Our Values
How we live our mission
Our Team
Who we are and our stories
Our Partners
Who we work with
Our Scholars
Our talented network of women
Our Values
What we do is inspired by three shared values and one guiding aspiration
We care
About making a difference; individually, as a foundation, and as a growing community of leaders.
For women who, against the odds, dare to make a difference.
For respecting, stretching & realizing exceptional women's imaginations.
We dare to
Think big and join forces in the pursuit of a fairer and freer society.
Find and attract women who can become pivotal leaders in their field, acting as role models for others to advance in business or in public life.
Encourage one woman at a time by nourishing their inspiration and providing them with confidence to realize their goals.
We share
Experience, time, joy, wisdom, network and curiosity.
The opportunity to use BackPack's resources to multiply impact, with and within the community of leaders.
The desire to go beyond.
Aspiration
We aim for fair
By providing our scholars with a fairer chance to succeed professionally and personally.
By contributing to creating a fairer playfield for distinctive women to succeed.
Our Team
Our Partners
We aim to partner with academic institutions in Switzerland that are committed to supporting women who are looking to access transformative experiences through higher education in the fields of leadership, biosciences, medicine and technology.
If you represent a Swiss-based academic institution and interested in hosting a BackPack scholar in one of these areas or an international organization in contact with women that fulfill our selection criteria and are looking for sources of financing to realize their visions, please contact us. We are interested in exploring how we can work together to promote highly talented women.
Master of Business Administration
At present, we have a partnership with IMD through the BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women
Our Scholars
We are seeking women who are looking to access transformative experiences through higher education, primarily in Switzerland, in the fields of leadership, biosciences, medicine and technology. Applicants must submit a letter of motivation and supporting documents to the Foundation Board.
Our second BackPack Scholar is an entrepreneur at heart who got her degree in Architecture in Sudan. Nadia has several years of experience in social tech in her home country.
Our first BackPack Scholar is a Cameroonian national with master's degree in mechanical engineering, and 9 years working experience in Central and West Africa region.
Address
C/O Alexandra Burch Birkenweg 5b 6064 Kerns
Contact Us @
Address
C/O Alexandra Burch
Birkenweg 5b
6064 Kerns
Contact Us @
The BackPack Foundation is a non-profit foundation based in Switzerland. Donations to the BackPack Foundation are tax-deductible within the framework of the legal provisions.
© Copyright 2023 by backpackfoundation.com
Website Developed by Nikita Jain @ Arnasoftech
A BackPack is a wonderful representation of our individual life journeys. It is a wonderful tool in everyday activities and when out in nature. The name of the foundation reflects my personal purpose statement: “for those who choose to: I want to support them along their journey in filling their BackPack with development and inspiration, and when they need it, take weight of their BackPack”. Fun fact: I have 3 times as many BackPacks as handbags, in all sizes and for all occasions.
My choice of studying business administration was because I didn’t know what profession I would thrive in, and business seemed broad, and it kept my options open. I developed and trained my leadership skills as a young troop leader in the scouts. Through my MBA discovered that I had a strategic mind, an entrepreneurial drive, and the ability to synthesize. The MBA gave me the self-confidence to pursue a career with ambitious companies, and later to build a global management consulting firm with a disruptive business model. As an extrovert, I enjoy teamwork, foster an inclusive environment, and joint problem solving. I continuously fill my BackPack, remain independent and curious, which has allowed me to be associated with some of the finest companies and work alongside outstanding individuals.
I was fortunate that my parents believed in education, and my father made enough money to pay for my studies abroad, and for me to start my career debt free. I take enormous pleasure in seeing young talent thrive and drive, and I have confidence that the BackPack Foundation can make a difference to somebody who cares to dare, who wants to share and always is fair.
I associate two different aspects with the word “backpack";. On the one hand, I associate it with the fact that one needs a backpack for traveling, meaning the travel of life. Hence, people and women worldwide should have access to training/additional education and can thus acquire and build a backpack for their own life.
On the other hand, I associate it with the fact that everyone already has their own backpack, i.e. everyone carries their previous experiences with them and can share them with others to their benefit.
Through my studies in law, I was able to build up sound knowledge for many different relevant areas of life and thus deepen my knowledge of social problems in connection with law. My interest in people and their legal problems, and my urge to help people, has deepened through my studies. That's why I'm now working in an area of law in which the focus is on people and I can help people through my work to help plan and shape their lives
On the one hand, I can live out my desire to help people and stand by them by supporting other women with my work in the foundation, so they all have the same opportunities and access to higher education, regardless of whether their financial or personal situation otherwise makes it difficult.
On the other hand, it is an enrichment for me to exchange ideas, thoughts and concepts with the members of the foundation and thereby learn something new by expanding my backpack with great experiences.
The name of the foundation is close to my heart. It was a backpack (both material and emotional) what I carried when I left my home country almost 30 years ago. A backpack that friends, family, colleagues and mentors helped me carry along as it became fuller and sometimes heavier. Today, one of my most important goals is to help my daughter, who came in my life when she was 15, to carry her own backpack as she embarks in new academic and professional challenges.
With no doubt, my education has provided me with content and a network, but it is more the journey that I started in pursue of an academic career that has shaped who I am and my professional career. It taught me the importance of grabbing opportunities that sometimes, implied personal sacrifices. It allowed me to cross paths with people who I learned from and who became relevant not only in my professional, but my personal life. And above all, it gave me the privilege develop my own way of leading and having impact, projecting in others all the learnings of this journey and continuing to grow as I do it.
I am thrilled of being part of the Board of BackPack and the possibility it offers me to support many more journeys. BackPack is an opportunity to learn, to give back and to have fun working with people who I share values and objectives with. Can’t wait to meet the candidates that BackPack will find on the path we have started to build.
Around the world, students fill backpacks with all they need to attend school. Their journeys to school may only be a few meters or many, many miles and backpacks carry the things students will need to succeed in learning – for example, books, pencils, snacks, computers. To me, a backpack symbolizes the ability to fully participate in educational opportunities.
I pursued a technical degree in biochemistry at a university which also encouraged an array of additional classes to create a broad base of learning. This led me to study medicine grounded in a deep understanding of science but also a curiosity in areas like social justice, policy, economics and business. Through the generosity of a donor, I was also able to pursue a second advanced degree in public policy with a focus on international development. The degree program I was in encouraged practical exploration and it was this time and my combined degree background that became the springboard of my professional career. Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege to work in medicine, global health, biotechnology, consulting, and philanthropy across geographies.
My education has truly shaped my path. I am energized and excited about the opportunity to help other women pursue their educational dreams, develop skills to excel in their fields, and support others along the way. It is an honor to be serving on the board of BackPack.