Recently appointed head of the Partage Foundation, Maud Bonnet represents a new chapter for the institution. With a wealth of experience and a deep conviction about the role of our foundation, she shares her background, motivations and vision for the future of Partage.
Can you tell us about your career path before joining the Partage Foundation ?
I have been active in the international humanitarian sector, where I have held several management positions over the past 10 years in NGOs and academic institutions. At the same time, I am the administrator of a family-owned vineyard in Satigny and a winegrower at the Cave de Genève.
My professional career has therefore been dedicated to people and rooted in the Geneva region. Furthermore, as a farmer, I have a particular interest in issues related to food in our region.
What motivated you to join the Partage Foundation ?
Because it’s Partage! A foundation whose legitimacy and relevance cannot be questioned, given that its three missions – providing food aid to people in precarious situations, combating food waste and promoting professional reintegration – are essential.
But also because it has deep roots in Geneva and a very tangible impact in promoting sustainable development.
How was your arrival at the Foundation ?
I was warmly welcomed by the staff, the Foundation Board and Partage’s partners.
I was fortunate to benefit from a very smooth handover from my predecessor, Marc Nobs, whose dynamism and inventiveness in bringing the foundation to where it is today I greatly admire.
These first three months have been very rewarding, brimming with ideas for responding to the challenges of Partage’s missions.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for the Partage Foundation and its role in Geneva society ?
Partage has 20 years of experience serving the Geneva community and proven expertise in responding to a wide range of issues.
In the years to come, we want to go even further in the social, economic and environmental impact of our actions.
In concrete terms, on the environmental front, we want to develop our recovery workshops to save more food and diversify our production. We also want to expand our partnerships with producers, wholesalers and distributors in order to recover surpluses at source. Our objective is simple: to further reduce waste while offering products that are tailored to needs.
On a social level, we currently supply nearly 50 partner institutions and are constantly working to optimise redistribution, taking into account the specific characteristics of each one. We will continue to adapt our assistance to the very diverse realities of the beneficiaries – whether they are families, individuals or collective reception structures. Food insecurity still affects too many people, and the situation seems to have worsened again since the beginning of the year due to the economic difficulties encountered in our canton.
With the recent inclusion of the right to food in the Geneva Constitution, we are available to share our 20 years of expertise and continue our work in implementing it.
On the economic front, we intend to strengthen our mission of professional reintegration. Each new logistics or food processing project is also an opportunity to train and develop the skills of the employees we welcome on their path to reintegration. We will develop more individualised pathways, collaborations with Geneva-based companies, and we will increase the number of bridges to sustainable jobs.
The direction is quite clear: we want to make solidarity a sustainable driving force. Saving food, supporting the most vulnerable and offering professional opportunities are all part of the same dynamic. It is this consistency that makes Partage so strong and unique, and I am committed to maintaining it.