The Zermatt Summit Foundation and its members have decided on “The Courage to Dare” as the theme of the fifth Zermatt Summit. As globalisation starts to show its limits and downsides, certain leaders have decided to dare to take care of others and to turn a new page in their own environments.

Ms. Doraja Eberle has often shown the courage to take care of populations in difficulty. Numerous awards, such as the Mitteleuropapreis of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe or the Peacebuilding Award “The Power of One” of the EastWest Institute in New York bear testament to Doraja Eberle’s social commitment. In 1991 she founded “Bauern helfen Bauern” (Farmers helping farmers) and devoted her time to helping people suffering in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia. As a social worker for more than 10 years, she became a Minister in the Regional Government of Salzburg until 2010.

Today, Doraja Eberle heads ERSTE Foundation, a private Austrian savings banks Foundation and the main shareholder of Erste Group.

ERSTE Foundation invests part of its dividends in the development of societies in Austria and Central and South Eastern Europe. It supports social participation and civil-society engagement; it aims to bring people together and disseminate knowledge of the recent history of a region that has been undergoing dramatic changes since 1989. As an active foundation, it develops its own projects within the framework of three programmes: Social Development, Culture and Europe.

www.erstestiftung.org