Our Team

Director / FES Geneva Office

As the director of the FES Geneva office, Renate Tenbusch is responsible for all programs and activities related to this office. Previously, she headed the foundation's offices in Brussels / Belgium, Johannesburg / South Africa, and New Delhi / India.

Program Officer / Climate, Business and Human Rights

Ira Gibson moved into the role as Program Officer at FES Geneva in March 2019, after joining the office in November 2016. She holds a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Cologne (Germany) and completed a postgraduate distance study in Sustainable Development Cooperation at the University of Kaiserslautern (Germany). She has a broad variety of experience gained working in both the private and non-profit sectors.

Program Officer / Trade – Development and Human Rights

Matthias Pesch holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn (Germany). He gained experiences working for several civil society actors in the field of Development Policy and the United Nations in Germany before joining FES Geneva in February 2019.

Finance and Administration Manager

Claudia Manns holds a Master's Degree in art history, history and media science from the Philipps-University of Marburg (Germany) and the University of Cagliari (Italy). She joined FES Geneva as Office Manager in July 2013 where she is responsible for all administrative, financial and IT matters. Before moving to Geneva she worked several years as Project Manager for Digital Design in Manchester.

Assistant Program Officer / Human Rights

Elena Müller holds a Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Padova (Italy).  She has gained experience in project management and communications working with intergovernmental and civil society actors before joining FES Geneva in September 2025.

Assistant Program Officer / Trade – Development and Human Rights

Sabine Dörfler holds a Master's Degree in translation in Spanish and Portuguese. She studied linguistics, Latin American studies and political science in Berlin, Germersheim (Germany) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). After working at the world exhibitions in Seville, Lisbon and Hanover, at Siemens, a publishing house and a university of applied sciences, she has held various positions at the FES in Berlin and Santiago de Chile since 2004. She joined FES Geneva in March 2022.