Newsletter November

Dear Donors and Friends,

Since arriving in Northern California three months ago, I have had an incredible and enriching time at the Swiss-California Foundation. I want to share with you  some of the highlights in this Newsletter.

One of the most inspiring parts has been meeting all of you and getting to know your stories. I am excited to spend time with you in the coming months!

Most importantly, I want to thank you for your generous support, which allows me to make the most of this experience, and grow both profesionally and personally. I look forward to another 7 exciting months with you.

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Meeting the Community

Meeting the SCF Community has been one of the most rewarding parts of the past 3 months. It is extremely interesting to listen to your stories and learn what motivated you to come to California. I am thankful for all the cultural and personal insights you give me to make this time in California unique.

I hope to meet many more of you in the months to come!

SCF Projects

Building on Dominique’s momentum, I took on her project and completed the relaunch of the website. I am excited to give the Foundation a fresh and modern online presence. If you haven’t already, take a look at the brand new website at www.swisscalifornia.org

I am just as excited to announce a new collaboration with the Chair of Business Innovation of the University of St. Gallen. We will be organizing an executive certificate program on the topic of Business model Innovation. The program will take place in St. Gallen and the Silicon Valley. Executives from diverse industries will be guided through four modules with the aim to drive an innovation project in their own company.

EDB Projects

Starting next year, I will be responsible for the new edition of the Sonoma County Visitor Center Report. It is an interesting and challening task. I will be collecting data from all Visitor Centers in Sonoma County and analyzing the data in the report. I look forward to getting to know more about  Sonoma County’s regions and the hospitality sector.

Events

I highly enjoy attending events in the Bay Area. This includes going to the Stammtisch organized by the Swiss-American Chamber, a Startup Summit at Swissnex, and a Panel Discussion hosted by DocuSign. These events give me the opportunity to learn about the latest business, tech, and startup trends and to connect with interesting people from a diverse field of industries. With the EDB, I was able to attend the Sabores de Wine Country event and got to know more about the Latino business community.

From attending these events, I can learn what it takes to throw a successful get-together. Make sure to stay in the loop as Christmas approaches, since we will be organizing another evening of Jass with the SCF Community

On a Personal Note

Not everything has gone as planned in the first three months of my Fellowship. Like many in the North Bay, my flatmates and I were affected by the enormous wildfires. I want to thank Mike and Birgit Wood for their great support during these difficult times. When things were quieter around Santa Rosa, weekends would include hiking in Sugarloaf park, swimming in the Russian river, or discovering San Francisco on bike. During the long weekend of Veterans day we were even able to make our way down to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. I can’t wait for what is to come!

HSG Alumni

In my role as president of the San Francisco Alumni Chapter of the University of St. Gallen, I have had the pleasure to organize a get-together and meet the Alumni in the Bay Area. In addition, I am very excited for the HSG Alumni USA Conference in New York next spring.