As Ignacio Packer retired as Executive Director of the Caux Foundation on 14 October 2026, we look back on a remarkable 45-year career spanning continents, sectors and cultures. Throughout this journey, one thread has remained constant: a deep belief in the human factor, the power of relationships, the value of listening and the importance of bringing people together to make a difference. His story is one of unexpected paths, enduring values and a commitment that goes far beyond any professional title.

Forty-five years have passed since Ignacio Packer took his first steps into professional life - a time in which he crossed continents, moved between sectors, met people who became friends, colleagues and sometimes unexpected guides, and discovered that the path you thought you were following was, in fact, being drawn one step at a time.

For Ignacio Packer, there was never really a master plan.

“I started working in 1981,” he says. “If you look at it now, you might think there was a plan. I assure you there wasn’t.”

There was, instead, curiosity, a willingness to step beyond the familiar and a conviction that work should mean something. He followed people and opportunities rather than titles and, perhaps above all, held on to one powerful belief: “I believe in the impossible!”

His professional journey has taken him from the deck of a merchant ship to Buenos Aires, from financial auditing to humanitarian operations, public health, children's rights and international advocacy, and ultimately to Caux. It has been a journey across very different worlds, yet one in which certain values have remained remarkably constant.

If you look at it now, you might think there was a plan. I assure you there wasn’t.

Leaving the port

Some of the most important lessons came early. In 1981, at nineteen, Ignacio spent three months at sea with Compagnie Maritime Belge. It was his first real experience away from his family and outside Europe. Looking back, he says: "Life on a ship teaches you quickly that you cannot do everything alone: you have to rely on others, accept uncertainty and find your way through unfamiliar waters."

Teamwork has remained a defining feature of Ignacio's professional life and personal philosophy ever since.

The years that followed brought other lessons. At FARRA-Clerlande in Belgium, where he worked with adults living with disabilities, he learned to look differently: to see the person before the difference and to question his own assumptions.

In Buenos Aires, where he discovered finance and Latin America, forged friendships that would last a lifetime and began to understand that money could be a means, but not the ultimate purpose of a professional life.

At KPMG in Brussels and Luxembourg, he learned rigour: check before asserting, pay attention to detail and have the humility to acknowledge a mistake.

It was also at KPMG that he met Maria Martin-Prat, then a young trainee at the European Commission. Neither could have known where their respective paths would lead. Today, Maria serves as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the European Union to the World Trade Organization and is based in Geneva. Their encounter illustrates a recurring theme in Ignacio's story: careers may look logical in retrospect, but they are often shaped by unexpected encounters.

And then came the decisive turn.

Teamwork has remained a defining feature of Ignacio's professional life and personal philosophy ever since.

People at the centre: Focussing on the human factor

In 1988, Ignacio left financial auditing to join Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The red pencil gave way to health systems, humanitarian crises and the realities of working in countries affected by war and poverty. Across Africa and Asia, he learned to respond to suffering while looking beyond its immediate consequences to the systems and circumstances behind it.

It was also during these years, in 1992, that he met his wife, Denise. “Paf!” is how he describes the moment. Since then, they have shared their lives, supporting and inspiring each other along the way.

His work in health and development later took him from Guatemala to the Solomon Islands, back to Switzerland and to the Swiss Tropical Institute. There, he learned to stay close to reality: behind every statistic, system or research finding is a person, a family and a story. “It's important that the system never lets you lose sight of the human factor.”

Meanwhile, family life was growing alongside his career. Alicia was born in 1993, Gaël in 1996 and Line in 1998.

At Terre des Hommes Lausanne, where he spent twelve years, the lesson became one of refusing to accept the unacceptable. Protecting children's rights and dignity requires more than compassion; it demands action, persistence and, sometimes, a willingness to fight.

As Secretary General of the International Federation Terre des Hommes, he learned to turn diversity into a strength. “A shared mission does not require everyone to think or act alike,” he says. “The challenge is to create enough trust and common purpose for differences to become an asset.”

At ICVA, where he worked from 2018 to 2023, the lesson was about making space for others' voices. It was important to him to use his position in Geneva not simply to speak, but to bring forward the perspectives of humanitarian organisations and people who were not in the room.

Across these very different roles, his personal philosophy of leadership was taking shape.

Then came the Caux Foundation.

A shared mission does not require everyone to think or act alike. The challenge is to create enough trust and common purpose for differences to become an asset.

Leadership up the mountain

Since 2023, as Executive Director of the Caux Foundation, Ignacio has brought together many of the lessons learned along the way. Working between Geneva and the Caux Palace, high on the mountain above Montreux, he has focused on listening, connecting, challenging, creating space and, above all, trusting the collective.

When he arrived at the Caux Foundation, Ignacio often spoke of learning from the past while preparing for the future. The Foundation’s 80-year history was a precious asset, he believed, but history on its own is not a mission. The task was to make Caux relevant to the challenges of today.

That meant strengthening the Foundation’s work on democracy, peacebuilding, ethical leadership and inner development, bringing new energy to the programme through arts and culture, giving young people a stronger voice and opening Caux more widely to its local communities.

It also meant bringing people back up the mountain. After the pandemic years, when relatively few guests made the journey to Caux, the Foundation welcomed more than 8,000 people in 2025, and expects a similar number again in 2026.

“I have tried to contribute with a fairly simple leadership style,” he says. “Trust, give space, empower, listen, be available and accept that others may do things differently from me.” The last part comes with a smile. “But not too differently.”

Behind the humour lies a serious conviction. Leadership, Ignacio has learned, is not simply about doing things yourself or getting others to do them. It is also about how you are present: attentive and authentic, while allowing others the space to be themselves. That does not mean leading without standards. Decisions still have to be made, risks taken and responsibility assumed.

Trust, give space, empower, listen, be available and accept that others may do things differently

One of Ignacio’s most recognisable trademarks is something that continues to surprise people: his colourful, sometimes even fluorescent, running shoes. Partly, they reflect his passion for trail running, which led him to win the 172-kilometre Ultra NORWAY Race in 2015.

But there is a more personal story behind them, too. Almost twenty years ago, just before taking to the podium at the United Nations in New York, Ignacio wondered whether his shoes were really appropriate for the occasion. Eva Sandis, an older colleague and friend who has been a valuable mentor to him over the years, put his doubts to rest with a simple question: “So what? You’re going on stage and you’re just being yourself!” Her words stayed with him, and his colourful shoes became a symbol of something he continues to embrace: the freedom to be himself.

But running has always been more than a sport for Ignacio.

“Most of my running experiences have brought me into contact with people in sometimes very remote places, helping me better understand their lives and the contexts in which they live. Running has also connected me with nature and with myself. It gives me a freer mind, greater clarity and the distance to put problems into perspective.”

Over the years, his colourful shoes have also become a surprisingly effective leadership tool. In formal settings, a flash of colour beneath a suit can lighten the atmosphere, make people smile and offer an easy way to start a conversation. It reflects something central to Ignacio's approach: take the work seriously, but never forget the human being in the room.

And then there is what he calls la niaque - grit, determination and the refusal to give up. A door is closed? Try another. The second is closed? Try the window.

Ignacio sums up this conviction with two small pins he wears on his jacket: “Mindset is everything” and “Be kind, it’s free.” Determination is what keeps work moving forward, but in his view it should always go hand in hand with kindness and humility.

“You can be deeply convinced and still be wrong. You can be right about the substance and wrong about the timing. And saying ‘I was wrong’, ‘I'm sorry’ or ‘Let's try another way’ does not diminish authority. It makes authority human.”

Saying ‘I was wrong’ does not diminish authority. It makes authority human.

His time at Caux has also reinforced his belief that leadership and governance need one another: accountability and challenge, but also trust, dialogue and room to act. Disagreement, he believes, is not necessarily a sign that an organisation is broken. Sometimes, it is evidence that it is alive.

One of his particular sources of satisfaction has been seeing the Caux Foundation regain a more visible place within the ecosystem of International Geneva.

“Geneva is an extraordinary centre for multilateralism. But multilateralism ultimately depends on something deeply human: the ability of people who do not agree to continue talking, listening and finding ways to act together. Caux can offer something precious in that process. Just an hour from Geneva, it allows people to step away from negotiation rooms, see the person behind the position and build the trust that makes difficult conversations possible. That is profoundly Caux.”

That growing recognition is an opportunity for Geneva as much as for Caux. During Ignacio’s tenure, the Foundation has strengthened its institutional and business partnerships and deepened its links with Geneva-based organisations.

It has also made the long-term care of the Caux Palace a priority. Under Ignacio’s leadership, the Foundation secured support that has made it possible to launch ambitious restoration work, so that the building can continue to welcome people for generations to come. This support is not simply about preserving a historic building. It reflects confidence in what happens inside its walls: the Foundation’s work, and its potential to connect International Geneva with Caux as a place for dialogue and change.

The commitment continues

Ignacio does not see his departure as an ending. “I am leaving a position, not a commitment,” he says.

His hope is that the Caux Foundation will continue to grow, strengthen its place in Geneva and Switzerland, and carry forward its work of bringing people together across differences.

He leaves with confidence in the Foundation's team, its Board, its volunteers and partners, and the wider community that makes its work at the Caux Palace and in Geneva possible.

Follow the compass

Throughout his career, Ignacio has enjoyed giving his teams small gifts that make people smile while carrying a deeper meaning. A tiny sneaker symbolises energy, action and the shared mission and journey forward as a team. A little giraffe on a key ring represents new perspectives, vision and patience. A red clown's nose stands for fun and inspiration. A key reminds people that personal and inner development can open doors and help them move forward. A small pocket watch represents the passage of time, heritage and continuity, while a bell reminds everyone that they have a voice.

And now, after forty-five years, there is the compass.

A compass does not give you the road or remove the obstacles. It simply helps you check where north lies and ask the questions that matter: Why am I here? What is right? Am I still listening? Am I still trusting? Do I still have the grit and energy to move forward?

Ignacio admits that he has not always found the right answers. But he has always tried to keep asking the right questions.

I have not always found the right answers. But I have always tried to keep asking the right questions.

On 14 October 2026, he left his role as Executive Director of the Caux Foundation. What comes next is deliberately less defined: more time, more choice, the same commitment - and, he hopes, more moments with friends, with Alicia, Gaël and Line, and with Denise.

And somewhere, as always, there will be a compass in his pocket.

But before the next chapter begins, there was one final act: passing the baton. Ignacio's successor, Olivier Anselmo, took over as Executive Director of the Caux Foundation.

“The race continues - not along exactly the same route, but with trust in the team and in the work ahead. And because this is Caux, perhaps the baton can be more than a baton. Perhaps it can also be a little bit of magic.”

After forty-five years of following a path he never planned, Ignacio is ready to see where the compass points next.

THANK YOU, IGNACIO!

What happens when artificial intelligence begins to shape decisions that affect our work, opportunities and democratic life? In his latest reflections, Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of the Caux Foundation, explores what it means to navigate an age of AI - and what is at stake for trust, democracy and our shared responsibility.

Drawing on a recent interactive workshop at Geneva Democracy Week, he reflects on youth employment, the importance of bringing different generations and perspectives into the conversation, and the role Caux can play on the "Road to Geneva". His central question is simple but far-reaching: as AI expands what we can do, how do we ensure that the choices we make remain genuinely human?

An unusual format - and the discomfort of decision-making

Yesterday at the Geneva Democracy Week, we asked a room full of people of different generations and backgrounds a simple question: What should we never delegate entirely to artificial intelligence?

Should a company recruit ten young graduates instead of twenty because AI can now perform half the tasks traditionally given to juniors? Should an AI system recommend not only how a company restructures, but who should lose their job? And at what point does a perfectly rational business decision become a question of wider public interest?

These were some of the dilemmas explored at the interactive workshop, “Decision-making in the Age of AI: Youth Employment and Democratic Trust,” held at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIG) as part of Geneva Democracy Week and organised in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Foundation, Centre for Digital Trust (EPFL), In.ception Marketing and HyperSecureIT.

Our objective was not to organise another conference about AI. Instead, we put people in the somewhat uncomfortable position of having to make a decision. But most importantly, the conversation was not only about young people. We were delighted to have more than 20 students from Geneva’s Collège Calvin taking an active part at the event, bringing into the room the voices of a generation that will live directly with the choices we are making today.

The format was deliberately unusual. Participants became citizens and shareholders. Some took on the roles of CEO, HR director, young employee, workers’ representative, civil society - and even artificial intelligence itself. The rest became the shareholders-citizens who ultimately had to decide.

What interested me most, though, was not whether people voted yes or no. It was what happened between the votes: People listened. They disagreed. They changed perspective. Sometimes, they changed their minds.

That may sound rather ordinary, but in today's polarized society, I increasingly think it is anything but ordinary.

People listened. They disagreed. They changed perspective. Sometimes, they changed their minds - in today's polarized society, this is anything but ordinary.

From Geneva Democracy Week to the Road to Geneva

There is a larger reason why conversation like these matters now. On 21–22 June 2027, Switzerland will host the Geneva AI Summit. Led by the Swiss Confederation, the Summit forms part of the international sequence of AI summits that began in 2023. Its overarching theme, “Bridging Innovation and Trust”, could hardly be more relevant to the questions we have been exploring at Caux.

But what particularly interests me is what happens before next June.

The "Road to Geneva" is more than a centrally organised programme. It is a global series of decentralised events and multi-stakeholder consultations leading up to the main summit, providing space for organisations and networks to contribute through recognised pre-events, a Call for Issues (launched in autumn 2026) and, later, independent side events. In other words, there is a road to the Summit - and many people can help build it.

The International Geneva ecosystem is already mobilising around questions of innovation, digital trust, governance and security. For me, this raises another question: What might the Caux Foundation and its activities contribute to this journey? Perhaps more than we initially imagined.

The summit theme, “Bridging Innovation and Trust” could hardly be more relevant to the questions we have been exploring at Caux.

Trust Is Not Primarily a Technological Question

The Caux Palace, our centre for dialogue and peacebuilding near Montreux, is not an AI research centre. Nor should we try to become one. Our contribution lies elsewhere. For 80 years, Caux has been concerned with questions of trust, peace, responsible leadership and the capacity of people with profoundly different perspectives to meet and engage with one another.

AI makes those questions more urgent, not less. During a recent conversation for CARAC TV, I tried to express this through three simple ideas:

• The more intelligent our tools become, the more we need to invest in our human intelligence.
• Trust does not mean promising people that nothing will change. It means not abandoning them while everything changes.
• AI increases our capacity to act. It does not reduce our responsibility.

The discussion at yesterday's event brought these ideas home very concretely.

If AI removes many of the entry-level tasks through which young professionals traditionally learn their craft, how will they acquire the experience needed to become tomorrow’s experts?

A young lawyer beginning by researching case law and preparing initial analyses. A young finance professional building tables and analysing data. A young communicator writing first drafts. Juniors learning by observing, trying, making mistakes and being corrected by more experienced colleagues.These are precisely some of the tasks AI is increasingly capable of performing.

The question of AI is therefore not simply an HR question. It becomes a question about inclusion, opportunity and, ultimately, trust in our economic and democratic institutions. A generation that feels technological and economic decisions are constantly being made about them, but without them, may eventually lose confidence not only in employers but in the institutions around them.

That is where AI becomes a democracy question. It is why having students from a local collège inside the conversation that happened in Geneva yesterday - voting, challenging assumptions and questioning the choices being made - mattered.

And it is also why the Caux Foundation has been consistently promoting and hosting events on democracy, like Reimagining Democracy(ies), in collaboration with the Caux Foundation's youth programme Creative Leadership, and the Caux Democracy Forum.

The question of AI is therefore not simply an HR question. It becomes a question about inclusion, opportunity and, ultimately, trust in our economic and democratic institutions. It also becomes a democracy question.

We are not travelling this road alone

One thing has become increasingly clear to me over the past year: Caux does not need to become an AI expert to be involved in the AI discussion. It needs to work with those who are experts, while bringing to the table what Caux knows about trust, dialogue, democracy and human relationships.

That is already happening. Yesterday's workshop was itself the result of collaboration across different worlds. 

Olivier Crochat from the Center for Digital Trust (EPFL) brought perspectives on digital trust, research and future skills. Declan O’Brien from the Kofi Annan Foundation brought the questions of democracy and governance. Peter Osazuwa from HyperSecureIT explored the opportunities and challenges of AI. Inès Bekkis from In.ception Marketing brought the expectations of a younger generation. My colleague Sarah Noble focused on how our decisions can remain profoundly human.

The collaboration also extended beyond the panel. Bénédicte Casaï from Fondation pour Genève, through the comic book Code Critique, brought another essential dimension: critical thinking and our capacity to question what technology tells us.

This network matters, as do the other relationships Caux is developing in this field, including its partnership with PoliSync on the AI for Social Good learning programmes.

And the journey continues. From 28–30 October, at the Caux Palace, our residential immersion “Leading with Humanity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” will again connect different forms of expertise. Co-organised with Chemin 28, we are working with the Center for Digital Trust (EPFL), PROMOVE, the CCIG and the Inner Development Goals Foundation, alongside business leaders and international perspectives.

Caux does not need to become an AI expert to be involved in the AI discussion. It needs to work with those who are experts, while bringing to the table what Caux knows about trust, dialogue, democracy and human relationships.

From asking what AI can do to asking what we want to do

Trustworthy AI will not be built by technologists alone, just as it will not be built by civil society, governments or businesses acting separately. It requires spaces where these different forms of expertise - and different generations - can meet. Perhaps that is precisely where the Caux Foundation can contribute to the "Road to Geneva".

Working in partnership with others reinforces something I have increasingly come to believe: Our contribution is not to duplicate the technological, regulatory or business expertise that already exists in the Geneva–Leman ecosystem. It is to connect that expertise to the human questions that technology alone cannot answer.

The question is therefore not simply: What can AI do? It is: Now that we can do it, what do we want to do? Who should be part of that decision? And what responsibility are we prepared to assume for its consequences? That distinction may become increasingly important on the "Road to Geneva".

Trust will not be created by regulation, algorithms or technical standards alone. Trust is also created - or destroyed - through relationships. Through whether people feel heard. Through whether they understand why decisions are made. Through whether those affected by transformation have some agency in shaping it. And sometimes through something increasingly counter-cultural: slowing down long enough to think before deciding.

At Caux, we have long attached importance to these moments of reflection and even deliberate silence. In a world of AI and instant answers, that may seem strangely old-fashioned. 

I think the opposite is true. In a world that accelerates, knowing when to slow down before an important decision may become a strategic capability. For 80 years, the Caux Foundation has experienced the value of creating space for reflection and silence - helping individuals and organisations find clarity and guidance for the decisions they make and the actions they take.

In a world that accelerates, knowing when to slow down before an important decision may become a strategic capability.

A road worth joining

As I prepare to leave my role as Executive Director at the Caux Foundation, I have included the "Road to Geneva" in my handover, as I see it as a valuable opportunity for Caux to continue connecting its existing work with this wider journey. There are already strong links with themes such as youth employment, responsible leadership, inner development, trust, dialogue, democracy and citizen participation. Building on these connections could offer meaningful ways for Caux to contribute to the conversation in the years ahead.

And who knows - perhaps there is room somewhere along the way for a gathering at Caux itself. Not another conventional AI conference, but a residential space where people who do not normally have enough time or opportunity to be together can step away from their institutional roles, listen, disagree and think. That, after all, is something Caux knows how to do.

On 7 October, we ended our workshop with a question: In five years, which decision taken today will we still want to be able to say was ours - and that we accept responsibility for?

That question seems to me worth carrying all the way to Geneva. Because an augmented democracy is surely not one in which artificial intelligence makes better decisions for us. It is one in which we become better at making decisions -  together.

In five years, which decision taken today will we still want to be able to say was ours - and that we accept responsibility for?

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Ignacio Packer is Executive Director of the Caux Foundation, a Swiss charitable foundation committed to promoting trust, ethical leadership, sustainable living and human security. With over 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work, he worked at the European Bank for Latin America and then at KPMG, before becoming a recognised leader of NGOs and international alliances for over 25 years. An expert in human rights and social issues, he has been particularly involved in defending protection frameworks for migrants and refugees, especially children and young people.