About us

Mario Fontana established the Fontana Foundation in 2008, driven by a deep desire to help people in developing countries find a way out of poverty. After his death in Februar 2025, the Foundations' Board continues his work with the same passion and commitment.

Focus on high-impact, sustainable projects

The foundation engages in initiatives in developing countries that help people to get out of poverty and lead a productive life. Our focus is on high-impact projects that profoundly improve the lives of the people supported and thus have a high social return on investment. Our engagements are limited in time and should always lead to sustainable solutions.

Each project of the foundation is well defined with clear objectives, a time frame and regular reporting. The foundation does not participate in projects that simply distribute funds or goods.

Guiding Principles

Fontana Foundation operates on the basis of the following 7 guiding principles:

• We engage in projects that are efficient and have a high social impact
• We fund only well-defined projects with locally established partners
• We understand each project in detail and review all of them regularly
• We expect a substantial contribution of the beneficiaries
• We remain focused on our defined fields of activity
• We want to contribute to sustainable developments only
• We treat all people with respect and dignity and adhere to high ethical standards

Board of Trustees and Management

• Lena Steiner, Chairman
• Elsa Fontana, Member
• Walter Zahnd, Member
• Thomas Meier, Member
• Markus Meier, Member
  
  
• Dorothee Lötscher, Managing Director
• Nadja Keller, Secretary