Programmes · Grow

Growth is not only about achievement.

It is also about self-knowledge, confidence, clarity and the courage to move differently. Grow is AfroSwissters’ pillar for personal and professional development. Through workshops, book circles, reflection spaces and practical learning formats, we create room for people to develop skills, deepen self-understanding and turn insight into action.

This is where we ask: What do we want to build? What do we need to unlearn? What knowledge, habits, networks and tools help us move forward with more intention?

What Grow includes

Workshops on career, leadership, visibility and self-development · book circles and guided reflection formats · peer learning and honest exchange · practical tools for decision-making, confidence and communication · conversations around ambition, money, work, family, identity and purpose · formats that help participants move from insight into concrete next steps.

Featured format

Start With Yourself: Turning Insight Into Action.

Our book circle and learning format Start With Yourself: Turning Insight Into Action is part of Grow. Inspired by Emma Grede's Start With Yourself, this format creates space to reflect on ambition, self-leadership, discipline, courage, work, identity and the lives we are building. It is not only about reading a book. It is about using what we read as a starting point for honest conversation, personal clarity and collective encouragement.

The format is led by Amina Charles.

Also in Grow

Rise & Thrive.

Rise & Thrive is part of AfroSwissters’ Grow journey. It is a format for anyone navigating ambition, transition, visibility, career, entrepreneurship, family, identity and personal growth. Rise & Thrive brings together conversation, reflection and practical learning — without pretending that growth happens in isolation.

It is about rising with self-awareness and thriving together.

Participants at long tables in a room hung with portrait drawingsClaudia Bruce Quartey in a green dress beside a screen that reads What is negotiation?Claudia Bruce Quartey points to the flipchart; the screen asks How do you feel when you have to negotiate?A participant in a patterned blouse watches Claudia Bruce Quartey at the flipchartParticipants listening, seen from the sideClaudia Bruce Quartey beside a screen that reads Thank you
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At Karl der Grosse, 20 September 2023Claudia Bruce Quartey opens the eveningThe question of the eveningAt the flipchartListeningThank you
Where it began · 2023–24

Six months at Karl der Grosse.

Rise & Thrive began in September 2023 as a monthly series at Karl der Grosse, the Debattierhaus in Zürich’s old town. Each evening took on a different topic.

The first, on 20 September 2023, was a workshop on negotiation skills led by Claudia Bruce Quartey, who works at Red Hat and is also an author and a mother. It was open to all women and FLINTA* people, with a reduced rate for students and job seekers.

On the screen: “How do you feel when you have to negotiate?” On the flipchart: the room’s answers.
nervousexcitedpainfulinsecureshydeterminedideasconfidentstrongambitiousconflictedintimidated

With thanks to Mandy, who opened the door to Karl der Grosse.

The second evening · 11 October 2023

Nurturing healthier relationships.

With mental health counsellors Maneva Tafanalo Salaam and Afi Sika Kuzeawu. This is how Karl der Grosse announced the evening:

Wednesday 11 October 2023 · 19:00 · ErkerzimmerKarl der Grosse Rise & Thrive: Nurturing Healthier Relationships AfroSwissters Connect Workshop with Maneva Tafanalo Salaam and Afi Sika Kuzeawu What are the factors that shape relationship dynamics?How can we overcome hurdles that hinder us from having meaningful interactions? “This empowering evening equips you with strategies to enhance confidence as well as effective communication and nurture fulfilling relationships.” · “This workshop will be held in English and is open to all, regardless of gender and relationship status.” In Kooperation mit AfroSwissters
From the Karl der Grosse programme, October 2023

Every edition so far.

2023 – 2026 · Zürich and Lavaux
  1. 20.09.2023Mastering negotiation skillsWith Claudia Bruce QuarteyKarl der Grosse
  2. 11.10.2023Nurturing healthier relationshipsWith Maneva Tafanalo Salaam and Afi Sika KuzeawuKarl der Grosse
  3. 15.11.2023Empower your financial futureWith financial advisor Jennifer ObiKarl der Grosse
  4. 17.02.2024Unlocking AI’s potential for your careerWith Tallulah Patricia BärKarl der Grosse
  5. 16.03.2024Connect, Heal and Grow: closing evening of the first seasonWith a finance and insurance workshop by Jesslyn FischerKarl der Grosse
  6. 16.02.2025Lunch at African Queen, then slow fashion at OnuliWith Onuli co-founder Valerie KerriZürich
  7. A guest in a colourful patterned top laughingThree women smiling side by sideA guest in a striped top at lunch
    16 February 2025: lunch at African Queen, then Onuli
  8. 30.03.2025Afro-European fusion cuisineCooking class and dinner with Marie Madelein Sack, founder of BiNaBiZürich
  9. 29.06.2025Summer brunch in the Lavaux vineyardsTheme: “Legacy in motion”Lavaux
  10. 06.06.2026Growth: career, family and wellbeing“How do we build careers that leave room for both professional growth and personal life, without reducing either?”Karl der Grosse
  11. 26.08.2026Resilience, belonging and rebuildingLys Silva and Tallulah Patricia Bär in conversation: “How do we rebuild belonging after displacement, rupture or migration?”Karl der Grosse
Why Grow matters

Many of us are expected to be strong, adaptable and excellent — often without access to the rooms, networks, language or support that make growth sustainable. Grow creates space to name what we need, build what we know, and support each other as we move forward.

Not performative empowerment. Not empty motivation. Not perfection. Grow is about honest development — personally, professionally and collectively.

AfroSwissters Book Circle: Start With Yourself — Turning Insight Into Action, event visual
Book Circle · 18 Aug · online
Who it is for

Grow is open to everyone who shares our values. Each event page says who the format is for, the language and how to take part.

Upcoming workshops, book circles and learning formats are announced through our events page and member updates.