Portraits of the PILOT Team

Antoinette Rüegg attained a degree in Biology. For twenty years, she taught biology at a Grammar School and held the post of Head of the Biology Department. She used her skills to focus on learning behaviour and headed for 10 years the Committee ‘Learning Behaviours and Working techniques’ of the Swiss Office for In-service Training of Upper Secondary Teachers. In 1991 she established her own consultancy business. She made second studies in applied Psychology and specialized in Career Development, Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. From 1995 to 1999 she was elected President of ‘Business & Professional Women Switzerland’ and from 2002 to 2005 of ‘Business and Professional Women International’. From 2007 – 2010 she conducted lectures on gender issues at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Daniela Rigassi is an economist and holds a degree in project management and teaching. She started as a teacher for German, English and history. She then continued as an analyst and programmer for an insurance company before changing into project and process management as well as consultancy for companies in the financial sector. She now works for an international printer company, where she leads projects for strategic national and international clients. Daniela Rigassi joined BPW Switzerland in 2005, where she is the club delegate on the national level. Since 2012 she has been a member of the taskforce of Leadership and Lifelong Learning and has been co-organising the annual pre-conference on cross-cultural understanding in Cairo. She has a strong interest in international and cross- cultural aspects in everyday life and business collaboration.

Ursula Schmid is a Secondary School Teacher phil. I, i.e. a teacher for German, English and French for 10 to 16 years old students. Later she worked for 25 years as office manager in her husband’s Legal Office in Davos.

In the dim and distant computer past of the last century she acquired a taste for Apple – incurably. First steps with online tools for websites with Typo3, diploma. Since then in search of suitable online web tools for normal use. Aim: Convincing, attractive and efficient websites for small companies, affordable and always up-to-date thanks to easy CMS. Autodidactic.

With love for literature and communication, for classical music and aesthetics, for computer and internet, for women’s politics and networking, for convincing arguments and marketing.

President of BPW Club Davos Klosters from 2009 to 2013. BPW Switzerland task force BPW Mentoring 2015-2019, BPW Switzerland task force BPW Website/SocialMedia 2017-2018.

Webmaster for BPW PILOT www.bpw-projects.org and www.bpw-un.org BPW International Webmaster 2021-2024.

Married; mother of a son and a daughter and grandmother of four grandchildren.