Staff

Patricia Schramm has devoted her career to promoting dialogue between the United States and Switzerland. She joined the American Swiss Foundation as its President in 2003. Under her leadership, the organization has expanded programming, membership and financial support, now serving more than 1,300 alumni of the Young Leaders Conference and hundreds of senior business and political leaders in both countries. From 1996 to 2002, she was Cultural Attaché of the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, and she served for seven years on the Board of Directors of the Swiss Institute. Formerly, she worked for Novartis in New York

A graduate of the University of Zürich, Mrs. Schramm holds a Master's degree in English, Philosophy, and German Literature. She was a Visiting Student at Harvard College, a Fellow of the Remarque Forum (New York University) and a participant in the 1999 Young Leaders Conference of the American Swiss Foundation. A dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland, she lives in the New York area with her husband, American photographer Frank Schramm, and their three college-aged children.

Vanessa is an alumna of ASF's 2016 Young Leaders Conference. She works closely with the President to develop and implement strategic outreach to members and alumni of the Young Leaders Conference, organize and execute events for members and donors, and manage relationships with the media and general public. She is a graduate of Harvard University, Brown University, and University of Cambridge, and currently serves on the board of the Harvard Alumni Association.

Vanessa's background is in international education, development, and diplomacy and she has experience in war zones and austere environments with the U.S. Departments of Defense and State. Vanessa spent thirteen months in Khujand, Tajikistan conducting her dissertation research as a Fulbright Fellow, lecturing at the Tajik State University of Commerce and Trade, and launching a social enterprise. She was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Award from the Department of Defense, the third highest public honor that the Army can grant to a civilian, for her work in Iraq.

Anna Render implements and assists in developing communications and supports event planning and execution, fundraising, member engagement, and website management.

Anna holds a bachelor's degree in Politics and German from New York University. She spent a year as a high school exchange student in Fribourg, Switzerland.