ZIWA

Executive Board 2010 - 2011

	Zorina Wehrli-Auayang – PRESIDENT Zorina was born and educated in Manila,Philippines. She studied Foreign Service, with major in International Law at Stella Maris, a catholic college for women (Franciscan Missionaries of Mary). She later moved to Manhattan, New York where she worked as administrative assistant in a couple of very successful privately -owned business firms. She lived in Antigua and Rome before settling in Zurich with her swiss husband. They raised five children. Zorina was at the first ZIWA Introductory Meeting at the Pressehaus in Stadelhofen Passage in 1985 and had been a loyal member ever since. She is current Chairlady of Oriental Literature Book Club and an active member/performer at On Stage. She was editor of the first filipino community newsletter in Switzerland and have been organizing participation of filipino children in the Sechseläuten Kinderumzug since 1984; a past president of Asian Ladies Club, member of Liturgical Service, Philippine Catholic Mission in Zurich. She is an exhibited visual artist and has participated in various layman's theatrical productions.
	Rita Jansen – TREASURER Rita is Belgian and married to a Belgian of Italian origin. They have been living in Zürich since 1993 and before that in Germany, Australia and China. Rita worked as an administrative assistant for approximately 12 years at the University of Leuven. In Switzerland, she worked for 10 years in Private Banking. In 2007, Rita decided to take a break from banking and joined ZIWA. She now takes care of her small household - her husband and two lovely British shorthair cats. She loves the beauty of Switzerland especially Engadin in summertime. Rita has been a member of ZIWA since 2007. She participates in the Hata Yoga group in Erlenbach as well as various other ZIWA activities. In 2008 she took the job of ZIWA News Advertising Bookkeeper and then worked as an assistant to Chip Efthymiades, Treasurer at that time. She has enjoyed serving on the ZIWA Board as Treasurer for the year 2009-10.
	Michele Papke – SECRETARY Michele was born in Zimbawe, and moved to South Africa with her parents where she grew up, went to school and later met her German husband. She has two adult children now living in Dubai and Manchester. She came to Europe with her husband's job in 1998, starting in Munich for six years, then Poland for four years and now Switzerland for one year. Her background is as legal secretary and she studied part-time for a law-degree in South Africa. She has worked for attorneys and the Canadian Embassy. While living in Munich she was secretary of the parent's association of the International School. She was also involved in the International Association in Warsaw and started selling designer jewellery from South Africa as well as doing a style coaching course. Michele's whole family is very sporty and enjoys motor bike riding, scuba diving and snow skiing. She also loves horse riding and her hobbies are cooking, wine appreciation and tasting, reading and walking.
	Nérida Damas-Zobrist – DIRECTOR OF MONTHLY MEETINGS Nérida was born in Venezuela and posesses a Swiss citizenship. She is married to a Swiss citizen and is the mother of an adult son. She studied International Business, getting an University degree in Comercio Exterior, then a degree as Lic. Administration and later an additional specialization in Marketing and Advertising. She obtained another specialization at the University of Zürich in International Management and Corporate Culture. After her arrival in Switzerland in 2003, she founded Gareton International, Switzerland, together with her husband. Its main activity is in the international trading of Ferroalloys, raw materials for the steel industry. In her work she has become adept at dealing with people from many cultures. Her hobbies are reading, writing, painting, listening to music, yoga, fitness, and going to the movies. She loves meeting people from different cultures and greatly enjoys listening and learning from creative, open-minded, dynamic people who inspire her in life, expanding her views and horizons. She has attended interest groups in ZIWA such as English Composition, the Spanish Book Club, and the German, French, Swiss German and Italian conversation groups.
	Julia Newton - DIRECTOR OF INTEREST GROUPS Julia is British and has lived in Switzerland for 18 years and has been a ZIWA member for most of her time. She worked in IT in England for 22 years as a computer programmer and project manager, travelling to South Africa and Australia with her work. She joined ZIWA in 1992 to improve her German conversation skills. Her son and daughter attended Zürich International School where she was active as a parent on the board and in the parents' association, as well as working as the Adult Education Coordinator and editing the parents' newsletter. While in Switzerland she studied for a BA degree in Humanities with the British Open University. Since her children left home, Julia has become involved in ZIWA as co-chairlady of the Discovering Zürich and Switzerland group, and works as the reporter for ZIWA News and the website. In this role, she has visited many of the Interest Groups personally as well as getting to know most of the chariladies. Her main interests are art, travelling, writing, food and wine and photography. She is currently learning Chinese.
	Carmel Dillon – DIRECTOR WITHOUT PORTFOLIO Carmel is British and came to Switzerland four and a half years ago with her husband and two reluctant teenagers. Having completed BSc in Linguistics and International Relations she spent 21 years working in a variety of operational and strategic human resources roles in multinational corporations across different sectors, and set up her own business. Her passion lies in supporting and developing people's potential and she has been lucky enough to be able to pursue these both through her work and personal coaching experience. Since coming to Zürich she spent a year as Head of Talent Development for a bank and more recently set up and ran the Life Coaching workshops with two other new members and has run a team building and feedback session for ZIWA. Carmel has been ZIWA's Advertising Coordinator for the last year which has been a great way to meet people and she has enjoyed joining in some of the wonderful social and Off the Wall events.
	Kristen Engle – DIRECTOR WITHOUT PORTFOLIO Kristen Engle was born in California, USA, and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of her adult life. She moved to Switzerland in 2006 with her husband and two children. Kristen achieved her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. She then specialized in general surgery with an emphasis on trauma surgey, and breast surgery. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. She ran her own practice in the Bay Area before moving to Switzerland. In Switzerland, Kristen has been a full time mother, raising her two children, Greer and Iain, now five years old. She has also taken time to pursue her interests in mountain and road cycling and learning German. She has participated in the ZIWA Zürich Evening Book Club since 2007. She became co-chairlady of the Book Club in 2008, and chairlady of the Book Club in 2009.