SEVEN Fund Initiatives
Andreas Widmer
“I see the poor as people with unfulfilled potential, not as a problem. My goal is to urge world-class entrepreneurs, investors and faith leaders to participate in the debate on poverty, and to inspire them to use their ideas and resources to integrate all people into global networks of productivity and exchange.”
Current Initiatives
Andreas co-founded the SEVEN Fund and played key roles as fundraiser, judge, and author in developing the Pioneers of Prosperity program in Africa, the Caribbean and Central America.
Andreas works closely with top entrepreneurs, investors, and faith leaders around the world to further enterprise solutions to poverty and foster virtuous business. He has developed entrepreneurial initiatives at the intersection of business and faith including his faith and prosperity blog, the Catholic Mental Models Project, the joint 2010 Essay Competition with the Center for Interfaith Action, and a partnership with the Carpenter’s Fund.
Andreas is Research Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the Acton Institute and an advisor to the Zermatt Summit, an annual business leadership event that strives to humanize globalization. He also serves as an advisor to Transforming Business, a new research and development project at the University of Cambridge, and on the advisory board of the Global Adaptation Institute, a group that enhances the worlds understanding of the urgency for adaptation to pressing global issues.
He contributed two chapters to the book ‘In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty.’ He regularly writes on issues of entrepreneurship, leadership, and Christian spirituality, and has been featured in a range of publications including the Financial Times, Bloomberg News, First Things, Sky TV, Kigali Times, Catholic Digest, EWTN, and FastCompany magazine.
He is completing a book on values and leadership based on his experiences as a Swiss Guard protecting the late Pope John Paul II, and his own experience in Sales, Marketing, Development, and as a CEO in the digital economy over the past 20 years. The book will be published by Emmaus Road Press in Fall 2011.
Focus at SEVEN Fund
Andreas & Michael set the overall strategic vision of SEVEN, Andreas’ specific areas of focus at SEVEN include business development and forging strategic partnerships between the entrepreneurship, faith-based, and investment communities.