Meet our board Members

Brent Wilkinson
Chairman

Leia a biografia

Brent Wilkinson
Chairman

Leia a biografia

Saskia Ozinga

Leia a biografia

Saskia Ozinga

Leia a biografia

Pascal Gauthier
Member of the board

Leia a biografia

Pascal Gauthier
Member of the board

Leia a biografia

In late 2011, Pascal Gauthier founded an advisory and private equity activity to help corporations and organisations develop strategies and projects to address environmental needs and protection, and to face the future impact of energy cost increases and raw material rarefactions, as well as to materialise the benefit of resource recovery and renewable energies. He is also a direct capital investor in businesses such as plastics recycling, biomass preparation, water treatment, solid waste management, development of new environmental technologies.

Pascal is an independent member of various Board of Directors, a senior advisor to many operators in the environmental industry and the founder of Waste Force, an NGO addressing toxic waste pollution in emerging countries, in partnership with UNO.

Luc Cardyn
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

Luc Cardyn
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

Krisztina Bende
Board Member

Leia a biografia

Krisztina Bende
Board Member

Leia a biografia

Krisztina Bende started her career at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Switzerland, working on international environmental issues. After having worked at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, she joined the Swiss Federal Department of Economy to work on international agriculture issues. She was part of the Swiss delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and agriculture negotiator for Switzerland. When she took over the role of Head of Unit, in 2007, she oversaw negotiations with the European Union and third countries for agriculture and food. She negotiated agreements with Indonesia, Japan, the MERCOSUR countries, and the UK, among others. Krisztina works for the European Free Trade Association in Geneva as Director of Trade Relations. She is passionate about sustainable development, and geopolitical issues linked to agriculture production and nutrition. Krisztina holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Berne and an MBA from the Universities of Brown, USA and IE, Spain.

Julio J. Copo Terrés
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

Julio J. Copo Terrés
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

Julio is an attorney with more than fifteen years of experience in Regulatory Law, Health and Life Sciences Law, Compliance and Anti-Corruption law, and Philanthropy. He graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana, holds a Master's in Administrative Law fromUniversidad Panamericana, and has a Master's in International Human Rights Law from the University of Notre Dame.

In the professional field, Julio works as Counsel at Arochi & Lindner. In the past he worked as Junior Counsel at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica; and as Senior Associate at Basham, Ringe y Correa where he had a foreign professional exchange with the firm FRORIEP in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a full member of the International Bar Association, the International Association of Young Lawyers, the Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados, where he heads the Administrative Law Commission and an active member of the Mexican Bar Association, where he was founding Coordinator of the Health Commission.

Since 2021, Chambers & Partners has consistently ranked him as a leading lawyer for "Life Sciences" in LatinAmerica. In 2022, they also recognised him as a "Thought leader" in the field.

Julie Wynne
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

Julie Wynne
Member of the Board

Leia a biografia

ulie Wynne is a highly regarded social impact lawyer with expertise in philanthropy, charity law and social entrepreneurship. As a partner at MLL, a Swiss business law firm, she advises individuals, non-profit organisations, and businesses aiming to create social and environmental impact. Julie (TEP) also advises nonprofit and cultural institutions on charity law, governance, legacies, fundraising, and sponsorship.

She is deeply involved in promoting philanthropy and using business as a force for good. She sits amongst others on the boards of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Movement Health and Earthworm Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Geneva Centre for Business and Human Rights and of Art for Action.

Meet our Executive Team

Bastien Sachet
CEO

Leia a biografia

Bastien Sachet
CEO

Leia a biografia

Julien Troussier
Director, Human Resources

Leia a biografia

Julien Troussier
Director, Human Resources

Leia a biografia

Rob McWilliam
Director, Technical Services

Leia a biografia

Rob McWilliam
Director, Technical Services

Leia a biografia

A forester by background, Rob first worked with Earthworm Foundation back in 2001 when he helped forest workers manage plots in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, whilst on placement from his degree in his native Australia. His passion for forests then took him to Fiji and Laos PDR, including time as a Senior Technical Advisor at WWF. Today Rob leads Earthworm Foundation’s global teams on all technical aspects of forest conservation, including standards for High Conservation Value and High Carbon Stock forest protection. He was also instrumental in developing the Starling satellite venture in partnership with Airbus.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Science with Forestry from the Australian National University, a Master’s of Science, Geographic Information Science and Cartography from the University of Salzburg, and a Master’s in Sustainability Leadership from Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Marianne Martinet
Director, Programmes

Leia a biografia

Marianne Martinet
Director, Programmes

Leia a biografia

Marianne is an engineer in international agro-development, specialising in tropical social forestry. She started out at Earthworm Foundation in 2008. She spent seven years working in Central Africa (Congo and Cameroon) where she set up the Centre of Social Excellence, and led social work and rural development projects with logging companies, palm oil plantations and sugar cane producers.

After working as our Cameroon Country Manager, she moved to Switzerland in 2015. She ran the Rurality programme for almost four years and led the relationship with cocoa members. As Director of Programmes, Marianne is focused on increasing impacts towards achieving the organisation’s vision in the countries where we work, by delivering high quality programmes and by forging links and increasing efficiency among them.

Boris Saraber
Director, Operations

Leia a biografia

Boris Saraber
Director, Operations

Leia a biografia

Boris has worked for more than 20 years in the responsible commodity sector, having started his career managing operational plantations, natural forest and protected areas in Australia and across Asia. When he began working with Earthworm Foundation in 2008, he led the implementation of a community timber programme in Laos, and quickly went on to support responsible timber operations in China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Now based in Switzerland, Boris provides both practical and strategic support to teams and the organisation’s engagement with agro-commodity producers, brands and retailers globally.

Jotica Sehgal
Director, Communications

Leia a biografia

Jotica Sehgal
Director, Communications

Leia a biografia

With a background in news broadcasting and video production, Jotica joined Earthworm Foundation as
Director of Communications in 2016. She heads up the global communications team across all disciplines
including brand, media relations, member and stakeholder relations and internal comms.
Before joining Earthworm Foundation, Jotica spent five years running her own video production company in
New Delhi, India. Prior to that she worked for six years at CNN – India Broadcasting Network, where in roles
ranging from Producer to Associate Features Editor she led teams of reporters and producers to create award-
winning work. Jotica holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University and a MBA from Business School
Lausanne.

Karine Claudel
Director Finance & Legal

Leia a biografia

Karine Claudel
Director Finance & Legal

Leia a biografia

Karine joined Earthworm Foundation in 2025, bringing two decades of financial leadership across industries as diverse as energy, logistics, retail and natural cosmetics. She began her career in M&A consulting with Big Four firms (Ernst & Young in Paris and KPMG in Dublin) before moving into finance roles that spanned Europe and the Caribbean, eventually serving as CFO of a family-owned cosmetics company in France where she combined financial strategy with sustainability initiatives.

At Earthworm, Karine ensures that financial stewardship and long-term vision go hand in hand, supporting our mission to regenerate the world’s most critical ecosystems. Beyond finance, she is an active member of a local association promoting education and preservation of biodiversity.

Her education includes a Master's in Management from EDHEC Business School and a Master’s in Accounting (DESCF).