The Caux Forum, organized by IofC Switzerland, will convene a four-day conference for business leaders from around the world - the Ethical Leadership in Business (ELB) - to discuss how business and society are impacted by disruptive innovations and how values-based leadership can maximize the benefits of new technologies for business and society.

ELB is looking for a Communication and Outreach Coordinator (Internship), starting as soon as possible. Duration: until 2 July 2018

For more information click here.

Women’s Day is not only relevant once a year. We need a 365-day commitment to women’s participation in the political, economic and social arenas. We must think gender parity and work for it  (#PressForProgress). It will not be achieved until we set our standards higher. Politicians, business leaders and ‘ordinary’ people in every corner of society need to integrate and live gender equality.

Capitalizing on our work at Initiatives of Change Switzerland to promote ethical leadership, this Women’s Day I want to emphasize respect for human dignity and women’s rights: not just as a slogan, but as an honest attitude and behaviour.

The film industry is just a window on the unacceptable treatment of women, which has gone unnoticed for so many years. Women have had to justify themselves as the victims of outrageous acts of abuse and harassment.  It began as a whisper, and as courageous women prevailed, has grown in scope and depth: from harassment to abuse and rape. Revelations have followed from politics, business, media, sport – even from humanitarian organizations, which should by the mere nature of their work be irreproachable.

I do not want to generalize. We are talking about leaders – and not only leaders – in all sectors and cultures using their position and power to abuse women. Where, when and how does it stop? What measures need to be taken?

Ethical leadership requires executives to lead by example. We must:

• enforce gender balance in boards and at executive level in all sectors. (Women hold only 23.6% of these positions in Switzerland.)
• define and enforce a policy of zero tolerance with clear sanctions.  
• train leaders to question their attitudes and actions, and to commit honestly to ethical and responsible leadership.

I cannot end without mentioning my admiration for the women who dared to stand up and share their painful stories. These silence-breakers have contributed to an incredibly powerful mobilization on behalf of victims of sexual abuse, #MeToo.

Let us not block out this light, as other news overwhelms us in the coming weeks and months.  Today, we celebrate Women’s Day. Let us commit to engage sincerely in this vital aspect of creating a better world for all of us: a world where women and girls are equally integrated as actors, where ethical leadership is standard for management in all sectors, and where all interactions between women and men are ethical and respectful.

Barbara Hintermann has been Secretary General of the Foundation since March 2015. She has 20 years of experience in the humanitarian and corporate sectors, occupying diverse executive leadership and managing positions in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Europe. She is a strong believer in people and their capacity to further develop their competences and skills, passionate about managing through people and making a difference. She is oriented towards tangible solutions.

IofC Switzerland is offering 5 internships for this year's edition of Ethical Leadership in Business. The event will take place during the Caux Forum 2018 in Caux, Switzerland. For more information please click on the links below.

• Interpretation Liaison - Internship
• Welcome Desk Coordinator - Internship
• Technical Liaison - Internship
• Travel Scholarship Coordinator - Internship
• Community Groups & Service Shift Coordinator - Internship

Application Deadline: 1 March, 2018

With growing activities in Switzerland, and as part of the IofC global movement, we seized the opportunity of the global IofC brand refresh, to change our name from “the CAUX-Initiatives of Change Foundation” to “Initiatives of Change Switzerland”.

That was the first sentence Maria Paula Garcia Romero heard when she first arrived in Caux, Switzerland, in 2016. She was about to take part in the Caux Interns Programme, now re-named the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme. Her life underwent a profound shift since then: she went back to her home country, Colombia, with a deeper understanding of herself and her surrounding environment and decided to play an active role as a changemaker.

Making change happen

Maria Paula was already familiar with the structural exclusion of the Wayuu people, Colombia’s largest indigenous community, in La Guajira region. She had visited the area before and had witnessed another Colombia, one that was diametrically opposed to the reality that she had been used to in Bogotá, the country’s capital. However, it was when she got back from Caux that she realized that she could in fact do something about the extreme poverty and marginalization to which these people had been subjected.

She began by setting up a library in the heart of La Guajira, in close collaboration with the indigenous communities. ’You can only make change happen by co-creating’, she explained. This was one of the lessons she had learnt from her experience in Caux, which she then put into practice. The idea of the library hadn’t come from her, but from her discussions with local authorities on their most pressing needs. Lack of access to education and illiteracy were two of the most difficult issues affecting indigenous people, the community explained to her, and together they decided to take action.

A year after the initial plans were outlined, everything was ready: the ’Biblioteca Suuralairua’ was finally a reality, offering access to books and other learning materials to more than 200 Wayuu children, all in a community-managed space. Local teachers are in charge of visiting the library regularly to monitor its smooth running and to evaluate its impact, explained Maria Paula.

Suuralairua = Roots

Suuralairua means ‘roots’ in Wayuunaiki, the native language of this indigenous community. The library’s logo depicts a bird holding an open book. ’An open book from us to them and vice versa’, is how Maria Paula described the representation of the collaborative effort that made such an endeavor possible.

She managed to get backing from her family and friends to make the library project come to fruition, and enterprisingly, she also got donations of educational materials from bookstores and publishing companies. She even convinced a shipping company to make a free delivery to the community, located about 900 kilometers from Bogotá. The shipment would have cost around US$2,000, an amount difficult to cover by a non-profit, volunteer-driven project.

’If you want your community to change, you first need to change yourself and truly believe that you can become a change agent’. Maria Paula described this as one of the lessons she had learnt during her experience in Caux.

The intercultural dimension of the interns programme was also one of its major assets, according to her. Being exposed to a variety of worldviews, cultures and beliefs, and even sharing a room with someone from a different corner of the world, as is the practice in Caux, made her grow as a person, Maria Paula explained. That also guided her in her approach to the Colombian indigenous communities, with regard to their perspective and cultural practices, factors which are often disregarded or disrespected in mainstream Colombia.

Video: Biblioteca Suuralairua - Comunidad Wayuú

Initiatives of Change (IofC) is pleased to announce the launch of their refreshed brand.

In 2017, IofC’s global community guided by the international communications team looked how to best take the organization’s heritage into the future by refreshing the brand with the help of design agency ACW. The refreshed brand was launched on January 17, 2018, during the 50th anniversary celebration of Initiatives of Change’s centre in India: Asia Plateau in Panchgani.

Building on IofC’s heritage

Initiatives of Change was founded in the 1920s in the United Kingdom. Since then, the movement has grown into a world-wide network and values-based organization of people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

IofC believes that every person has something unique to contribute in building a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. This is why we inspire, equip and connect people to address the world’s needs, starting with oneself. IofC emphasizes the vital link between personal change and global change.

Over the last 90 years, IofC has gained credibility and extensive experience by building trust across the world’s divides. To build on this heritage, the refresh of the IofC brand  aimed to maintain a visual connection to how the brand identity was seen before but with a fresh look and feel: designed for today's continuously changing audiences.

The story behind the logo

In the logo, the mission and vision of IofC is reflected: the vital link between personal and global change. The path shows the individual person’s journey through life. The sphere represents the world and how IofC helps its members to grow and build a more just, peaceful and sustainable world for future generations.

By Txema Perez, Co-founder of 2theatre International Company & London Physical Theatre School

When we were invited to perform at Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business at the Caux Forum 2017, we could not imagine what a cathartic experience it would be. To better explain how profound our time at the Caux Forum was, a  bit of background about our company is essential.

2theatre is an award-winning, London-based company that we formed in 2011 after graduating from  the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). We produce multi-faceted shows of physical theatre, clown and puppetry that push boundaries and erase borders. Addressing the common themes of humanity that underlie any cultural difference, we aim to create theatre that touches people all around the world. We also founded the London Physical Theatre School as the pedagogical branch of the company. We organize workshops in different countries to create an international platform that can connect different artistes through a common language.

From the beginning we have managed to survive as a professional business. We kept the theme of humanity in our shows, but discovered that it was easy to lose sight of our origins when all our energy was spent in putting together the next production. We soon realised that in the theatre business humanitarian values are sometimes of no interest either to producers or to audiences. Fortunately, our level of technique and precision, as well as our partnerships with companies such as Cirque du Soleil, helped us get through some lean years

With this background, we arrived at Caux on 16 July. We were immediately struck by the beauty and the history of the Caux Palace. Caux embodies the spirit of post-war reconciliation between Europeans. At the entrance, people from many different countries came through and all were welcomed with open arms and a smile.  I soon discovered that this genuine kindness was vital for starting a dialogue with a stranger.

Our room had stunning views of the lake and the mountains. This overwhelming beauty helped us to connect with our spirituality. The next morning, after enjoying the breakfast buffet, we were ready to start work. We were part of the Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business plenary sessions, and held a workshop for participants regarding our approach. We created short pieces around the theme of each plenary and explored the borderlines between politics, humanitarian issues and art.

Our choice for the workshop was the “Platform” – in the platform approach a group of actors tell an epic story in a contained space. This method is a good way of understanding how to build a dramatic piece combined with storytelling techniques. Work is carried out in an environment without a hierarchy,  so cohesion between  group members is a priority in order to move forward in the creative process.

The participants who attended our workshop, and the other conference activities, were unfailingly light-hearted and generous. This might be a cliché, but it is abnormal to find so many kind and wonderful souls together under the same roof!

We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to re-connect with our purpose, and with the  reasons we became artistes. Caux is an experience that one should  not miss if you are a peace activist, a spiritual person, or simply a caring human being.

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Txema Perez and Lana Biba of 2theatre / London Physical Theatre School will offer a full training course in “Mindfulness through playfulness” during Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business 2018 as an approach to building social cohesion in Europe. The course will include platform theatre, mime techniques, character building, and voice exploration.

The Caux Forum 2018 event "Ethical Leadership in Business" is looking for a Communication and Outreach Coordinator (internship) and Research and Outreach Online Volunteers. For more information please click below.

• Communication and Outreach Coordinator Internship
• Research and outreach online volunteer

King Michael of Romania died aged 96 on 5 December. After the best part of a lifetime in exile, for the most part in Switzerland, he was accorded a state funeral, with royalty from across Europe attending, including the King of Sweden, Spain’s former King, Juan Carlos, and Prince Charles.

King Michael is best remembered for the coup he headed in August 1944, switching Romania from the Nazi to the Allied side in World War II. His overthrow of the Fascist dictator Atonescu shortened the war by three to six months, according to some contemporary historians. At the end of the war, he was decorated by the Soviet Union and the United States, before being forced to abdicate by the Communists. His mother, Queen Helen, is remembered in Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, as one of the ‘righteous among the nations’ for the Jewish lives she saved during the war.

Romania has often been an outlier in the family of nations. Today, it is a republic, but one which recognized King Michael as a former head of state and gave him a pension. Royal property was returned to the family. On his 90th birthday in 2011, he delivered a speech before the assembled chambers of the Romanian Parliament. An opinion poll in January 2012 placed him as the most trusted public figure in Romania, far ahead of the political leaders. That October a square in Bucharest was renamed after him, in celebration of his 91st birthday. In 2016, his wife, Queen Anne of Bourbon-Parma, died at the age of 92. They had fallen in love in London in 1946, at the wedding of his cousins, the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip of Greece. They had five daughters.

The Romanian royal family’s links with Moral Re-Armament dated from well before the war, when Frank Buchman met King Michael’s grandmother, Queen Marie, in Bucharest. King Michael himself said, ‘One thing I remember so well of Frank’s caring was my own experience after meeting him again in 1955. With my sadness and unhappiness at having lost my country, my bitterness had grown because of a feeling of not belonging. After our meeting, I felt this great load was taken off my mind and soul. I realized that no problem was too great or too small for him. The greatest or the smallest problem in someone else’s life received the same loving care from him.’ After that he and Queen Anne and their daughters paid frequent visits to Caux from their home near Geneva and took part in various MRA activities both during and after Buchman’s life.

Queen Anne felt more at home lending a hand in the Caux kitchen than in meetings, and there are a number of amusing stories about the shock of people she encountered there when they discovered who they were cooking with.  

Photo: King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania welcoming the Dalai Lama to Caux, 1996 © CAUX-IofC