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Change in Leadership Effective 2027

Annick Rywalski to Become BFU Director

The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) is getting a new leader. The Board of Trustees unanimously elected Annick Rywalski as director. She will succeed Stefan Siegrist in early 2027.
Der Stiftungsrat der BFU wählte Annick Rywalski zur Direktorin. Le conseil de fondation du BPA a élu Annick Rywalski au poste de directrice. The BFU Board of Trustees elected Annick Rywalski as Director.
© Pascou Photography
THE KEY POINTS IN BRIEF
• The BFU Board of Trustees unanimously elected Annick Rywalski as the new director, effective early 2027.
• She succeeds Stefan Siegrist and is the first BFU director from French-speaking Switzerland.
• Rywalski aims to adapt accident prevention to digitalization, AI, and societal trends.

Annick Rywal­s­ki will become the new BFU Direc­tor and take over the lead­er­ship in ear­ly 2027. Accord­ing to a press release, the Foun­da­tion Board unan­i­mous­ly elect­ed her on May 27, 2026. This marks the first time a leader from French-speak­ing Switzer­land will head the BFU. She will suc­ceed Ste­fan Siegrist, who is retir­ing at the end of 2026.

Rywal­s­ki has been work­ing for the BFU since 2019. She has now been select­ed through a pub­lic recruit­ment process, which was sup­port­ed by an exec­u­tive search firm.

Experience in Public Management and Leadership

As a mem­ber of the Exec­u­tive Board, she inte­grates pre­ven­tion pro­grams into the dai­ly lives of the pub­lic. This includes munic­i­pal­i­ties, schools, fam­i­lies, and busi­ness­es. Since 2023, she has also led strate­gic orga­ni­za­tion­al devel­op­ment as Deputy Direc­tor.

In 2025, she com­plet­ed an Exec­u­tive MBA, there­by deep­en­ing her exper­tise in strate­gic and busi­ness man­age­ment.

Election Stands for Continuity and Further Development

For Foun­da­tion Board Pres­i­dent Felix Weber, the elec­tion com­bines con­ti­nu­ity and fur­ther devel­op­ment. He empha­sizes that the BFU enjoys a high lev­el of trust in Switzer­land. Rywal­s­ki knows the orga­ni­za­tion, its part­ners, and the chal­lenges of pre­ven­tion inside out. That is why she brings the ide­al qual­i­fi­ca­tions for the future.

Accident Prevention in Transition Due to AI and Digitalization

Social and tech­no­log­i­cal devel­op­ments are fun­da­men­tal­ly chang­ing pre­ven­tion. Peo­ple are active for longer and engage in a wider vari­ety of activ­i­ties. At the same time, dig­i­tal­iza­tion and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence are open­ing up new pos­si­bil­i­ties. This allows risks to be iden­ti­fied ear­ly and appro­pri­ate pre­ven­tion tools to be devel­oped.

This makes forms of pre­ven­tion with con­crete ben­e­fits all the more impor­tant. They should com­bine tech­no­log­i­cal progress with sci­en­tif­ic exper­tise.

Goals of the New Director

Rywal­s­ki aims to strength­en the BFU as a part­ner for safe­ty. She is con­vinced that the foun­da­tion has a strong foun­da­tion in tech­ni­cal, insti­tu­tion­al, and human resources. Her goal is there­fore to har­ness this poten­tial. Addi­tion­al­ly, she wants to embed pre­ven­tion sus­tain­ably in every­day life.

Stefan Siegrist Steps Down After Many Years of Service

Ste­fan Siegrist will retire at the end of 2026. He has led the BFU since ear­ly 2019. For many years, he played a deci­sive role in shap­ing the fur­ther devel­op­ment of acci­dent pre­ven­tion in Switzer­land.

Who will be the new direc­tor of the BFU?

Annick Rywal­s­ki will be the new direc­tor of the BFU. The Board of Trustees elect­ed her unan­i­mous­ly on May 27, 2026.

She will take over at the begin­ning of 2027. Until then, Ste­fan Siegrist will remain in office.

She is suc­ceed­ing Ste­fan Siegrist. He will retire at the end of 2026.

She has been work­ing for the BFU since 2019 and most recent­ly served as deputy direc­tor. She also com­plet­ed an Exec­u­tive MBA in 2025.

She aims to align acci­dent pre­ven­tion with dig­i­tal­iza­tion and AI. She also intends to strength­en pub­lic safe­ty in the long term.

This page has been translated automatically.

Picture of Michael Gehrken

Michael Gehrken

Michael Gehrken has been firmly established in the Swiss mobility landscape for many years – as a communicator, association director, and strategic thinker. After starting out as a journalist, he moved to the federal administration, where he initially worked as head of communications at the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) and later as co-responsible for NEAT communications at the Federal Office of Transport (FOT). From 2006 to 2014, he was director of the Swiss Commercial Vehicle Association ASTAG, where he had a significant influence on industry communications. Today, as president of L-drive Switzerland, the umbrella organization for Swiss driving instructors, he is at the forefront of an important voice in the field of road safety and training. With the mobility-360.ch platform, Michael Gehrken is committed to independent, fact-based, and forward-looking reporting on all aspects of mobility—from new technologies to social developments. His writing combines experience in politics, business, and practice with a clear vision of the mobility of tomorrow.

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