The Zennström Philanthropies was established in 2007. It is governed by its directors, who are Catherine Zennström and Niklas Zennström. Allison Robertshaw heads up the Climate Change programmes. Further information about our team can be found below.
Catherine Zennström, Co-founder and Chair
Catherine is chair and co-founder of Zennström Philanthropies, established in 2007 by her and her husband Niklas. Zennström Philanthropies’ engagement is centred around human rights and climate change.
Catherine focuses on the human rights portfolio, as well as promoting best practice in philanthropy. She has had a deep commitment in the voluntary sector for many years, both as a volunteer and a philanthropist.
She currently serves as a Director on the International Board of Human Rights Watch, as well as serving as Chair of the Advisory Committee of its Europe and Central Asia Division. She is also a member of the International Human Rights Funders Group and The Philanthropy Workshop Alumni Group (TPW co-hort 12), and a Trustee of the Institute for Philanthropy.
From 2002 to 2006, she worked as a full time volunteer at Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International in their London offices. In 2006, she became a trustee of Refuge (a UK national charity fighting domestic violence), and in 2007 became a member of the Paris Committee for Human Rights Watch and the Global Philanthropy Forum.
Before moving to London, Catherine worked for 10 years in the Telecom industry for different international companies in Sweden, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. She is a French citizen and was educated in California and France, and received a BA in Business Administration from the University of Humberside, Hull, UK. Catherine has also taken courses at the LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights.
Niklas Zennström, Co-founder and Director
Niklas Zennström is CEO and Founding Partner at Atomico. He is an entrepreneur and investor who founded Atomico in 2006. He previously co-founded and managed technology companies including Skype, KaZaaA Joost and Joltid. He currently sits on the boards of Atomico portfolio companies including Rovio, Fon, and Jolicloud.
Niklas is best known for co-creating Skype, where he held the position of CEO from Skype’s inception until September 2007. During that time, Skype became the global leader in internet voice communications, with more than 309m registered users within five years of launch.
Prior to Skype, Niklas co-founded and served as CEO of KaZaA, which became the world’s most downloaded internet software in 2003, and a number of other technology companies including Joltid in 2001.
Before following his entrepreneurial ambitions, Niklas was CEO of the European portal, everyday.com. Niklas began his professional career at Tele2, a pioneering competitive phone company in Europe.
Niklas was recognized by Time Magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential People in 2006, and has received numerous other awards for innovation and entrepreneurship. He holds dual degrees in Business and MSc Engineering Physics/Computer Science from Uppsala University in Sweden, and spent his final year at the University of Michigan, USA. Niklas co-founded Zennström Philanthropies, where he is actively involved in combating climate change, improving the state of the Baltic Sea and encouraging social entrepreneurship.
Allison joined Zennström Philanthropies in 2008 to manage the climate change, social enterprise and Baltic Sea fisheries portfolios. She brings with her over ten years experience in the space through a variety of roles in the NGO, business, government and philanthropic sector in both Europe and the United States.
Most recently, she headed up Global Philanthropy and Climate Change work at the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation. Allison holds a BSFS in Economics from the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and an MSc in the History of Economic Development from the London School of Economics.