here we are Switzerland
🇨🇭The purpose of Here we are Switzerland is to provide spaces for professionals in transition in Switzerland, or recently settled, to collaborate on meaningful projects and grow professionally and personally.
🇨🇭 Why
When people move to a new country or quit their last job, or sometimes both, they miss the interactions that the workplace offers. Socializing, collaborating, and doing something together, for many people is a great source of energy and motivation.
When in transition, it’s really important to find ways to nurture one’s energy and to maintain a sense of growth and personal development.
🇨🇭 How
Here we are Switzerland creates a safe place, far from any commercial solicitation, for people to meet and to feel encouraged to take an active role in a project (that we call initiatives) for a short or longer time. Additionally, displaying an activity on the CV contributes to making the profile attractive on the job market.
The Here we are Switzerland core team, a small group of volunteers, provides a frame and coordinates the different activities of the community.
How we reach our purpose is framed by our strong beliefs that:
– We all seek meaning and a sense of purpose in life
– We strive to contribute and develop as human beings in a world where everything and everyone is interdependent on each other
– We are mindful about keeping a balance between priorities in life
🇨🇭 What
The Here we are Switzerland core team organizes meetings, events and workshops to prepare the members to step into an active role and to take the initiative on a collaborative project or activity.
Our activity are centered around:
– Facilitating exchanges amongst members
– Developing self-awareness of strengths and growth opportunities
– Collaboration and collective intelligence
🇨🇭 Here we are Switzerland has focal points in Geneva, Lausanne, Basel and Zurich.
Volunteer roles at Here we are Switzerland
News and Events
Meet the Core Team
Sandrine van den Oudenhoven
Sandrine has initiated the Swiss chapter. She is a career coach and managing director of job4U2. As a French citizen, Sandrine has spent most of her adult life in Switzerland and has also lived in Germany, the US, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Chapter Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Jessica Kreysar
Jessica is both an American and British citizen. She is based in Zurich and lived in Los Angeles, London and Paris prior to settling in to life in Switzerland. With more than 20 years in financial services, Jessica specializes in articulating strategic vision and leading teams to deliver that vision. Her authentic and collaborative leadership style has empowered global and regional teams in Operations, Technology and Risk to deliver challenging, business critical change initiatives. Jessica is passionate about equal pay, equal opportunity and equal net worth initiatives, and in her leisure time, she enjoys stand-up paddle-boarding, snowboarding and yoga.
Welcome and Staffing Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Sophie Cooper
Sophie is a French citizen from Marseille who lived in the UK for many years prior to moving to Basel three years ago. She spent most of her career working in the banking industry, and her last role was coordinating a network of female entrepreneurs for a Business Coach to support each other’s business ventures. Following her relocation to Switzerland, she is now training to be a Sophrologist.
Basel Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Jennifer Lee
Jennifer is a US citizen who lived in Kenya, Taiwan and Germany before making Switzerland her home. She has over 10 years of experience driving cultural change within global, corporate organizations by working closely with a range of leaders from people managers to executive level. One of her greatest passions: collaborating cross functionally and regionally to create learning and development platforms that are inclusive and accessible to all employees. In her free time Jennifer enjoys practicing yoga, circuit training and cooking.
Zurich Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Lia Simon
Lia lives in Zurich, is Brazilian/Spanish, was born in Sao Paulo and spent part of her childhood in Barcelona. She has 20+ years of experience in a global corporate organization in the areas of commercial excellence, change management, employee development and leading multi-cultural teams across Europe. As a leader, she focused on increasing employee engagement and creating an environment without any type of discrimination or bias where everyone can thrive. Lia is passionate about supporting people in their development and transitions.
Zurich Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Kanika Khatter
Kanika is originally from India and has rich experience in Program management and IT Digital transformation. Currently freelancing with firms in the Technology space working on their digital Strategy and helping them in crafting the right offerings in Digital marketing. Kanika loves painting, running and meeting people from different cultures.
Lausanne Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Lausanne-Switzerland@hereweareglobal.com
Nadine Clauder
Think out of the box and find the road less travelled. I am passionate about different cultures and love supporting expatriates, moving to Switzerland—finding a new home and setting up life. These first steps are vital and the foundation for having a great start in their new environment. Having extensive personal experience in living and working abroad in my career as a communications manager has given me unique insights and understanding of the corporate and individual demands of the relocation process.
Initiative Operations Lead at Here we are Switzerland
Initiatives-Switzerland@hereweareglobal.com
Agathi Kanta
Agathi has many years of experience in commercial roles in pharmaceutical industry. Her masters in Digital Communication and Social Media gave her the opportunity to follow her dreams in Switzerland. In 2019, she moved in Basel from Greece to gain more experiences in global digital health, planning and communication.
Communication Lead at Here we are Switzerland