Hi, I’m Nachson.

I grew up in West Africa and Europe and I never cared too much about school. I love skiing. At the age of 18, together with my best friend, we built villas in Marrakech. That was my first experience in architecture. I tried and failed to build a tech startup. At 23 years old, alongside my brother Arieh, we founded to.org with the ambition of solving the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges. We started investing. We built a Foundation. And we continue to collaborate on meaningful creative projects on the African continent and beyond. I take photographs. I love to build spaces and I’ve had experience developing real estate and running operations in hospitality. I collect and commission art. I created an alphabet. Right now I’m working on a new hospitality experience to improve mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. I don’t really have any specific skills but my superpower is connecting the most talented people on the planet who are devoted to challenging the status quo. I’m open to collaborations that are ambitious and impactful.

Who is Nachson Mimran?
Nachson Mimran is a father, entrepreneur, creative director, photographer, philanthropist, co-founder of The Alpina Gstaad and co-founder and CEO of to.org. Founded in 2015 by Nachson and his brother Arieh Mimran, to.org is a foundation, and collection of creative endeavours, all focused on decarbonisation, refugee empowerment, and human optimisation.


What philanthropic initiatives is
Nachson Mimran involved in?
Nachson is the co-founder and CEO of to.org, a platform that operates in philanthropy and the creative space, uniting these in a mission of ‘tikkun olam’ – an ancient Hebrew concept of healing the world. Through the philanthropic vertical of to.org, TO: Foundation, Nachson and his team have focused their efforts on refugee empowerment projects including Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre and Regenerate Kakuma.

Other work includes, The Shadowman Van, Light to Learn, and a collaboration with GiveLove Foundation to build numerous sustainable and hygienic public toilets in the Kyebando slum in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, addressing the challenge of human and plastic waste.

Nachson’s philanthropic work is in line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


What is Nachson Mimran’s
connection to Africa?
With African ancestry that extends back several generations – Nachson Mimran’s grandfather Jacques Mimran was a Moroccan-Algerian – the Mimran family has deep cultural and historical ties to the continent. Nachson spent his childhood and early life living between Senegal and Switzerland. His creative, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic pursuits have been heavily influenced by his formative years spent living in and travelling around West Africa. In his early career he built private residences in Africa as well as Europe. Nachson Mimran is Head of International Affairs on the Senegalese Olympic Committee - a position he has held since 2012.


How does Nachson Mimran’s African
heritage influence his work?
Raised between Senegal and Switzerland Nachson and his family have been part of West Africa’s diverse fabric for three generations which profoundly informs his understanding and approach to philanthropic, creative, and entrepreneurial projects. Nachson’s grandfather Jacques Mimran was a Moroccan-Algerian, and owing to his deep familial roots in West Africa Nachson is heavily influenced by the art, design, and craft of West Africa. In Nachson’s early career building property in Africa and Europe, he chose to include art, sculpture, and works made by African and African diaspora artists. In his role as a Creative Director for larger residential and hospitality projects, Nachson continues to draw on his African heritage and is inspired to work with the vast network of artists, designers, and skilled artisans he has accumulated through his career. He continues to work on collaborative projects with African and African diaspora artists.


What businesses or projects are
the Mimran family involved in?
In the past the family has been involved in agro-industrial businesses in West Africa, which were originally founded by Nachson’s Moroccan-Algerian grandfather in 1946. The family co-founded and developed The Alpina Gstaad, a five star hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland that first opened in 2012. Nachson’s brother Arieh Mimran is the Chief Investment Officer of Groupe Mimran. Together with their nephew Joshua Phitoussi, Arieh also co- founded to.vc, a venture capital fund investing in food systems, energy systems, and carbon removal.


Will Nachson Mimran co-found
another luxury hospitality business?
After more than a decade of holding the position of Creative Director and Chairman of the Board of The Alpina Gstaad, Nachson Mimran is turning his attention to other hospitality projects, particularly those that focus on human optimisation. Nachson will reveal his plans in the future. Watch this space.


What is Nachson Mimran’s role
as a creative director?
Nachson held the role of Creative Director for The Alpina Gstaad for over a decade. In this role he felt a responsibility to respectfully introduce guests to concepts that might gently provoke them to think differently about their impact on the world. Nachson used the art collection at The Alpina Gstaad and creative collaborations throughout the property as Trojan horses embedded with important messages to the guests. These messages prompted guests to think about how they might be able to use their own power and influence - whether in the companies they run, or in their social networks - to amplify the message of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to be on the right side of history when it comes to how we treat our planet.

Nachson Mimran was the Creative Director for a private residential complex in Gstaad Switzerland. This extraordinary collaboration between Nachson Mimran, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect, and an array of globally acclaimed artisans, artists, and creatives has resulted in a private residence that not only showcases exceptional design and artisanship but also fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of African culture and its connection to the world at large.


What kinds of photography does
Nachson Mimran specialise in?
Nachson is a self-taught photographer who was introduced to Leica M cameras in 2014. Nachson exclusively photographs on Leica and has a collection of Leica Monochrom cameras which he takes with him on his adventures around the world. In 2024 Nachson had his first solo show, exhibiting a selection of his photography from the last decade. The exhibition was held at Leica Gallery London on Duke Street, Mayfair and was curated by Lou Proud. Nachson shared his thoughts on the exhibition in a statement:

"I’m honoured to collaborate with Leica on this exhibition, my first solo show, and to be sharing moments captured over the last decade on my treasured Leica Monochrom cameras. I hope that visitors to the exhibition can see my intentional use of art, culture, and creativity as a Trojan horse encouraging conversations about important topics; climate change, human displacement, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Thank you to Leica Gallery London for providing the perfect platform for this exhibition of my photographs, all shot on my treasured Leica Monochrom cameras.”


How does Nachson Mimran collaborate
with other creatives and brands?
Nachson Mimran has collaborated with a variety of architects, designers, artists and creatives over the course of his career. Examples of these include The Throne – a collaboration with Nagami; Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre – a collaboration with architects, designers and grassroots organisations including Hassell, LocalWorks, Arup, and Sina Loketa; and Regenerate Kakuma – a collaboration with award-winning architect Sumayya Vally and her practice Counterspace.

Additionally Nachson and his team of Creative Activists regularly collaborate to motivate positive change in other businesses. A project inspired by one of Nachson’s children influenced a large multinational company to think more sustainably about the materials they used in the production of their products.

Through TO: Create and TO: Studios – the in-house creative and production arms of to.org – the team creates compelling short- and long-form content, visual identities, and brand guidelines to amplify innovation, passion, and community. Examples of these projects include a short film for EVERY and the visual identities for mPharma and Wasoko.

Nachson is open to collaborations with other artists and creatives, particularly those that further his missions of scaling decarbonisation, humanitarian initiatives, and human optimisation. For more information please enquire here.


What are Nachson Mimran’s future
goals and ambitions?
Nachson Mimran’s goals and ambitions include scaling decarbonisation, refugee empowerment, and human optimisation.


What is the Bottle Brick toilet and
how was Nachson Mimran involved?
To.org, the platform Nachson founded with his brother Arieh Mimran, has developed several projects that respond to our collective treatment of waste, both human and artificial. The treatment of waste has a profound impact on the future of humanity and our planet. Since the 1950s roughly 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics have been produced, and of these, only about 9% have been recycled; the remainder have been incinerated, piled into landfills, or dumped in the oceans. Unsafe sanitation is responsible for 775,000 annual deaths worldwide, and one third of the world’s population lacks access to adequate sanitation.

In 2018 to.org began exploring a response to this issue in the Kyebando slum in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. In partnership with GiveLove and local organisations, Nachson and his team constructed a sustainable and hygienic public toilet in the heart of the community. This structure was made from bottle bricks, which are made by packing polythene bags into empty plastic bottles, all of which were collected from the surrounding streets; this toilet used 13,356 plastic bottles and hundreds of thousands of waste plastic bags. The goal was to improve local sanitation and public health, and as an added bonus to.org was able to provide paid work to residents for collecting bottles and packing them with bags. The project employed more than 400 people during its period of construction. The Bottle Brick toilet would later lead Nachson and his team to develop The Throne, a 3D printed portable toilet made out of upcycled waste plastic.