Gilles Marchand
Senior Advisor
Gilles Marchand is a Senior Advisor at Leidar, bringing four decades of experience in media leadership, public service, governance, institutional transformation, and legitimacy.
He is the Founder of legitima, a consultancy dedicated to helping organisations understand, structure, and strengthen their legitimacy in complex environments. legitima works in partnership with Leidar to advise leaders, companies, and institutions on how to build trust, navigate public expectations, and maintain their licence to operate over time.
Gilles is also Director of the Media Philanthropy Initiative at the University of Geneva, which explores the role of philanthropic engagement in supporting independent, sustainable, and trusted media. He is President of the International Alpine Film Festival of Les Diablerets and a Board Member of the Locarno International Film Festival.
From 2017 to 2024, Gilles served as CEO of SRG SSR, the Swiss public broadcasting service. He previously led Télévision Suisse Romande before becoming Director of RTS, following the merger of French-speaking Swiss radio and television into a single organisation. Across these roles, he led major public media institutions through periods of technological, political, and societal change.
Earlier in his career, Gilles worked in publishing before becoming Managing Director of the Ringier Romandie press group. He has also held board and institutional roles with TV5Monde, the European Broadcasting Union, and the University of Geneva, and served on the Swiss Federal Media Commission from 2013 to 2017.
Gilles holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Geneva.