The Foundation

We envi­sion pub­lic debate not only as the cor­ner­stone of democ­ra­cy, but also as a dri­ver of social cohe­sion and a force for pos­i­tive change.

For cit­i­zens to ful­ly par­tic­i­pate in demo­c­ra­t­ic process­es, they must be able to form opin­ions and make informed choic­es on issues that affect them or are in the com­mon inter­est, in an edu­cat­ed and crit­i­cal man­ner. This requires access to reli­able and qual­i­ty infor­ma­tion, which is inde­pen­dent of pri­vate inter­est and respect­ful of the diver­si­ty of point of views. It also requires a space where ideas can be safe­ly expressed and con­struc­tive­ly debat­ed in order to seek a com­mon ground on which to build our col­lec­tive des­tiny.

Striv­ing for a peace­ful and respon­si­ble soci­ety that upholds demo­c­ra­t­ic prin­ci­ples and fun­da­men­tal rights, encour­ages the par­tic­i­pa­tion of every cit­i­zen, and fos­ters social har­mo­ny, the Foun­da­tion is com­mit­ted to pro­tect and pro­mote pub­lic debate by sup­port­ing access to qual­i­ty inde­pen­dent infor­ma­tion and con­tribut­ing to the health and safe­ty of the dig­i­tal pub­lic space, in which it increas­ing­ly takes place.

The fol­low­ing core val­ues and guid­ing prin­ci­ples are the dri­ving force behind who we are, what we aim for, and how we work. They shape our iden­ti­ty and cul­ture, guide our choice of part­ners, and inform every­thing we do.

Independence

We val­ue ideas, deci­sion-mak­ing and actions based on facts and free from delib­er­ate bias or vest­ed inter­est. We regard objec­tiv­i­ty, integri­ty, and trust­wor­thi­ness as the pri­ma­ry guide to all our activ­i­ties.

Critical thinking

We believe that ris­ing to the chal­lenges of our com­plex times requires more than ever the abil­i­ty to think clear­ly and crit­i­cal­ly. We val­ue open­ness, thor­ough­ness, and humil­i­ty as nec­es­sary pre­req­ui­sites to crit­i­cal think­ing and con­struc­tive change.

Boldness

We cel­e­brate courage, com­mit­ment, and resilience in soci­ety and in the orga­ni­za­tions and peo­ple we work with. We acknowl­edge the risks often asso­ci­at­ed with such qual­i­ties and strive to pro­vide pro­tec­tion to high­ly exposed actors. We val­ue unique­ness, and agili­ty in estab­lish­ing new part­ner­ships.

Collaboration

We firm­ly believe in col­lec­tive intel­li­gence and joint efforts as the best way for­ward to bring about pos­i­tive and last­ing social change. We val­ue plu­ral­i­ty, diver­si­ty, and respect­ful coop­er­a­tion in all our endeav­ors and pri­or­i­tize col­lab­o­ra­tive ini­tia­tives in our grant­mak­ing strat­e­gy.

As per Swiss law, the Foun­da­tion is under the author­i­ty and sur­veil­lance of Swiss Fed­er­al Super­vi­so­ry Board for Foun­da­tions.

Governance

The Foun­da­tion is gov­erned by a Board of Trustees, which cur­rent­ly con­sists of six mem­bers. The Board reviews and approves the bud­get, strat­e­gy, and progress accord­ing to the Foundation’s mis­sion and strate­gic pri­or­i­ties. It makes all deci­sions regard­ing the allo­ca­tion of funds. The Board gen­er­al­ly meets four times a year.

Members of the Board

Nico­las Puech, Founder and Pres­i­dent
Corinne Chapon­nière Mey­er
Ari­ane Leschal­li­er de Lisle
Alfred Neck­er
Doris Pfis­ter
Robert Roth

Management

The day-to-day man­age­ment of the Foun­da­tion is in the hands of the Sec­re­tari­at, which is respon­si­ble for oper­a­tions, finances, and pro­gram­ming. It reviews and eval­u­ates grant appli­ca­tions to deter­mine whether they are con­sis­tent with the Foundation’s objec­tives and require­ments, pre­pares and pro­pos­es dona­tions to the Board, mon­i­tors and eval­u­ates award­ed grants, and admin­is­ters grant dis­burse­ments. The Sec­re­tari­at also pre­pares and pro­pos­es strat­e­gy, pol­i­cy, and pro­gram devel­op­ments to the Board.