About us
Who We Are
Lorena and Katharina met in 2020 in Zurich, Switzerland, whilst working together on a project for an international consulting company. They noticed quickly how smoothly they work together and how well they complement each other. At a casual lunch, Katharina shared about her scientific research on meditation in schools in South African townships and her deep felt vision of empowering future generations with mental and emotional resilience. Lorena was looking for a new challenge and a co-founder, eager to build something meaningful after selling her first company several years before. Lorena deeply resonated with the vision Katharina shared and very soon, they decided to start this adventure together - and thus, INNR WELL was born.
Meet the founders
Katharina, MSc Development Studies
Co - Founder & Visionary; Project & Fundraising Manager
Katharina, born in Switzerland, spent a crucial part of her childhood in war-torn Liberia, West Africa. After relocating to Switzerland and finishing school, she traveled the world solo for a year volunteering in projects in the Costa Rican jungle and teaching at a school and an orphanage in Honduras. Whilst journeying the outer world, it was also an inner exploration, which deepened as she began studying yoga and meditation 12 years ago.
She holds a Master’s degree (MSc) in Development Studies from Uppsala University, Sweden, where she lived for several years also studying Entrepreneurship, Social Psychology, and Neuroethics on the MA level.
Currently, she is researching effects of the Mindfulteens Study at the National Center of Competence in Research - Synapsy Center for Neuroscience and Mental Health Research in Geneva together with a talented team of Psychiatrists and Neuroscientists specialized in Mental Health and Affective Sciences. In this randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness‐based intervention in adolescents, she specifically analyses the connection between resilience and mindfulness in children.
Katharina is a certified project manager with over 6 years professional work experience in large-scale projects in the corporate world in addition to volunteering in organizations and associations in the fields of sustainable development, education and peacebuilding and has been teaching and facilitating in the areas of personal development, meditation and resilience in Norway, where she started her first company.
Her vision of emotional resilience for all children was seeded at the tender age of 7: Witnessing the harsh realities of recent war trauma, having had former child soldiers and children to warlords as friends left her with many unanswered questions, mainly: Why do we have wars / why do humans commit atrocities against each other? And why we do we keep perpetuating violence and abuse? Both, the questions and her deep love for Africa, follow her to this day. In high school, Katharina analyzed “Human Rights Violations during Apartheid”, in her Master’s thesis she proposed “A Novel Approach to Youth Crime Prevention: Mindfulness Meditation Classes in South African Townships”, today she develops and curates trauma-informed tools supporting mental & emotional resilience, collaborating mainly with facilitators from South Africa.
Fun fact: At the age of 23 she spoke 9 languages, yet, at 33 years old she still hasn’t got her driver’s license.
INNR WELL
Together, we can change the world
- one mindful moment at a time.
Lorena, MLaw, MAS Info Sec
Co - Founder, Project Manager & Legal
Lorena born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is half-Mexican and half-Italian. She grew up within two very contrasting cultures, spending her childhood between Switzerland and South Mexico, where a large part of her family lives. She studied in Bern and Lausanne, and after finishing University, moved to Zurich to start her first company.
Lorena holds two Law degrees: BLaw from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Law and Criminal Law from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lorena always enjoyed entrepreneurship and started her first company with her partner during college producing and selling bags, organizing marketing and culinary events, employing her classmates as promoters. Next to her studies, she worked as a lawyer for the foundation for conciliation in telecommunication, and since selling her last start-up, Lorena has worked as a lawyer in law firms and international consulting companies.
Her personal vision of emotional wellbeing is rooted in the way she grew up between Switzerland and Mexico and the different cultural influences she experienced as a child. She started early asking questions about her identity, belonging, and related emotions and feelings such as homesickness, nostalgia and how one can find inner joy, feel safe and at home everywhere on earth. Her vision is to end the perpetuation of violence and abuse, and that we all learn to be better humans.
Fun fact: Her first word was “Smile”; her cat’s name.
