Hey there! I’m Nora, systems change advocate, social entrepreneur, speaker, and changeworker
I’m the founder of Parayma and the well • change atelier, co-founder of collaboratio helvetica (handed over in 2023), and I’ve been working in systems change for over 7 years, but my story starts long before that: when I was just a naive yet hopeful teenager.
Do you know what your unique contribution is, and are you equipped to bring it – sustainably?
It took experiencing burnout and a personal crisis for me to realise that the way I was trying to contribute to systems change was not working.
But often, it is only through our most hard-learned lessons that we can hone in on what we are here to bring to this world at this point in time. Our pain can sometimes be our portal to our unique contribution.
And so I am here now, putting my experience, trials and tribulations as well as triumphs, in service of other changeworkers committed to shifting paradigms - without sacrificing themselves at the altar of change.
If you take one learning away from this, let it be this: always ask yourself whether you are making your unique contribution, and whether you are doing so in a sustainable way that respects your finite energy as a human.
How did I get here?
Looking back now, I can see that already as a child, I was deeply sensitive to injustice. I often could not accept the way things were and had a strong sense that they didn’t have to be like this – that we could do better.
My changework journey truly began when I was 16 years old, with a painful awakening to the state of the world. I remember thinking “How could we possibly allow such things to happen?” I just couldn’t understand the general sense of apathy and powerlessness I found around me.
From this heartbreak, I developed a life philosophy that was a bit more gentle, recognising that all decisions and actions matter, and we foster change in big and small ways every day.
I was set on a relentless quest to make my best possible contribution to positive change.
There was no doubt about it:
This is what I would dedicate my life to
The question was not whether I would, it was only how I could make my contribution. I became an activist, worked with local and international NGOs such as the Red Cross, and attended UN youth conferences.
I eventually discovered the European Youth Parliament (EYP), and volunteered for over 10 years to empower young people to become active citizens. On the side, I studied International Affairs to better understand the world and how to change it.
But the challenges we’re facing are more complex than I’d first realised
It's not just that we need better representation across all decision-making spaces, it's that the systems themselves encourage short-term thinking and extraction, and create or exacerbate the social and environmental problems we’re experiencing.
Raising awareness and encouraging individuals to change their behaviours is important, but not enough. The complex social and environmental challenges we are facing stem from the systems we have built.
We need to move beyond fighting the symptoms and learn how to address the root cause.
These reflections led me to co-found collaboratio helvetica in 2017, an initiative to catalyse systems change towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Switzerland.
I poured all my youthful dynamism and my hopeful attitude into this new field of work.
“Nora is an outstanding leader, whole-heartedly dedicated to creating spaces for dialogue, collaboration and transformation. She is deeply committed to social change and the public good, and understands from experience what it means to be a change maker. ”
Nicole Schwab, Co-Founder of Ostara
This was hard work. Harder than anything I had done in my life.
It dawned on me that what had worked in my previous years as a young leader would not work the same way in the field of systems change.
Like you may have realised too, true transformation is harder than expected.
This sent me on a new quest: how do we make change work?
No matter how tired and stressed I felt, I kept working. I pushed ahead and persevered with my workload - a little sisyphus of my own making. I sacrificed myself at the altar of change, thinking this was required.
Eventually, my health took a toll and my body stopped cooperating. In December 2021, I was diagnosed with burn-out, chronic depression and ADHD. My crisis revealed I was neurodivergent, an underlying root cause that had gone unaddressed in years of masking and coping best I could. Oh yes, another example of how addressing the symptoms is not enough!
Our investment in the status quo is our blindspot
I was so invested in the identity of a ‘changemaker’, of a founder of this particular organisation, of a person who cares and who is ‘useful’ that I could not let anything get in the way of that. I needed it to succeed because if it failed, a voice inside my mind said ‘it would all have been for nothing’.
Burn-out threw me off my feet, off my timeline and good intentions. This forced me into a chrysalis. I realised I couldn’t foster a more regenerative future by exploiting myself. And I didn’t want to be a role model that leads other changeworkers to burnout. We cannot pour from an empty cup, and I wouldn’t have wished what I went through to anyone.
“Nora provides a unique perspective on transformation that includes inner and outer change as indivisible aspects of the same dynamic. Her ability to create opportunities out of challenges and share abundant harvests has been greatly valuable and appreciated, helping me build confidence and increase my impact.”
Erica Mazerolle-Castillo, Social entrepreneur & Earth Guardian
Out of my chrysalis came the well and Parayma
Change workers need to be well-resourced, connected to themselves and able to tap into their creativity to foster positive change. In my case, I realised how essential creative practices like writing, art therapy, music or movement are for healing, but also for maintaining our wellbeing. In 2023, I created the well • change atelier to make art-based practices accessible to more people, with the hope of supporting them in living a healthier, more connected, and creative life. We’re here to take care of the givers.
The deeper I went into this work, the more I realised that I wasn’t alone. Other changeworkers are experiencing the same obstacles. Parayma was created to support changeworkers in a way that I wish I’d had access to early on in my journey, in the hope that some of my hardest-learned lessons smoothen the ride for others. Whether you’re trying to figure out what your contribution is, or already working on systems change, Parayma is here to support you to make the contribution you're here to make with more ease.
“When the world is on fire, what is mine to do?”
The better tomorrow we dream about requires each of us to play our part with the cards we were dealt when we were born. This can mean owning our privilege, facing our shadows and limiting beliefs or overcoming hardship - we all have a journey to walk. What I know we have in common is care, which set us on a quest for a life well lived and making a difference. Over the years, I learned that it will take inner work as well as outer work to bring our unique contribution, and with both Parayma and the well I hope to support you in bridging the two.
True transformation is hard, but possible. What gives me hope for the future is my sense of purpose and the fact that we are many, striving to make our best possible contribution to a more just, regenerative and beautiful future for all beings.
Let me remind you of this: you’re not alone. There’s a whole movement of us on this journey towards a more just and regenerative future.
First a trickle
Soon a flood
Rushing down the hill
Gushing over cracked ground
Letting dormant seeds awaken
One playful step at a time
The waters of change are here
We are here
Watch out
For the floodgates have opened
Extract from poem Co-creation with Bua, Leonardo & Anthea at the Dalai Lama Fellowship Assembly in 2023'
But what about the professional accreditations and awards?
I know what some people who come to an ‘about’ page want to see is accreditations, awards and media clippings… Things that the world considers as validation of worth, or work well done. And here I am, telling you my story instead! But fear not, all those things are listed neatly on a separate page for anyone who would like to peruse my credentials.
Want to hear more about my experience and credentials? Head over to the portfolio page!