The Board of Loza Foundation consists of individuals with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, united by a shared responsibility for the organization’s long-term efforts to combat extreme poverty. In 2026, the focus is on stable governance, clear monitoring, and the continued development of field operations.

Over recent years, the Board of Loza Foundation has been shaped with the aim of creating long-term sustainability, accountability, and close proximity to the organization’s work. Through field visits, ongoing follow-up, and active board engagement, the Board has developed strong insight into both the opportunities and the limitations that characterize efforts to address extreme poverty.

Since September 2025, the Board has been chaired by Johan Isacson as Chair, with Lina Brustad serving as Vice Chair. Together with the other board members, they contribute expertise in communication, legal matters, investments, digital development, and organizational governance.

The Board in 2026 consists of:

• Johan Isacson, Chair

• Lina Brustad, Vice Chair

• Jörgen Grubbeson, Board Member

• Ali Habibi, Board Member

• Thony Hannell, Board Member

• Magnus Sjöbäck, Board Member

• Pär Rylöv, Board Member

• Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary General

The Board’s work is characterized by close collaboration with the organization’s operational activities. During 2025 and 2026, the Board has prioritized, among other things, the development of a digital platform for monitoring and impact measurement, strengthened structures for transparency and reporting, and laid the foundation for long-term partnerships with companies and other stakeholders.

Field visits and direct meetings with local teams and families are an important part of the Board’s work. These experiences contribute to a shared understanding that extreme poverty is complex and multifaceted, and that sustainable change requires structure, presence, and long-term perseverance.

In 2026, the Board will continue to focus on governance, quality, and long-term development, with the goal of providing Loza Foundation’s work with stable conditions to reach more people in vulnerable life situations.

In early September, Loza Foundation’s new Chair, Johan Isacson, and Board Member Lina Brustad travelled to North Macedonia to follow the organisation’s field work and meet local partners. The visit provided a deeper understanding of the practical complexity of extreme poverty.

From 1–5 September 2025, Loza Foundation’s new Board conducted its first joint field visit to North Macedonia. Johan Isacson and Lina Brustad visited several areas where the organisation works together with local teams and partner organisation Dendo Vas, focusing on families with children living in extreme poverty.

The purpose of the trip was to give the Board a clear picture of how the work is carried out on the ground and the challenges families face in their daily lives. During the visits, it became clear that poverty is not only about a lack of food or money, but also about identity, language, education and access to public services.

“For me, the trip offered entirely new perspectives on poverty. Lacking food for the day is concrete and easier to understand but being trapped in poverty generation after generation due to a lack of identity documents, language skills and schooling is harder to grasp unless you see the consequences with your own eyes,” says Lina Brustad.

Johan Isacson describes the trip as crucial for understanding the organisation’s work beyond reports and summaries.

“Being on site and meeting families and field workers provides a completely different understanding of how complex this work is. It involves long-term processes where small changes can have a significant impact on individual lives,” says Johan Isacson.

During the trip, the limitations of available resources also became clear. The needs are extensive and far exceed the organisation’s capacity. At the same time, the importance of recognising the concrete difference the work makes in individual cases was highlighted — for example, when a child gains access to medication or when a family can begin the process of obtaining identity documents.

Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary General of Loza Foundation, emphasises the importance of the Board gaining this kind of close-to-field experience.

“When the Board sees the work on site, a shared understanding is created of both opportunities and limitations. This provides better conditions for sound decision-making and long-term responsibility for the organisation’s work,” says Sabina Grubbeson.

The field visit confirmed the Board’s shared understanding of Loza Foundation’s work: that extreme poverty is multifaceted and requires presence, structure and persistence over time.

On 10 September 2025, Pär Rylöv concluded his role as Chair of Loza Foundation. During his time with the organisation, a coaching-based approach was developed and became a central part of the work to combat extreme poverty.

After four years as Chair, Pär Rylöv stepped down from his position in connection with Johan Isacson assuming the role of new Chair. During Pär Rylöv’s tenure, the organisation underwent a clear development, with a strong focus on structure, methodology and long-term commitment in its work with families living in extreme poverty.

One of the most significant developments was the introduction of a coaching-based approach in field work. The method is built on actively involving families in identifying their own needs, understanding their opportunities and taking steps towards change, with support from local field teams.

“The coaching-based approach has given the organisation a shared language and a clearer direction, both internally and in our engagement with families in the field,” says Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary General of Loza Foundation.

Over the years, Pär Rylöv has participated in several field visits, including to the institution in Demir Kapija and to some of the most vulnerable areas of Skopje. These visits have been important in anchoring the working approach in practice and ensuring that the method functions in real-world environments, not only in theory.

Although Pär Rylöv is stepping down as Chair, he will continue his engagement with Loza Foundation as a member of the Board. The transition marks a shift in which the organisation moves forward with an established method and structure, while a new Chair takes on the task of further developing communication around the work.

Photo: Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary General of Loza Foundation, and Johan Isacson, Chair, on site in North Macedonia.

Loza Foundation has appointed Johan Isacson as its new Chair. He succeeds Pär Rylöv, who steps down after four years in the role.

Johan Isacson has extensive experience from international contexts. He has worked in, and has strong networks across, several of the regions where Loza Foundation is actively engaged.

Through previous collaborations, Johan has also worked with organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and SOS Children’s Villages. With a background in international leadership within the private sector and experience from complex environments, he brings solid expertise in governance, communication, organisational development, and strategic board work.

The Board’s decision to appoint Johan Isacson is based on his ability to combine long-term responsibility with clear structure and transparency. In his role as Chair, he sees strong value in building on the methods and ways of working already established, while further developing how the organisation shares its experience and results with the wider public.

“I see strong opportunities for Loza Foundation to continue developing and growing as an organisation. My ambition is to contribute to greater clarity around how the work in the field is carried out, how Loza’s methodology functions in practice, and the real difference it makes for people living in extreme poverty,” says Johan Isacson.

He emphasises the importance of long-term perspective and clear governance, both internally within the organisation and in dialogue with donors, companies, and partners. A key part of the role is to contribute to a deeper understanding of Loza Foundation’s approach and methodology, without oversimplifying the complexity of working against extreme poverty.

“Trust is built through understanding. When we are clear about what we do, why the work matters, and how change happens over time, we create long-term credibility,” says Johan Isacson.

Johan Isacson formally assumed the role of Chair on 10 September 2025.

In Prilep, Loza Foundation met with a field team with extensive experience of working in vulnerable communities. The discussions focused less on individual interventions and more on how the working approach has changed, and what it means to work with families rather than for them.

During a working meeting in Prilep, field workers from Loza Foundation’s local partner organisation gathered to reflect on their work within the End Extreme Poverty project. Among those present were Sami Ajdini, Sabri and Bedria, all of whom have experience from previous social projects targeting people living in extreme poverty.

The conversation quickly turned to the differences between this work and earlier projects. Several field workers described how their role has fundamentally changed.

“In many projects, we have been used to people coming to us with demands and us delivering solutions. Or telling them what their problems are and how they should be solved. Here, we work differently,” says Sami Ajdini.

Instead of taking over the process, the focus is on dialogue, understanding and responsibility. The coaching-based approach means that field workers spend time helping families articulate their own needs and understand the steps required to move forward.

“The method has made our work easier, but also more demanding. We work more with dialogue than instructions, and that makes families more involved in their own processes,” Sami explains.

The field team shared several examples of how this changed approach has had a tangible impact. A recurring issue involves families who lack identity documents or are registered in the wrong municipality, which in practice excludes them from access to housing, healthcare, and employment. In previous projects, such obstacles were often seen as unsolvable.

“Many people have been told that their problems cannot be solved. They accept this and stop talking about what is their biggest barrier,” says Sami.

By working systematically, gathering information and taking one step at a time, the field team has shown that these problems are often administrative rather than impossible. One example raised during the meeting concerned a family registered in Tetovo despite living in Prilep. To gain access to housing and identity documents, they needed to be deregistered, registered anew and engage with several authorities — something the family neither had the financial means nor the knowledge to manage on their own.

“When we sit down and go through the process together, it becomes clear that there is a way forward. It takes time, but it is not impossible,” says Sami.

The field workers also described how the approach has affected them as a team. Collaboration has become closer, communication more open and relationships with families more trusting.

“We are in constant contact with each other. It is not just about solving problems, but about building trust,” says Sabri.

The meeting in Prilep demonstrated how practical field work is essential for Loza Foundation’s model to function. The digital platform provides structure and follow-up, but it is in the conversations, in the meetings and in the slow, consistent work with each family that change takes shape.

For the field team in Prilep, the work is not about quick results, but about creating the conditions for people to take steps out of extreme poverty themselves — with support, time and clarity.

The board management platform Hippoly has chosen to support Loza Foundation by providing access to its digital boardroom. The collaboration is an example of how companies can contribute to Loza Foundation’s work by strengthening the organisation through non-financial support.

Loza Foundation has entered a partnership with Hippoly, a digital board platform founded by Ola Gravenfors. Through the collaboration, Loza Foundation receives free access to Hippoly’s boardroom, which facilitates ongoing board work and creates improved structure in the organisation’s decision-making processes.

“It is great that Hippoly can be of use to you, and that you want to share this on your website,” says Ola Gravenfors, founder of Hippoly.

The contact between Loza Foundation and Hippoly was established with the support of former Chair of the Board Pär Rylöv, who helped connect the organisation with Hippoly’s founder. The collaboration illustrates how companies can contribute resources that strengthen the long-term work of non-profit organisations, without this necessarily involving financial donations.

Loza Foundation views corporate partnerships as an important part of the organisation’s development, particularly when they are based on mutual understanding and concrete needs.

“We are very grateful for Hippoly’s generous contribution. Access to their platform gives our board better conditions to work in a structured and efficient way, which ultimately strengthens the organisation’s field operations,” says Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary General of Loza Foundation.

In February 2025, Loza Foundation’s Secretary General, Sabina Grubbeson, and Chairman of the Board, Pär Rylöv, travelled to North Macedonia to follow up on the organisation’s new working model in practice. The visit confirmed that the approach delivers clear results for families with children living in extreme poverty.

During the trip, Sabina Grubbeson and Pär Rylöv visited field operations in Skopje, Prilep and Bitola, where Loza Foundation works together with local teams to support families with children living in extreme poverty. The purpose of the visit was to evaluate how the new working model functions in practice, with a particular focus on the combination of humanitarian support, digital monitoring and a coaching-based approach.

On site, they met both families and field workers who work closely on a daily basis with the people involved in the project. A clear picture emerged: the approach differs significantly from traditional aid models and creates a higher level of participation among those receiving support.

“This project differs from all other projects we have worked on before. We now have a way of working that makes things easier for us in the field and strengthens families’ ability to understand their own needs and take responsibility for change,” says field worker Sami Ajdini, who works in Prilep.

Sabina Grubbeson also highlights the importance of the new project and how it functions in real-life settings:

“I was positively surprised by how well the model worked in practice. The purpose of the trip was to evaluate our work, and what we saw in the field confirmed that the method has an impact where it is needed most,” says Sabina Grubbeson.

The new working model is based on long-term commitment and a strong presence in the field, where each family’s situation is mapped and followed over time. Through a coaching-based approach, the focus is on identifying obstacles and opportunities together with the families, rather than only providing temporary solutions.

The February visit became an important confirmation that Loza Foundation’s method not only works in theory, but also in everyday interactions with people, where change takes time but begins with the right conditions.

This autumn, the Loza Foundation launched their new project, ’End extreme poverty’. The work is based on a new model to reach more people and ensure lasting results. So far, the project has been initiated in three different areas in North Macedonia.

’Getting out of extreme and multi-dimensional poverty is exceptionally complex. It is not just about finances but also about the opportunity or possibility to influence one’s situation, for instance, when it comes to health and education. Our new method is also a proven success, and we are now looking for companies who want to partner with us and help us fight extreme poverty,’ says Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary-General at Loza Foundation.

Photo: Pär Rylöv, Chairman of Loza Foundation, is the person behind the new model and has taught the project field workers the new coaching approach. The photo was taken in one of the problematic areas on the outskirts of Bitola and features Pär Rylöv, Secretary-General Sabina Grubbeson, with Ivana and Almira, who are Loza Foundation’s field workers.

Loza Foundation is striving to eradicate extreme poverty in Europe. By using tangible, sound projects in the affected areas, we help make a significant difference for the most vulnerable citizens. Our goal is to get them over the threshold for what is classed as extreme poverty, to break alienation with the help of knowledge and tools so they can help themselves.

Our new method


Loza Foundation has developed a new model and method that guides and motivates the participants to achieve lasting, positive change. The method is based on four years of experience from the pilot project ‘Children in Extreme Poverty’ and is combined with an online platform.

The field workers in Loza’s North Macedonian team have been taught how to adopt a coaching approach, a tried and tested method often used in business development and leadership. By supporting and guiding project participants, the field workers create the right conditions for self-awareness and autonomy. They ask open, poignant questions rather than providing direct answers or solutions, which in turn create empowerment.

Empowerment is about believing in one’s capability, such as daring to apply for a job. People who face discrimination lose hope and forget they are valuable.
‘If everyone laughs at you because you are dirty or cannot count, sooner or later, you stop trying,” Sabina Grubbeson explains.

The Global Goals of the UN for Sustainable Development


Aided by the online platform, the families’ progress is being tracked with reference to ten relevant subject areas from the United Nations’ list of sustainable development goals. Each subject area contains quantifiable questions that determine the family’s multidimensional poverty.

Based on these questions, we will gain insight into the family’s situation, and they also gain a greater understanding of what different changes may mean to them. Motivation lies within that process.

“Families with children are very much involved and committed to establishing an agenda for their own development. When we tried the model in the field, it did not take long for us to gain quick, apparent results. Now, we simply want to roll this out to many places and witness its effect over time. Our aim is to crack the code with a successful model of fighting extreme poverty,” says Sabina Grubbeson.

”Our aim is to crack the code with a successful model of fighting extreme poverty.”

Important lessons learnt


The result from the pilot project was also very positive, as most participants became more solution-oriented and their living conditions improved. You can find more information in our newsletter from October 2024. But, of course, there were other challenges, too. When poverty and alienation have been passed from generation to generation, we have realised it may be difficult for people to understand how changes could affect them in the long term: “Why should I go to school and learn how to read and count if I need money today?”

We have also noticed that certain obstacles can quickly and easily knock the families, who then have to try to pick themselves up again. One little issue could cause the parents to lose their jobs, the children to leave school, and we need to start over.

“Learnings are crucial and deepen our understanding of how people who have lived hand to mouth for a long time react in different situations. We are taking these lessons learnt into the new, permanent project. It is all about motivating and learning to think long-term.

Children with a spark in the eye

”Our vision is that people suffering from alienation should have faith in the future. When people are provided with the fundamentals for work, education, health and feeling safe & secure, they have the space to plan for tomorrow. Children whose eyes are sparkling and who have dreams give us the motivation and driving force to carry on,” says Sabina Grubbeson.

”With a vision that people who suffer alienation should have faith in the future.”

WE ARE NOW LOOKING FOR COMPANIES WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY


To be able to fund our work, we are now offering partnerships where we together can make a significant difference in the fight against extreme poverty. As a Loza Foundation partner, you will be given a detailed annual report showing how your investment has been used and its effect. This report can be used in your communication and be integrated into sustainability reporting and CSR strategies.

With the help of online solutions, we maximise the effect and strip away unnecessary administration to ensure your investment is used for the designated purpose.

Please get in touch with Loza Foundation for more information: info@lozafoundation.org

The first day at school is a big event for any child, but for the sisters from North Macedonia, Samira (8 yrs) and Natalija (11 yrs), it is a true milestone. Loza Foundation has fought for their and other paperless children’s rights for several years.

“Without identity papers, children are denied education, healthcare and other social security measures. The fact that Samira and Natalija can finally attend school is a huge relief and success, even though lots of work still needs to be done. Around 3,000 individuals are estimated to be paperless in North Macedonia today. The majority are children, and the number keeps increasing”, says Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary-General at Loza Foundation.

Loza Foundation has accompanied Samira and Natalija on their journey for several years. Their family was the first family to have their own home in the framework of ‘Families with children in extreme poverty’, a project that started in 2020. Before then, they had had to move between temporary sheds and huts, without proper access to electricity or running water. You can read more about this in our March 2022 newsletter.

With a roof over their heads, a front door that can be locked, and a bed to sleep in, it is much easier to tackle tasks like getting a job and making the kids attend school. The operative staff members of Loza Foundation in North Macedonia have supported the family in this transition. Sadly, the two oldest siblings in the family were too old to start regular schooling, yet too young to attend adult education in the evening, and on the job market, they were not classed as old enough either.

“We have noticed this gap on several occasions, as youngsters between 14 and 18 years old are not welcome anywhere, so early intervention is super-important”, says Sabina Grubbeson.

Samira and Natalija were still young and could make up for lost time, but they lacked identity papers from North Macedonia as they were born in Italy, where the family lived for a short spell. You can find the full story in our newsletter from April 2023.

Since the beginning of 2023, Loza Foundation has supported the girls’ parents in the process of, first of all, getting them birth certificates from Italy and then applying for identity papers in North Macedonia. This process has been time-consuming, costly, and practically impossible to go through on your own if you don’t understand the system, cannot read, and don’t have the money to spend on the required travel and expenses.

“At Loza Foundation, we work long-term and we don’t give up. In September last year, the applications for identity papers could finally be submitted. And to ensure the girls wouldn’t fall behind too much in school, we have also funded homeschooling to teach them how to read and count”, says Sabina Grubbeson.

Education is key to breaking the patterns of poverty and alienation that are passed on from generation to generation. Despite Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) stating that all children have the right to free schooling, according to North Macedonian law, there is no obligation for children lacking North Macedonian identity papers.

Several attempts to get the girls into school sadly failed during the autumn of 2023 and spring of 2024, and their identity papers had yet to be finalised as the summer months passed. But in August of 2024, the school doors suddenly opened, and the children were welcome despite still lacking their identity papers. Thanks to the homeschooling the girls had received, Samira could join third grade with other children of the same age, and from a knowledge perspective, Natalija was only a year behind her peers, so she could join fifth grade.

“Samira and Natalija are so-called pioneer children, i.e., the first in their family to enter the education system despite living in severe socio-economic conditions. When we talk to the girls’ father a few days before starting school, he is resolute that his daughters will go to university in the future. Parental support for the schooling of pioneer children is crucial but sadly rare, so we continuously work on deepening people’s understanding that this is the way out of poverty and vulnerability.

What we are missing now are the girls’ identity papers. The application was submitted more than a year ago, but there has been no progress so far, and they still don’t have the right to healthcare or legal protection. We are hoping this will be solved in a not-too-distant future”, says Sabina Grubbeson.

She explains that moving forward, the authorities in North Macedonia have to prioritise the situation of all paperless individuals to ensure that more people can get out of extreme poverty and integrate into society. They will also need to ensure that schools across the country accept all children, regardless of their legal status.

“Our efforts on the ground are currently crucial to give paperless children the chance of an acceptable future, but we need your support to reach even more.”

The film about extreme poverty
Loza Foundation has produced a film about what it is like to live in extreme and multi-dimensional poverty, in which Natalija and Samira are featured. We are now planning a sequel where their family can tell the audience how their lives have changed by starting work and attending school.
If you want to know what we are up to, what our work is all about and watch the film, please subscribe to the Loza Foundation newsletter. Link to the video “No poverty”

A brief overview of our project ’End Extreme Poverty’
In 2024, we will start a new project to support families with children who live in extreme and multi-dimensional poverty.
With the help of operational staff in the poorest areas of North Macedonia, our project ’End Extreme Poverty’ will strive to lift the people who are right on the margin of society in order for them to be able to work and attend school and thereby raise themselves above the poverty level that the World Bank has set for extreme poverty, which today is 2.15 USD per day.
Loza Foundation is contributing to the Global Goals of the UN for sustainable development, specifically focusing on goal number 1: No Poverty. You can read more about the Global Goals here: THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development

If you want to support Loza Foundation and help us support more children. Please click here for more information.

Imagine the delight when Faik, Ramiza, and their ten children could finally leave misery behind and move into a warm home with water and sewage facilities in Skopje, North Macedonia, in early February.                                                                

Faik and Ramiza are also the first parents within the framework of the Loza Foundation’s project “Families in Extreme Poverty” to receive conditional donations: they commit to ensuring that their children attend school.                                  

“We have worked a long time to provide a home for these children. Getting the agreement in place has been a lengthy process, and finding a house with enough room for the family, which they can also afford, has been a real challenge that has dragged on”, says Sabina Grubbeson, Secretary-General, Loza Foundation.

When every day is a struggle for survival, school and education are often pushed far down the list of priorities, but with a safe home, a job to go to, enough food for the day, and clothes on their backs, families can start building their lives for the long term.

Attending school is the most crucial factor in preventing poverty from being passed down to the next generation. However, there is evidence that maintaining motivation can sometimes be difficult, especially when children who are already behind in school face further setbacks and discrimination.

Support for increased attendance
Children typically lag far behind their classmates in terms of academic knowledge as they have missed several years of school. They feel that teachers and classmates look down on them, and they are sometimes sent home if they don’t have shoes or wear tattered clothes. In such situations, it is easy to lose confidence, skip school, and instead help one’s parents earn money for food.

Loza Foundation has made significant efforts, such as clothes and shoe donations, to increase the school attendance of the children included in the project. Families receive assistance navigating the bureaucracy and red tape surrounding North Macedonia’s school system. Children receive tutoring to catch up with their peers, and parents are given information about health and hygiene.

Sought-after legal solution
Although we have seen many families succeed, we have occasionally felt a need to question whether children are being kept at home. It may not necessarily be for work; it could also be that parents want to protect their children from bullying or shame, and in such cases, an agreement is a tool that works in the interest of the children, ensuring their right to education.
The agreement will be used in conjunction with more significant donations to ensure that children living in houses donated by the Loza Foundation continue their schooling.
In the spring of 2023, an investigation was conducted with the purpose of developing a legal solution. This resulted in a donation agreement, which means that parents assume the responsibility of ensuring their children complete their primary education.

From deprivation to a brand-new start
Faik and Ramiza are the first couple to sign the donation agreement. Loza Foundation’s fieldworkers have supported the family since the start of the “Families in Extreme Poverty” project and have, in various ways, tried to find a solution for the parents and their large brood, who lived in a dilapidated eight sq.m. hut without water, sewage, or functioning cooking facilities.
Imagine the joy when the family recently moved into their new home, with beds of their own, a functional kitchen, bathroom, and laundry facilities. Now, a new process begins as they learn to live in the house and manage the household. Lots of new things are available to them and must be figured out, such as turning off taps, showering, flushing the toilet, and using the refrigerator and washing machine.
Faik, who used to collect and sell plastic and metal to recycling centres, has previously been helped to find work as a cleaner. But the wage is meagre, and he must support the family on approx. €200 per month, which is a challenge. Initially, the family will need a lot of support to learn how to pay bills and be frugal with electricity and hot water to stick to the household budget and ensure they can make ends meet.

The sequel to the film about life in poverty
Loza Foundation has supported the family since 2020, when the “Families in Extreme Poverty” project began. Just over two years ago, the foundation made the first film about the family, where they talked about their situation at the time. This spring, 2024, Loza Foundation will produce a sequel, where the family will talk about their move to the house and the changes that has brought. If you want to follow the progress of these children and watch the film later this spring, you can subscribe to the Loza Foundation newsletter.

If you want to support Loza Foundation and help us support more children. Please click here for more information.

The project in brief
Loza Foundation’s support and mentoring program “Families in Extreme Poverty” started as a two-year pilot project in North Macedonia in 2020. The success of this project was subsequently followed up in 2022 by a survey of North Macedonia’s most vulnerable and deprived areas, with the aim of scaling up the operation into a national project and reaching out to more people. Now, the Loza Foundation is seeking funding for 18 fieldworkers who will work daily on reducing and alleviating poverty, registering children in school, and assisting parents on their way out of extreme poverty. If you want your firm to be a part of this, you can sign up as a corporate sponsor and contribute to the UN Global Goals by reducing poverty in Europe.

Contact Loza Foundation at email: info@lozafoundation.org

Photo: Dare Dimov