People

Behind the World Ethic Forum is a dedicated team, supported by volunteers and many partner organisations, large and small.

During the year, our core team designs and stewards the process and coordinates the strategic and logistical development work of the World Ethic Forum. At peak times, around our yearly gathering and the public events, our implementation team, including volunteers, grows to a much larger size.  

Team

  • Luea Ritter

    Together with Anaïs Luea is co-lead, process designer and participatory action researcher at the World Ethic Forum. As co-visionary, she holds a key responsibility for driving strategy and creating the conditions to implement the vision. She is also a Firekeeper.

  • Anaïs Sägesser

    Together with Luea, Anaïs is co-lead process designer and participatory action researcher at the World Ethic Forum. As field weaver, she holds a key responsibility for driving strategy and creating the conditions to implement the vision. She is also a Firekeeper.

  • Linard Bardill

    Linard is the founder of the World Ethic Forum. In 2026, he stepped into an elder role, where he continues to act as a Firekeeper, and assist with fundraising.

  • Greta Pace Buch

    Greta holds and joins the threads of our communications together, working towards a coherent weave that is as dynamic and alive as what’s inside.

  • Eleonore “Yasha” Kopera

    Yasha is a co-director of the World Ethic Forum, focused on fundraising, governance and organisational development. She works with the team, with the Firekeepers, and with a growing network of support, to strengthen the ethical and financial foundations that allow our vision to take form in practice.

  • Sylvia Wyrsch

    Sylvia relieves the management team from administrative issues so that they can concentrate on the core issues of WEFo.

  • Marie-Pascale Gafinen

    Marie-Pascale supports the World Ethic Forum through generative scribing. She listens with her ears, heart and body to capture what is happening at our Firekeeper Gatherings, above and below the surface, in the form of large-scale drawings.

  • Odelia Toder

    Odelia is our artist-in-residence. By adding her artistic interpretation to the tapestry of our shared exploration and experience, she supports the World Ethic Forum in making our inquiry more tangible and available, beyond words.

  • Julien Leyre

    Julien is in-house writer and editor at the World Ethic Forum. He works with the team and the Firekeepers to help articulate the knowledge, methods, intentions and practices of our shared inquiry, contextualise them, and crystallise them in relatable language.

  • Richard Muscat

    Richard manages all things web for the World Ethic Forum. By tending to servers, code, and design, he makes the World Ethic Forum visible and accessible across the digital realms.

Firekeepers

Members of the WorldEthicForum Association

Pius Tschumi, President

Linard Bardill, Founder

Ivo Hutzli, Firekeeper

Marie-Claire Graf, Firekeeper

Our Thanks

A special thank you goes to Selina Lucarelli (2019-2023), Niki Wiese (2021-2023) and Marco Gyger (2022 – June 2024) for their development work in the first core team. Many thanks also to Yvonne Guldimann for her contribution to the 2025 event, Christa Hermann for the 2024 event, Erich Züger for Volunteer coordination as well as Georgia Hauser, Simona Degiacomi and Nancy Zamierowski for their contribution to Forum 2022.

Former Members of the Firekeeper Circle

Alexandra Wandel
Daniel Graf
Erkin Zunun
Isa Dolkun
Lukas Niederberger
Nora Saratz-Cazin
Omar Sambou
Sabrina Furrer
Hafsat Abiola

Witnesses

We would like to thank the following people for bearing witness during the Firekeeper Gatherings.

Geseko von Lüpke (2022)
Caspar Dohmen (2022, 2023)
Andreas Zumach (2023, 2024)
Magdalena Ries (2024, 2025)
Alicia Charles Mwambalasawa (2025)
Aurora Leão Botelho (2025)
Ruth Förster (2024, 2025)
Ursina von Albertini (2022, 2023, 2024)
Annigna Ott (2023, 2024)
Ewelina Schraveen (2024, 2025)
Konstanze Abouleish (2023)
Bronwyn Lay (2024)

Volunteers

We would like to thank the following people for their appreciated assistance:

The World Ethic Forum 2025:
Vera Briner, Madlaina Fontana, Christa Hermann, Mi.

The World Ethic Forum 2024:
Oleksandra (Sasha) Loktik, Vera Briner, Fabienne Debrunner, Annette Junker, Hanna Eichenberger, Jonathan Eichenberger, Julian Hauer, Julie Parker, Friederike Uebel, Rayen Talina Hermann, Natascha Wolf, Madlaina Fontana, Randy Mellaerts.

The World Ethic Forum 2023:
Adbullah Shakil, Claudia Vaderna, Daniel Fahrni, David Young, Gina Gadischke, Julian Hauer, Vera Briner.

The Vandana Shiva Event in Zurich:
Talina, Sara, Romina, Ronny, Alia, Daniel Fahrni, Gaby, Lea, Uli, Vera Briner.

The «Warm Data Lab»:
Heiko Specking, Katherine Hermans, Edoardo Ghidelli, Eva-Maria Spreitzer, Marion Wolff.

The World Ethic Forum 2022:
Simona Degiacomi, Colin Thalmann, Hélène Eynard, Hanna Eichenberger und Jonathan Eichenberger, Rainer Figallo, Riaan Kämpfer, Ursina von Albertini, Marion und Ulrich, Vignesh Vancheeshwar, Madeleine Isler, Anna Shakhovets, Vera Briner, Leticia Cordero Mote, Salimata Seck, Christa Hermann, Lisette Oberleitner, Walter Gabriel, Hanna Schönenberger, Bridget Thomson, Manuela Pagani Larghi, Swasti Handa, Alessandra Degiacomi, Denise Kley, Matilda Sangiorgio, Sam Nüesch, Sarah Pfister, Benedikt Zwyssig, Verena Schranz, Lisa, Gaël Hänni, Majka Baur, Lisa Measures.

Thank you to Pontresina

We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the community, municipality and all beings of Pontresina for supporting the initial manifestation of the World Ethic Forum, hosting and financially supporting the initial three years of our gatherings and public events!

A special thanks goes to Nora Saratz-Cazin, the mayor of Pontresina (2021 – today).

The First Years

Also in the founding period between 2019-2021, a large number of friends and renowned minds supported us in sharpening the vision of the WorldEthicForum and bringing the project into the world. We would like to thank the following people from the bottom of our hearts:

Corin Curschellas, musician and singer
Ditti Bürgin-Brook, film producer, lecturer and speaker
Doris Ragettli, founder of the global petition for a UN Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth
Fridolin Stähli, Germanist and nature ethicist
Hansjörg Hosch, ENT specialist and politician (green, direct democrat)
Lukas Niederberger, philosopher, theologian and publicist
Paul Martin Scherer, entrepreneur
Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, Co-President of KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and parenting and couples counsellor
Susanne Sugimoto, Managing Director of Sugimoto Consulting
Thomas Hagmann, coach and organisational consultant
Violette Ruppanner, economist, organisational consultant and moderator
Walter Lietha, antiquarian bookseller and singer
Alessandro Della Vedova, former President of GR / CVP
Andreas Reinhart, entrepreneur and philanthropist
Anna Giacometti, National Councillor GR / FDP
Anna Stünzi, President of the think tank foraus
Jon Pult, National Councillor GR / SP
Marionna Schlatter, National Councillor ZH / Greens
Martin Meuli, Head of the ZH Children’s Hospital Surgery
Martin Ott, President of the FiBL Foundation and member of the Fint