Sandra Gojkovic
President/Projects/Partnerships
Growing up in Switzerland, Sandra knew from an early age that she wanted to dedicate herself to education and empowerment for underserved communities around the world. She began her professional career in Regulatory Affairs at a Swiss pharmaceutical company in Zurich, before moving to Dubai, where she worked in Business Development and Marketing.
After her time in Dubai, Sandra travelled extensively for work. Eventually, she made the conscious decision to leave her corporate career behind in order to pursue a more purpose-driven path. This marked the beginning of her journey through India and Africa, where she became actively involved in volunteer work with local communities and cultural initiatives. In 2012, she founded The India School Project using her own financial resources. A year later, in 2013, Sandra completed a three-month internship in Social Business and Microfinance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Today, Sandra is based in Switzerland, where she works with various NGOs in fundraising and serves on several boards. She continues to travel regularly to India to support and expand her initiatives.
Peter Waser has over two decades of executive experience in IT/IS technology and telecommunication industry. Before transitioning to Microsoft Western Europe, he was acting as Country General Manager for Microsoft Switzerland for over five years. Prior to his various leadership positions at Microsoft he was responsible for several key strategic projects for the Swiss national telecommunication provider and also restructured and managed large customer contact centres whilst there. From 1988 to 1998 Peter Waser worked for IBM in national and international management positions, Peter started as an industry specialist for interbank and stocks exchange trading systems, later he took responsibility for the networking hardware and software product business unit. Today, he is acting as a Board of Directors and Investor in various Swiss and foreign companies. Peter has a BSc from City University of Bellevue WA, USA and has further management qualifications from the Open University, UK. He lives with his family in Feldmeilen and Andermatt, Switzerland.
Peter Waser
Secretary/Governance/Finance
Dr. Patrick Sommer
Legal Counsel
Dr. Patrick Sommer focuses on competition law, corporate law and M & A. Patrick has graduated from the University of St. Gallen in 1987 and was admitted to the bar in 1989. He has written his doctoral thesis on the relationship of Switzerland to the European Union and completed postgraduate studies at the Collège d’Europe in Brugues with the H.E.E. diploma. He then worked for seven years in the legal department of the Swiss multinational group Holcim where he has been promoted to the offices of General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors. In 2000 Patrick Sommer joined CMS and is a partner since 2002.
Madhumita Bannerjee
Project Manager
Our local project coordinator Madhumita Bannerjee was born in India. She has a Masters in sociology with a focus on psychology. She contributes a lot of expertise and professional experience, which she gained in part through her work for UNICEF. She is also very aware of the issues of the larger cities, as well as those of the rural communities.