- Tuesday, May 27, 2025 @ 7:00 am
ten23 health, the human-centric and sustainable strategic contract development, testing and manufacturing organization (CDTMO) partner of choice for the pharmaceutical industry and biotech start-ups is proud to announce the establishment of its Advisory Board, bringing together leading global experts to confirm its commitment to a "Patients," "People," and "Planet" focused corporate social responsibility policy.
ten23 health has partnered with the St. Gallen Symposium and its Young Leaders on Boards initiative to appoint outstanding leaders to its newly established Advisory Board. Merging experience with innovation, intergenerational collaboration fosters a dynamic team, offering fresh perspectives, ideas, and benchmark standards to advance the Company’s mission.
The new appointed members of the board will provide support on different topics at ten23 health: Susan Hershenson and Aya Chebbi join to strengthen patient-centered initiatives; Jonas Friedrich will advise for people-focused efforts; while Donald Sandmann will spearhead sustainability initiatives centered on the planet. Their diverse expertise in advocacy, organizational design, and sustainability will help shape ten23 health’s future.
Aya Chebbi is United Nations Global Champion on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and Youth Liaison to the Office of Special Representative and Under Secretary General. She rose to prominence as a voice for democracy during Tunisia’s 2010-2011 Revolution, which toppled a 23-year dictatorship. She then served as the first ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth and the youngest diplomat at the Chairperson’s Cabinet (2018 – 2021) where she impacted over one million young people. She served on the World Refugee Council, Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Council of the Africa Public Health Foundation among others, which produced trailblazing reports in the humanitarian, health, gender and development fields. She received the Bill and Melinda Gates Campaign Award and was named in Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women.
Susan Hershenson is a biopharmaceutical consultant with over 35 years of experience in CMC (chemistry, manufacturing, and controls) for therapeutic drug development. As President of S Hershenson Consulting LLC, she provides strategic and technical guidance to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and drug delivery fields. She previously served as Deputy Director of CMC at the Gates Foundation (2013-2024), where she provided technical expertise and strategic direction for global health therapeutics projects. Susan has held key leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical industry including Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Device Development at Genentech and Vice President of Pharmaceutics at Amgen. During her tenure, she built industry-leading pharmaceutical development capabilities and contributed to the development and commercialization of numerous therapeutic products that have advanced patient care. She holds a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Yale University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Stroud. Susan is actively involved in the scientific community and currently serves on several advisory boards.
Jonas Friedrich is a management scholar and organizational sociologist specializing in participatory leadership and new work in democratic enterprises. An expert in democratic organizing for sustainability transformation, he is currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), where his research explores collaborative and ethical approaches to governance, teamwork, and leadership. As a full German Academic Merit Foundation scholar, he gained a bachelor's degree in philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Witten/Herdecke (Germany) and a Master's in Sociology from Oxford University (UK). Jonas has published in leading peer-reviewed journals, contributed to interdisciplinary research on sustainability transitions, and shared his insights at international conferences. With practical experience in organizational consultancy and through hands-on ethnographic research, Jonas provides thoughtful, forward-looking advice to organizations seeking to navigate the complexity of innovation for equity and sustainability.
Donald Sandmann is a communication and policy expert with a background in anthropology and economics, and international academic experience in Germany, Brazil, and the UK. His formative years in Cambodia and India deepened his interest in human interactions within diverse sociopolitical contexts and their impact on ecosystems. Donald began his professional career in 2017 at the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on good governance in the private sector. He later joined a political communication consultancy in Berlin, where he managed projects for political campaigns, international development cooperation, and various associations and advocacy groups. For the past four years, he has led the advocacy efforts of the “Gesunde Erde – Gesunde Menschen (“Healthy Planet – Healthy People Foundation”) initiated by Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen, focusing on cross-sectoral and holistic policies within the One Health framework. Passionate about promoting health and well-being within planetary boundaries, he works to connect experts from civil society, academia, politics, and the private sector.
“Adding diverse perspectives into organizational strategy is key to ensuring long-term and sustainable success and innovation,” explained Prof. Dr. Hanns-Christian Mahler, Chief Enablement Officer (CEO) of ten23 health. He added: “With the recent establishment of our Advisory Board, we can add important elements of intergenerational leadership and benefit from the insights and long-term thinking of both young and most experienced Leaders, to drive further ideation and outcomes for our Patients, People and Planet agenda at ten23.”
