Philine Zimmerli After being a lawyer in the business sector, Philine Zimmerli has worked for the past 11 years in the field of child and youth development in one of the largest philanthropic Swiss foundations. The focus of her engagement was on equal opportunities and the best possible development of all children and their families, regardless of socio-economic, cultural, national, and educational background, the reconciliation of family and work and, consequently, the equal opportunities for women.
In addition to extensive program design and implementation as well as strategy development in Switzerland and abroad, Philine Zimmerli has extensive advocacy experience, having initiated, and supported the development of early childhood policy in Switzerland in collaboration with civil society, administration, politics, and business. She holds a master’s degree in advanced studies in Children's Rights, is a member of the Zurich “Frauenzentrale” and on the board of the “Education and Family Association”.
She would like to contribute with her work and commitment to ensure that socio-politically relevant issues are considered, discussed, and dealt with in a coherent, solution-oriented, and forward-looking manner.
Women are central to all these issues and that is why Philine joins SAO Association; to stand up for those women who find themselves in a precarious life situation due to displacement and therefore do not have fair chances for a dignified life, social participation, education, security, and respect.
Noemi Grütter Noemi Grütter became interested in the topics of migration, flight and gender equality at a very early stage and founded a project for the integration of women with a migration background in the canton of Nidwalden with her Matura thesis. After project work with Save the Children, she completed a bachelor’s degree in International Relations in Geneva. During her studies, she was the Swiss Youth Delegate at the UN, where she gained experience in the field of gender equality. As a volunteer in the LM Village refugee camp in Greece, she initiated projects for women and girls.
After graduation, she worked as a women's rights expert at Amnesty International Switzerland, where she initiated and coordinated a national campaign against sexual violence. For three years, she holds the position of Co-President of “Santé Sexuelle Suisse”, the umbrella organisation for sexual and reproductive rights in Switzerland. She is the founder of a youth network with 50 youth activists and 10 active ambassadors fighting for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Switzerland. Noemi Grütter is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at PSIA Sciences Po Paris. At SAO, Noemi now wants to contribute her expertise in women's rights, political work, migration policy, gender-based violence and human rights-based humanitarian projects and introduce the organisation to a young feminist generation.
We warmly welcome Philine and Noëmi and look forward to realising many exciting projects with them.