages
French / English / German / Italian / Spanish

Education
Política Económica en la Universidad de Basilea, DAS Gestión del Cumplimiento IFZ Bug, Gestión de Fundaciones en CEPS – Universidad de Basilea

Prename /Name
Felecia Bartow

Nationality
American

Languages
Spanish / English

Education
Master of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, MO — 2000
Bachelor of Arts, Macalester College; St. Paul, MN — 1993

Career
NGO’s Consultant. Experienced professional supporting foundations, nonprofits, and other changemakers in the United States, Europe, and globally.
Provide high-level guidance and support on fundraising, donor development, impact evaluation, and staff training. Since 2018 she runs her own company in Basel, Switzerland. Felecia was Vice President (previously Associate Director, Director of Programs and Research, Consultant), Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR); San Francisco, Calif. — 2008-2018.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Advisory Board

Prename /Name
Carlos García Iragorri

Nationality
Colombian/American

Languages
Spanish / English

Education
Industrial Engineer Universidad Del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
MBA Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven, Belgium
MBA Cornell University, New York, USA

Career
Carlos has worked at senior level roles in the healthcare industry for over 30 years. He has MBA degrees in International Business (Cornell University) and Finance (KUL) and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. Carlos successfully led profitable business growth, bringing access to medicines and successful patient-oriented solutions across multiple geographical areas in the world. He is an inspiring leader whose success was built on his ability to develop trusting relationships with a multitude of stakeholders.
He has served as President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals for the Latin America/Canada Region and also President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
For him the view of a holistic and sustainable approach of any project in these areas is vital. Therefore, having been asked to join the Advisory Board of ES VICIS Foundation, he enthusiastically agreed. Helping vulnerable communities to rediscover their strengths and opportunities with his expertise and passion is a personal heart affair.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Consultant and advisor in Colombia to set-up the necessary network with governments, NGO’s, experts and private Companies.

Prename /Name
Cintia Jaime

Nationality
Swiss / Argentine

Languages
Spanish / English / German / Italian / French

Education
Lawyer University of Buenos Aires, with a post-degree in NPO Governance Leadership & Management at the CEPS, University of Basel as well as a broad Education in art performances.

Career
Lawyer with a post-degree in NPO Governance Leadership & Management at the CEPS, University of Basel as well as a broad Education in art performance. Cintia is a published writer, founder of Tanzpalast Cultural Centre.
She developed numerous cultural events and festival of interdisciplinary and international character. In 2008, she moved from cultural to social entrepreneurship. She is a co-founder of the “Fondation SapoCycle” .
After her thesis “Economic Migration and the Demographic Explosion in Urban Areas” she created with Daniel Winzenried and a team of experts the ES VICIS Foundation and became its leader.
Within a cooperation model the EVF’s brought a measurable solution to re-migration and rural repopulation. Since 2017 she teaches global social entrepreneurship at the Centre of Philanthropy Basel (Ceps) of the Basel University and encourages other entrepreneurs to take actions to the various challenges this world is facing.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Founder & Excecutive Manager

M +41 79 345 93 13

Bachelor of Information Technology – Universidad Tecnológica Nacional- Buenos Aires- Argentina
Master in e-Learning UOC – Universidad Abierta de Cataluña – Barcelona – España

Career
IT professional with considerable experience in planning, analyzing, implementing and coordinating solutions to support business objectives. E-learning professional with experience in on-line course design, including preparation and customization of virtual environment and digitalization of materials. In 2003 Marcela has moved to Switzerland, Here he collaborates with different social organizations in the development and maintenance of their web pages.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Website maintenance

Apprenticeship as typesetter, study as typographic designer UAS Basel

Career
Having worked in the typographic industry for several Companies in different positions, I have started my own Company in the year 2000. Since then, we have acquired several well-known clients and are able to work on numerous exciting projects. Our main targets are to create high quality, easy to understand, tailor-made messages and typographic solutions. In addition, we support our clients also during the implementation phase as well as in quality control issues. For the past ten years, I also have had, as a volunteer, an active role in a social association in youth promotion. However, I am delighted of becoming part and contribute to the projects of the ES VICIS team.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Communication & Graphic Design

Certified specialist for finance and accounting with Federal diploma.

Career
Founder and Director of trust company Lenex Treuhand AG. Broad background in different fields of financial accounting and taxes, such as heading the finance department of a family owned business in the field of real estate trust and then for almost 10 years leading the accounting of regional companies belonging and reporting to Aon EMEA, an American fortune 500 Company in the insurance industry. Starting my professional career and before joining the commercial sector, I was working as a trained electrician.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Financial Accounting

Bachelor Degree and PhD in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Career
Following two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Harvard University and Tufts University in Boston, Constanza joined the Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University, where she managed technology licensing, commercialization, and business development for startup entrepreneurial ventures for Cornell Medical School in NYC. In addition to her career as a researcher and business developer her ever present sensitivity for people in need has driven her to several successful fundraising events for Relief of victims of natural catastrophes such as Katrina and the Tsunami of 2004, as well as Alphabetization for Children and Adults in “Villa Itatí” in Bernal, Argentina. Inspired by ES VICIS commitment to help people in need as well as promote economic development Constanza is excited to join our team and lead once more a successful Fundraising effort.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Fundraiser & Events

M.A. in Journalism and Corporate Affairs, B.A. in Political Science.

Career
Mercedes has worked as a journalist for Argentina’s primary media companies, such as La Nación. She established her specialized expertise in the agro sector. She was a consultant to Argentina’s Minister of Agriculture during 2019. Leading up to that, she helped lead the press departments of well-known organizations that look after local farmers ‘ and food industry interests. Mercedes has also been collaborating for a program funded by the Inter-American Development Bank which primarily targeted to maximize Mercosur’s economic involvement by enhancing its agribusiness. With her experience in the rural sector and her enthusiasm for creating a positive and sustainable impact on the development throughout her country, she has joined the ES VICIS team to collaborate.

Title & Role at ES VICIS

Country Coordinator & Communication (Argentina)

Prename /Name
Sofia Satragno

Nationality
Argentine

Languages
Spanish / English

Education
B.A. in Communication Sciences, Policy and Communication Planning Orientation (University of Buenos Aires)

Career
After 7 years of experience in public relations, media and communication consultancy for companies and NGOs, in 2015 she joined the Arcor Group (food multinational based in Argentina), implementing corporate communication campaigns for public, private and civil society actors, where she gained extensive experience in communication and marketing.
She has joined the ES VICIS Foundation team in May 2020, making an important contribution to the development of the digital communication strategy and providing key support in coordinating relations with local authorities, community leaders and representatives of institutions in the rural villages where the foundation’s “Welcome to my Village” program is working at scale.

Title & Role at ES VICIS
Digital Communication and Community Relations at ES VICIS Foundation