About us

Vision and strategic focus

Being small we like to focus

Dalyan was established in 2008 with the vision of enhancing the personal and economic well-being of women, adolescents and children from underprivileged backgrounds and  improving their prospects to move towards a life of dignity. Our thematic focus is on education and livelihood generation.

To reach this goal we support NGOs that are engaged in the Dalyan themes and want to improve outreach and quality of their projects, but also to strengthen their own organisation and financial self-sufficiency.

Dalyan concentrates its activities on India and Türkiye.

'Dalyan' is a Turkish word and describes a man-made fishing weir, set up where the fresh water of a river meets and mixes with the salt water of the sea and which is inhabited by fish comfortable in both types of water.

For us, Dalyan represents the constant flow, mix and cross fertilisation of resources, funds, cultures, ideas, skills and opportunities with the aim to reduce disparities in this world.

 

Whom we support

Women, adolescents and children as changemakers in society

Dalyan supports NGOs engaging for women, adolescents and children from underprivileged backgrounds in India and Turkiye.

For children and adolescents, we focus on programs that improve and/or complement public education, skill-building and vocational training programs, as well as mentoring programs to improve their resilience, life skills and chances to earn a decent living.

For women, our key focus is economic and social empowerment through skill-building programs, business/ enterprise development and microcredit, which all should contribute to sustainable income generation.

Allocation of our contributions in % of amount disbursed in 2023

How we support

We believe in building strong organisations

We give financial and non-financial support to our partner NGO’s programs as well as their organisational development.

We typically engage with our NGO partners for three to five years. Our experience indicates that this is the minimal necessary timeframe to achieve the targeted outcomes for their beneficiaries and to make their own organisation more sustainable.

As a granting partner, we seek to be actively involved and provide support or guidance to our partners, with a focus on subjects such as fund-raising, income generation, financial administration, improving management capacity, reporting standards or communication. We draw on internal and external capacities from our network to achieve this. We consider our NGOs as partners and believe in an open sharing of opinions and learnings.

What we look for

Cooperating for a joint learning process

We engage with and support NGO Partners who are active in the geographies and subjects we focus on and who:

  • Are neutral towards race, religion and caste
  • Have a clear commitment to respect human rights, local environmental and social standards and laws
  • Have the ability and desire to grow, learn and co-operate to increase impact and create overall sustainability
  • Have a strong management team and/or have the ability and readiness to build a strong team
  • Strive for transparency, financial competence and regular reporting
  • Are ready to regularly measure performance and impact

We approach possible partners for our support schemes directly; unsolicited applications are not processed.

Our Organisation

Uniting skills to go further

The Dalyan team builds on the complementary skillsets and networks of volunteers and partners in India, Türkiye and Switzerland. The field experience of our key persons in India and Türkiye complements the knowhow of Dalyan’s Zurich team, which currently consists of 11 individuals, most of them allocating their time and knowledge on a voluntary and part-time basis.

Volunteer & Core Team Members

India

Neha Chaturvedi is representing Dalyan in India and is based in Mumbai.
She supports Dalyan as a project manager, and as such is responsible for onboarding and monitoring partnerships with Indian NGOs.
Neha is a development sector professional with 13 years of experience in CSR. She has experience in working with different stakeholders within the cause areas of women empowerment, livelihood, WASH, education and sports.
She has done her Master's in Social Work, B.Sc. Bioinformatics, from Devi Ahilya University, Indore.

M. Chidambaranathan (Chidam) supports the Dalyan team and its partners as project manager, expert, and coach, and is based in Bangalore, India.
Chidam is a development professional with 25 years of experience in the social sector in India, focusing on women’s livelihood generation, microfinance, institution building, and monitoring and evaluation.
He holds a PhD in Social Science from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and Masters' degree in Social Work from Bharathidasan University, Trichy.

 

Türkiye

Yeşim Yağcı Silahtar is representing Dalyan in Türkiye and is based in Istanbul.
Yeşim has in-depth experience as a senior project manager in consulting, procurement manager and IT outsourcing account manager. She has steered her career towards project and people management, before focusing her engagement on the civil sector.
Yeşim holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Türkiye.

 

Switzerland

Adrian Nigam has been volunteering as project manager for one of Dalyan’s NGO partnerships for many years.
Adrian has experience in originating, structuring and executing investments, and holds a BA (Hons) law degree from the University of Nottingham.

Benjamin Hanle volunteers as project manager for one of Dalyan’s NGO partnerships. He has experience in investment advisory and execution.
He completed his Ph.D. in economics and finance at the University of St. Gallen and holds a M.Sc. in Finance and M.Sc. in real estate.

Celia Inacio volunteers as the lector for all publications at Dalyan.
Celia has multiple years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, and was engaged as a teacher in various government schools throughout Asia.
Celia holds a Cambridge Certificate in English language teaching.

Daniela Graf volunteers as responsible person for all marketing activities at Dalyan.
Daniela has over 20 years of experience in marketing and product management.
She holds a master’s degree in economics as well as an executive MBA.

Farhad Merzaie volunteers to support one of Dalyan’s NGO partnerships.
With his professional background in corporate information technology solutions, he also assists Dalyan in IT matters.
Farhad holds a master’s degree in information technology from ZHAW Zürich.

Isabelle Landolt volunteers as project manager and is responsible for finances, controlling, and accounting at Dalyan.
Isabelle has extensive experience in financial accounting, especially in the field of institutional funds. She has worked for multiple international banks and has headed an accounting team for 15 years. Isabelle holds a federal diploma in finance and accounting.

Martina Müller works as an intern at Dalyan.
She has a background in political science, with a particular focus on development and gender, and a specialization in psychology of development.
Martina holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Zurich.

Melike Sal volunteers as project manager for one of Dalyan’s NGO partnerships.
Melike has extensive experience in administration and paralegal work, and holds a degree as expert on business administration.

Susanne Grossmann is the Managing Director of Dalyan and Member of the Dalyan Board.
During her 10 year engagement with the Swiss Government, Susanne gained profound experience in development cooperation and private sector finance in emerging markets. Apart from her work for the Dalyan Foundation, Susanne was on the board of the Swiss Development Finance Institution SIFEM, advises the SECO Start-up Fund, which finances young enterprises in emerging markets, and is in the investment committee of Dreilinden GmbH in Hamburg, an impact investor with a gender focus.
Susanne holds a master’s degree in history and economics.

Valeria Rudolf volunteers as internal communication manager for Dalyan.
With her professional background in the hotel industry, Valeria specializes in event and travel management.
She holds a certificate in business economy HF.

Yonca Even Guggenbühl is the President of the Board of Dalyan.
She has extensive experience in business consulting and as a healthcare entrepreneur.
Yonca holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Zurich.

Board

Bernard Imhasly has been Dalyan's focal point in India since its establishment and is member of the Dalyan Board.
Bernard worked with the Swiss foreign service and as a correspondent in South Asia for a renowned Swiss newspaper for many years. He is now working as an advisor to several foundations which focus on social and economic development in the region.
Bernard holds a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich in linguistics and anthropology.

Lisa Jean-Mairet is a member of the Dalyan Board.
Lisa has been working within the philanthropy and impact investing space since 2012, when she first interned at Dalyan during her bachelor’s degree. Lisa specializes in entrepreneurial approaches to fighting absolute poverty, with a geographic focus on the African continent and the Indian subcontinent. She has also gathered professional experience working with start-ups and for a social enterprise in India, and completed the UBS Graduate Talent Program. Lisa joined elea in Zurich in 2018, and today she leads elea's Africa Hub in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lisa holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Murat Even is a member of the Dalyan Board.
He is an attorney with extensive expertise in commerce-related legal matters, international law, and international arbitration.
Murat was born in Istanbul and holds a law degree from the University of Zurich.

Susanne Grossmann is the Managing Director of Dalyan and Member of the Dalyan Board.
During her 10 year engagement with the Swiss Government, Susanne gained profound experience in development cooperation and private sector finance in emerging markets. Apart from her work for the Dalyan Foundation, Susanne was on the board of the Swiss Development Finance Institution SIFEM, advises the SECO Start-up Fund, which finances young enterprises in emerging markets, and is in the investment committee of Dreilinden GmbH in Hamburg, an impact investor with a gender focus.
Susanne holds a master’s degree in history and economics.

Yonca Even Guggenbühl is the President of the Board of Dalyan.
She has extensive experience in business consulting and as a healthcare entrepreneur.
Yonca holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Zurich.

Annual Reports

Our annual report gives an overview of our engagements.