Estelle Roth has been Global Head Employee Giving, Company Matching & Volunteering (GMV) since 2014, based in Switzerland at Novartis Headquarters. She is a member of the Global Social Impact & Sustainability Leadership team and serves in times of humanitarian disasters, natural crisis or geopolitical situations as Emergency Management & Business Continuity strategic advisor to the Executive Committee of Novartis and the local country operations.
Estelle leads the global GMV team, recognized personally with the 2024 Buffy Award for groundbreaking approaches in individual leadership, innovation and social impact and as a program with the 2023 Corporate Social Impact Team Award as part of ACCP’s (Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals) annual Purpose Awards for exceptional leaders and corporate social impact professionals serving as beacons of excellence in their field. Novartis GMV program was featured as best practice for impact measurement & valuation and for a differentiating needs-driven non-profit partnering approach at major conferences and events over the last eleven years. Under her leadership, the Novartis global refugee program was created from the group up and transformed into a business-aligned flagship initiative.
Estelle regularly gives university lectures on social impact program strategies, multi-lateral partnerships of civil society with the corporate sector and on impact measurement & valuation frameworks and applied methodologies.
Estelle joined Novartis in 2007 and held increasing responsibilities in Vaccines Western & Eastern Europe (2007-2010), Pharma Commercial Operations Asia, Middle East & African Countries (AMAC), Global People & Organization (2010-2014) and Corporate Responsibility / Corporate Affairs & Global Health (2014-2022).
Previously, she led an NPO “IBBY” (International Board on Books for Young People) as Director & Program Head of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator in children’s literature.
Prior to that, she was the Global Head Legal Services and member of the Executive Committee of DHL International.
Estelle started her career in the hospitality and airline industries, traveling and culture diversity and inclusion being among her passions to-date. She speaks fluently German, French, English, Spanish and Italian.
Estelle has been volunteering her entire life, as early as the age of ten, teaching Math and German to children of refugees. Since 2017, she acts as VP of BASAID, a global NPO, providing basic development aid in underserved communities.
Estelle has studied Political Economics and holds an MBA. A global citizen at heart, she worked and spent most of her life in various countries around the world, from the French West Indies via Mexico to Ex-Yugoslavia. She currently calls France her home, where she lives with her family and “Ocean”, a Weimaraner dog.