The Roger Federer Foundation

The Roger Federer Foundation is a Swiss charitable organisation established by former tennis professional Roger Federer, its aim to improve access to quality early learning and basic education for children in six countries in Southern Africa and also in Switzerland. ^[1][2]

Roger Federer Foundation

Formation	2003
Founder	Roger Federer
Type	Charitable foundation
Focus	Early childhood education, basic education, sustainable development
Headquarters	Zürich, Switzerland
Area served	Southern Africa and Switzerland
Key people	Roger Federer (President) Maya Ziswiler (Chief Executive Officer)
Website	rogerfedererfoundation.org

History

The Foundation was established in 2003^[3] in Switzerland as a philanthropic vehicle for Federer's charitable activities.^[4]

Its mission focuses on providing education to disadvantaged children, with a long-term emphasis on sustainability and local ownership.^[5]

Leadership

In 2025, the organisation appointed Maya Ziswiler as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Dr Janine Händel, who led the Foundation since 2010.^[6] Roger Federer is a trustee and its President.^[7]

Activities

Since 2003, the Foundation has financed education programmes and teacher-training initiatives in African countries - Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe - as well as projects in Switzerland.^[8]

By the end of 2024, the Foundation reported having reached approximately 3.1 million children and supported over 59,000 teachers through its partner organisations.^[9]

The Foundation’s strategy emphasises collaboration with local partners, capacity-building and evidence-based planning and it typically commits to long-term partnerships rather than one-off grants, aiming to improve educational outcomes in a sustainable way.^[10]

In 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation made a donation of $500,000 to War Child Holland to secure access to education for Ukrainian children.^[11][12]