Our story
It all started with a reflection: why are people with power constantly saying “youth are the future”? And why would white men above 50 remain the protagonists when speaking about learning and social change in Europe?
The reflection was transformed into action. We started NOW to create learning spaces that boost the protagonism of young people, that acknowledges the need for diversity and enables young people to create change in their local environments. Since 2016, we have created learning spaces that seek that focus on the development of 21st Century Competencies.
Meet the team
Anne Marie
Anne Marie is a NOW learning facilitator based in South Africa.
Annina
Annina, who is based in Colombia, is our learning facilitation expert and part of the NOW Community team.
Claire
Claire, from France, is one of the NOW facilitators.
Elis
Elis is our program design expert and facilitator based in Brazil. She’s also co-founder of Instituto NOW.
Fernanda
Fernanda is part of the NOW Community project and leads the business development of Instituto NOW in Brazil.
Guto
Guto, based in Brazil, is in charge of communications and part of the NOW Community team.
Hülya
In Turkey we have Hülya participating in the NOW Community project.
Johanna
Based in Switzerland, Johanna is part of the NOW Community project.
Kriszta
Half photography wizard, half community event organizer, Kriszta is a NOW alumni team member based in Hungary.
Malte
Malte is a board member based in South Africa.
Myrta
Myrta is a NOW facilitator and the president of the organisation. She’s based in Switzerland.
Ömer
Ömer is a NOW facilitator based in Canada.
Rahel
Rahel is a board member and co-founder of Instituto NOW. They lead the development of new programs.
Zlatka
Zlatka is a NOW facilitator, board member and a logistics and finance wizard.
Our core values
NOW is committed to core values in its work, which are:
Collaboration
Collaborating with other organisations that share our core values, yet bring diverse perspectives to the table.
Love
Encountering others with the intent of a true connection and accepting their complexities, offering mutual support.
Boldness
Daring to be different and think outside the box while standing up for what we believe in.
Social Justice
Seeking to understand the systems and privileges that oppress and marginalize certain people and show up for the fight to dismantle these systems.
Inclusion
Creating learning opportunities that enable everyone’s participation.
Trust
Collaborating at eye level and seeking honest and open communication while cultivating transparency and accountability.
Allyism
Promoting collaboration among different people and initiatives, and promoting social change across causes.
Personal Development
Understanding everyone as a learner and teacher and enabling meaningful encounters that help us grow.
Sustainability
Aiming at reducing the negative environmental impact of our programs through sustainable food, transport and awareness.
Instituto NOW
NOW services are offered through collaboration with Instituto NOW.
In 2018, NOW co-founders Elis and Rahel created our sister organisation Instituto NOW that is based in Brazil. Instituto NOW is a professionally-oriented organisation that seeks to further develop and pass on the NOW experience in the form of consulting, the development of tools like the NOW App, as well as the creation of new programs.
The Instituto NOW team has since grown and has worked with clients and partners in more than 8 countries. Some of the services Instituto offers are outlined here.
Impact reports
We care about understanding the impact we create with our work.
That is why impact measurement is an important cornerstone of our work. We summarized what
we have learned over the past years in our Impact Reports.
Click the image above to access the 2019-2021 Impact Report
You can download our previous Impact Reports below:
Articles about NOW
NOW has been featured in different online publications.
Here’s a selection of what has been written about us in different languages:
Impact Hub Zurich Blog
German
AFS Intercultural Programs
English