February 12, 2021

Lea Suter – born August 27, 1984, Swiss, founder of PeacePrints, became a TFF Associate in February 2021.

Latest work experiences

Co-founding president of the Forum of a Culture of Peace / Forum für Friedenskultur in Switzerland (founded Nov. 2020).

UN Association Switzerland (GSUN) – Secretary-General 09.‘18 – now
Establish and manage a professional secretariat for GSUN, a Swiss non-profit association whose mission is to provide a platform to foster the dialogue between Swiss civil society and International Geneva, to promote the UN values and multilateralism and to discuss the role of Switzerland in global governance. UNA Switzerland is part of the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA).

• elaborating annual strategic plans and thematic projects
• developing funding proposals and financial strategies
• developing and implementing communication strategies
• developing and maintaining partnerships and networks
• working with various event formats increasing engagement and inclusivity
• establishing administrative procedures and optimizing processes, including data and knowledge management.

PeacePrints – Peace Reporter 01.‘17 – now
“Stories of peace from places of war”
Produce and publish in-depth stories about local peacebuilders in post-conflict regions and their solutions in bridging community divides. PeacePrints

• travelling in (post-) conflict areas: Lebanon, Mali, Kosovo, Korea, Myanmar, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories, Cyprus, Ukraine, Iraq, Rwanda
• highlighting creative local civilian reconciliation initiatives and how the arts can contribute to peacebuilding
• writing, photography, video making
• building and maintaining a webpage and managing communication
• public speaking: TedX Zürich 2018
• visual communication at the Face to Face meeting of the Conflict and Human Rights Network of the Swiss Agency For Development and Cooperation 2019
• designing and moderating a 5 hours harvesting workshop to share and develop a tool kit for the Swiss Foreign Ministry.

United Nations Office, Geneva – Project Manager Open Day 05.‘17 – 10.‘17
Overall coordination of the Open Day of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The goal of this highly prestigious one-day event is to promote the values of the UN to a wide audience (15‘000 visitors).

• coordinating with all UN divisions, agencies, (40) member States,
International Organizations & NGOs (together 35)
• programming and organizing around 80 activities in 12 conference rooms,
4 buildings and 46 hectares-park
• managing complex security measures on highly secured territory
• organizing protocol and daily schedule for the UN Director-General
• creating and implementing a concept of a large-scale interactive exhibition on the Sustainable Development Goals.

foraus – Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy – Vice Director 03.‘14 – 12.‘16
Establishing the Geneva office of foraus, a grassroots think tank
which generates – with the help of a large network of young professionals –
recommendations for Swiss foreign policy decision-makers.

• developing strategies for organizational development and large-scale projects
• developing communications strategy and new partnerships
• leading a team & developing community-building measures (>1000 volunteers)
• organizing and facilitating creative high-level meetings
• managing various projects incl. monitoring, evaluation and reporting to the Foreign Ministry of Switzerland
• developing new projects like the Think Tank Hub, a research programme
„Global Governance“, a winter school, an exchange programme with the
US, and a database of think tanks all over the world.

United Nations Office, Geneva – Cultural Coordinator 03.‘11 – 03.‘14
The UN Outreach and Cultural Diplomacy Unit invites UN Member States to
organize jointly cultural activities in the Palais des Nations (UN Geneva) to
strengthen multilateral relations.

• organizing 80-100 cultural events per year including concerts,
exhibitions, performances, receptions
• providing client service to approx. 70 countries and 30 international organisations per year
• creating graphic designs (invitations, posters)
• drafting speeches and dealing with VIPs including Heads of Governments
• developing outreach strategies, reports and statistics
• managing a small multidisciplinary team and train interns.

University

2009 – 2011
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany & University of Moscow
(RGGU)
• Master of Intercultural Transfer Studies: Russia-Germany
2004 – 2007
University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
• Bachelor of Arts, German and Russian Studies.

Trainings

Multitrack Peace Mediation
inmedio: 2021, ongoing.

Peacebuilding
swisspeace
• Peace Mediation and National Dialogue (Jan, 2020)
United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington (5 Moocs)
• Designing Peacebuilding Strategies, Mediation, Evaluation (2018)

Dialogue
Collaboratio Helvetica
• Dialogue Facilitation (2020 tbc)
Initiatives of Change, Caux
• Inter-religious Dialogue (2018)
• Non-violent Communication (2018)
• Group Facilitation Methods (2016)

Nexus Creativity & Politics
Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Geneva & USIP, Washington
• Media And The Arts For Peace (Mooc, Jan 2018)
• Creative Diplomacy (Sep 2016) Institute For Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin
• Cultural Diplomacy by the Arts, Music and Cinema (Feb 2016)

Journalism

MAZ – Swiss Academy for Journalism, Lucerne
• Journalism – How to make a multi-media portrait (Sep 16)
• Visual Communication – Storytelling through video (Jul 15)

Other activites

• Meditation, yoga, ski touring, swimming in mountain lakes, reading, baking (also for team events…)
• Member of Swiss Peace Council, Women‘s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Frauen für den Frieden, Zero Waste Switzerland, vorwärts beo, Swiss Alpine Club.

In summary…

Relevant Experience
strategic design, community
building, knowledge
management, large-scale project
management, agenda 2030,
peacebuilding, conflict sensitivity,
travelling in fragile regions,
ideation processes, co-creative
formats, communication,
storytelling, dialogue
facilitation, interconnected
thinking, solution-oriented

Languages
Conversational: German, English, Russian and French
Basics: Spanish

Contact
Lea Suter
Gemmistr. 3
3604 Thun
Switzerland
Phone +41 77 462 59 57

lea.suter@peaceprints.ch

Linkedin

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