Celestine Kroeschell

Director International Programs

celestine.kroesschell@helvetas.org

Celestine Kroesschell is (co-) Director of the department of International Programmes together with Barbara Dietrich. She has more than 28 years of experience in development cooperation and lived many years abroad. After working for FAO (UN) in Nepal, Senegal and Bolivia, in watershed management, community forestry, post-harvest and gender, she moved to Mozambique to work for SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), where she closely collaborated with Helvetas on local governance and civil society. She then joined Helvetas in Zurich as Thematic Coordinator Civil Society & State and Gender. After the merger, she became Head of Governance and Peace in Advisory Services. Celestine moved back to the field to become Country Director for Laos, then Bangladesh, followed by Kosovo. Her last position was Continental Coordinator Asia and Regional Coordinator Bangladesh and Laos, based in Zurich. Celestine has a Master in Development Studies, a Master in Communication Science, and a postgraduate in Agro-processing.

«I believe in peaceful and just societies, where people live a life of dignity and where youth have hope of a future, no matter where they are born. As a child, I was confronted with poverty and inequality, while traveling and living abroad, and ever since, have had a deep connection to the rights of disadvantaged people, especially women’s rights. I am inspired daily by people’s empowerment, collective actions of communities, local entrepreneurial spirit, and the power of alliances to bring about change.»