Vanessa Hans joined the Basel Institute on Governance in January 2020 as Private Sector Specialist.

Prior to joining the Institute, Vanessa was the Managing Director of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines. She has several years of experience advising companies on corporate social responsibility as well as international development strategies.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montreal and a Masters in Corporate Social Responsibility from the University of Nottingham.

Niels Wohlwend is the Senior Legal & Compliance Expert of the Basel Institute on Governance. He has held the position since January 2023.

Niels comes with over two decades of experience in legal and compliance roles in the healthcare and oil industries. Among other things, Niels has helped various leading healthcare companies establish and improve their compliance programmes and comply with their obligations towards regulators under corporate integrity agreements and deferred prosecution agreements. These include Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Zimmer Biomet.

In his various roles, Niels had responsibility for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and South/Latin America. As part of his responsibilities, Niels managed Compliance teams of up to 35 people located all over the globe.

Niels is a qualified lawyer from the University of Basel, Switzerland. He holds a Master of Advanced European Studies (M.A.E.S.) in European Law, Economics and Politics from the European Institute of the University of Basel.

He also holds various compliance certifications from international organisations including the Corporate Integrity Agreement Training from the Compliance Certification Board in New Jersey and the Advanced Healthcare Compliance Implementation Leadership Program from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, Paris.

Born in Switzerland, he is fluent in German (native), French (native) and English and speaks some Italian.

Lucie joined the Basel Institute on Governance as Governance & Integrity Specialist in September 2022. She supports efforts to mainstream Collective Action by producing analytical and policy papers, and leading the development of an index focusing on anti-corruption Collective Action.

Prior to joining the Basel Institute, Lucie was Head of Governance & Strategy at Cochrane, the world’s leading evidence-based healthcare organisation. While at Cochrane, she delivered two organisational strategic plans and a new monitoring & evaluation approach to measure the success and impact of organisational activities. She also has extensive experience in charity governance in the UK.

Lucie holds a master's degree in Archaeology & Anthropology from the University of Oxford and is working towards chartered status with the Chartered Governance Institute of UK & Ireland. She speaks fluent English and German.

Scarlet Wannenwetsch joined the Basel Institute in 2017. In her role as Collective Action Specialist, Scarlet leads the Collective Action Mentoring Programme and Collective Action activities with a particular focus on the Southern African region.

She also lectures at the International Anti-Corruption Academies Master in Anti-Corruption Compliance and Collective Action programme.

Prior to joining the Institute, Scarlet gained experience at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Germany) and as a legal advisor to an international start-up.

Scarlet holds a Law degree (LLB) from Kings College London as well as a Masters (LLM) from the Free University of Berlin focusing on Public International Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Anna Stransky joined the Basel Institute on Governance in October 2021 as Project Support Officer in the Collective Action team. In this capacity, she coordinates and administratively manages the team’s projects and overall programme of work, and coordinates and organises events.

Prior to joining the Basel Institute, Anna gained experience in the delivery of anti-corruption technical assistance at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria, and worked as Researcher and Assistant Lecturer at a German law school.

Anna holds a degree in law (First State Examination) as well as a Master of Business Law and Economic Law (LL.M. oec.) from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

Nicolas joined the Basel Institute on Governance in January 2023 as a Communications and Events Associate. Working within the Private Sector team, Nicolas supports communications and event organisation worldwide.

Prior to joining the Institute, Nicolas worked as an Editorial and Project Advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he supported the development of the International Review of the Red Cross.

Before this, he worked for more than three years at Frontiers, an international academic publisher. While at Frontiers, he actively advocated for open-access publishing, especially in the social sciences. He was involved in developing topical editions and international webinars on topics such as gender equality, diversity and inclusion, migration and medical sociology.

Through his experience at the ICRC, as well as earlier work at Frontiers, UNESCO and the US Embassy, Nicolas has gained broad knowledge of international relations and political science issues. He has a particular interest in gender equality, human rights, and minorities and inclusion.

Nicolas holds a Master of Arts in European Public Affairs from La Sorbonne University, France, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Montreal, Canada.

Liza Young joined the Basel Institute in August 2022 as a Project Associate for Collective Action. Liza is supporting the implementation of the Siemens Integrity Initiative project, with a particular focus on developing the Collective Action mentoring programme, providing communications support and conducting research.

Prior to joining the Institute, Liza gained experience at the Permanent Representation of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) to the United Nations in Geneva, where she served as an Assistant to the Ambassador. She has also worked at the Research and Information Group on Peace and Security (GRIP) in Belgium as a research associate. Her research focused on peacekeeping operations in West and Central Africa. Liza has also gained experience in Namibia and in Senegal within the United Nations (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and United Nations Information Centre for Development).

Liza holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Montréal, Canada, and a Master’s degree in Peace Studies from the University Paris-Dauphine, France.

Gemma Aiolfi is Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action at the Basel Institute on Governance, which she helped to establish alongside Prof Mark Pieth, former Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Along with her team of compliance and Collective Action specialists, Gemma leads the Basel Institute’s extensive private sector work and outreach. This includes providing tailored guidance and training on anti-corruption compliance, corporate governance and crisis management to organisations of all sizes and sectors, and driving the use of Collective Action approaches to tackle corruption, raise standards of business integrity and level the playing field between competitors.

A barrister by training, Gemma has studied Swiss law in Basel, Switzerland and holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and a postgraduate degree from Stockholm University in Sweden. Among other roles, Gemma has worked as Global Head of Anti-Corruption at Swiss bank UBS, and as Legal Counsel to the Integrity Department and internal Office of Special Investigations at ABB.

Gemma has served on the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions and as an advisor to the UN Independent Inquiry Commission on the Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme. She is a Member of the Board of Ethics and Compliance Switzerland and of the OECD's Trust in Business Initiative, a member of the Steering Committee of the Alliance for Integrity and a former External Council Adviser to the Board of Graña y Montero, Peru.

Her 2020 book, Anti-Corruption Compliance: A Guide for Small and Mid-Sized Organizations published by Edward Elgar, offers step-by-step guidance to companies and non-profit organizations in managing their corruption risks.