Jakob and Emma Windler Foundation
Janine Händel, you took over the management of the Foundation on 1 January 2025. What impulses do you want to set, and how do you plan to further develop the Foundation?
The Foundation’s statutes make only a few content-related provisions, so that up to now, projects have been able to be supported very broadly in a reactive way. The new strategy will in future proactively engage in and focus on several areas. However, it is still too early to name these today. Because of its close geographical focus on the canton of Schaffhausen, the Foundation has the potential to have a great leveraging effect in the areas it supports, given its substantial resources.
Was there a key moment in your career that has particularly shaped you?
There was not one particular moment. I have been growing and developing with joy due to new tasks, topics and challenges. This also led me to take a new direction after 14 years as Managing Director of the Roger Federer Foundation, and I have not regretted the difficult decision I made for a single second.
What role does innovation play in your organisation, and where do you see potential?
Foundation capital is innovation and risk capital. I think that foundations should indeed offer a hand to help experts and innovative minds find and test new solutions that benefit society. Once these have been tested and proven to be useful, other actors, both public and commercial, will take over.
Janine Händel
Managing Director
Jakob und Emma Windler Foundation
Sotto Voce Foundation
Mia Odermatt, what are your long-term goals in your new role as Managing Director, which you took up in January 2025, and how do you plan to achieve them?
My goal is to establish the Fondation Sotto Voce as an effective promoter of high-quality architecture and to strengthen the exchange between professionals and the public. Urbanity shapes our daily lives and many of the projects we support reach a wide audience, sensitising them to the importance of the spaces we design and fostering a deeper understanding of our built environment.
What do you see as the biggest challenge in your new position?
The Foundation’s sphere of influence includes the promotion of transdisciplinary projects that actively connect the professional world with the general public. One of the biggest challenges is to communicate the concept of “high-quality architecture” in a comprehensible and accessible way. It is important to make it relevant and tangible to the general public.
What values are important to you in leadership?
In leadership, I consider transparency, cooperation and curiosity to be central values. I am firmly convinced that real change can only be achieved through meaningful collaboration and an open, respectful dialogue. In addition to the necessary professional skills, I particularly value the human side of leadership: kindness, approachability and genuine commitment — in short, passion for what we do.
Mia Odermatt
Managing Director
Sotto Voce Foundation
