Founder and former President of Interpeace. A Swiss political scientist with 40 years of operational experience across five continents, Matthias has held senior executive positions in the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and academia. Between 1994-2005, Matthias created and directed the organisations that preceded and led to Interpeace: the UNRISD-PSIS War-torn Societies Project (WSP); the DPA-UNDP WSP Transition Program; and WSP International. Prior to this, Matthias worked as a senior staff member and advisor to the Swiss government and various international organisations including UNDP, UNPBC/PBSO, UNICEF and UNEP-ENVSEC. Today, Matthias is the Managing Director of a Swiss consultancy firm, Stiefel, Irvin & Associates SA, and of a Portuguese company, Andorinha Lda, which was established to restore and develop village life in Southern Portugal.

Scott M. Weber is a French and American specialist in peacebuilding and conflict prevention and is the President of Interpeace, an international organization for peacebuilding.

Initially created by the United Nations in 1994 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Interpeace, supports locally-led peacebuilding initiatives in more than 21 countries in Central America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In January 2018, Interpeace was officially recognized as an international entity by the Swiss Federal Council of Government Ministers. This acknowledgement reaffirms the important role played by the organization in peace processes worldwide.

Prior to his appointment to the role of President on 1 July 2018, Scott served as Director-General of the organization from 2005-2018, providing direction to the organization and overseeing its operations, partnerships and budget. As President, Scott is responsible for strategy, positioning and resource mobilization to grow the organization’s impact, influence and reach.

Prior to joining Interpeace, Scott worked at the United Nations, in the Office of the United Nations Director-General in Geneva (UNOG) and in disaster preparedness.

Scott believes strongly in education as a means to shape young generations of global citizens and a more peaceful and inclusive world. In his spare time, he works with schools and universities to integrate Peace Education into their teaching practices and curricula. He is committed to diversity and inclusion and is a member of the International Gender Champions.

In recognition of his record of professional accomplishments, his commitment to society and his potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through his leadership, Scott was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2009. Each year the Forum recognizes “the 200 most distinguished young leaders below the age of 40 from around the world.”

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, Economics and Russian from Georgetown University and Certificates of Executive Education in Leadership from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.