Profile
Anne Monier is a Senior Researcher in social sciences at the University of Geneva (Geneva Center for Philanthropy, Institute of Sociological Research), leading the Initiative “Philanthropy, Democracy and Just Transition” launched in September 2025. She is also affiliated with CERES (Centre de formation sur l'Environnement et la Société, École Normale Supérieure) and teaches at Sciences Po (School of Publics Affairs). An Ecole Normale Supérieure alumna, she holds a Masters in Humanities from Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) and a Ph.D in social sciences from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).
Before taking up her position at the University of Geneva, she worked as a researcher at ESSEC Business School, at the Collège de France with Professor Pierre Rosanvallon, and at Paris VIII University/CNRS, where she helped launch an initiative on philanthropy and social sciences (PSSP) with Nicolas Duvoux. She has also been a Visiting Sholar at Columbia University, Harvard University, and New York University.
A specialist in philanthropy, Anne Monier has published two books on the subject: Nos chers Amis Américains (PUF, 2019) and, with Sylvain Lefèvre, the collective work Philanthropes en démocratie (PUF/VDI, 2021), as well as several academic articles and book chapters. Her work has been featured in the media (Le Monde, Alternatives Economiques, Challenges, Socialter, Mediapart, NPR, France Culture, Radio Télévision Suisse, Arte etc.)
After working for several years in the field of cultural philanthropy, she launched in 2020 a research project on “The environmental transition of the philanthropic sector in Europe” looking at how philanthropic foundations are addressing environmental issues and trying to bridge social sciences with complexity science / systems thinking approaches. At ECI, she is developing collaborations with colleagues around systems thinking and philanthropy.
Interests
Her work, at the crossroads between sociology, anthropology and political science, tackles the following fields:
- Philanthropy and nonprofit sector
- Environmental transition, Socio-Ecological transformations, just transition
- Social justice, inequalities
- Public-private relations, role of the State
- Democracy, civil society, social movements
- Systems thinking, complexity science
- Qualitative research, inductive research, ethnography
- Arts, culture, cultural diplomacy
She is also very interested in bridging the gap between science and society, working on research dissemination, producing tools for knowledge transfer and public engagement with different stakeholders (philanthropic foundations, international organisations, NGOs, financial actors, public sector etc.).
Selection of publications
Monier Anne (2025), « Facing the Climate Crisis. The Environmental Transition of the Philanthropic sector in Europe » in Neri-Castracane & Ugazio (eds) Philanthropy : Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Routledge
Liu Felicia & Monier Anne (2024). « An Exploration of Hybridity in Climate philanthropy and Investments », Finance and Space, (1)1, 96-103
Monier Anne, Cornilleau Anne, Romain Kristy (2024), « Philanthropy in a changing climate: challenges and perspectives for a just transition.” , Study by the Fondation de France Philanthropy and Society Observatory
Monier Anne (2018) « The role of social capital in transnational elite philanthropy. The example of the American Friends of French cultural institutions » - Socio-Economic Review, Vol.16, n°2, pp.387-410