The Team

Dr. Ella Roininen is the Head of DE&I at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). She has studied Gender, Diversity and Inclusion and has been an educator on the subject for 20 years globally, holding leadership roles both in academia and business. Ella holds a BBA from Schiller International University, an MSc in International Management from HSG and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a Doctorate from the HSG and the Nordic Research School of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies. Ella works with the concepts of voice and awareness. She wants to create spaces free of structures and practices of discrimination and to show how we can include ourselves and others through transferring feminist, intersectional and postcolonial concepts into strategy and into policies, attitudes and practices of inclusion.

Monika Hessemer is a specialist in Diversity, Equality and Inclusion. She is a psychologist with a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Mannheim, specialising in cognitive and clinical psychology. She initially worked in the clinical field, but then shifted her focus to counselling students in the context of diversity, equality and inclusion. For Monika, creating an inclusive society is an ongoing process in which diversity is seen as an enrichment. Her work aims to shift the perspective, away from an orientation towards deficit to an orientation toward strength.

Dr. Anna-Katrin Heydenreich is a DE&I expert. After studying Socioeconomics with a focus on psychology and environmental economics and management, she earned her PhD from HSG on dilemmas in societal collaboration processes. She brings over 15 years of experience in teaching at the HSG and other universities to her current work, and she has also worked for a consultancy firm as a sustainability specialist. Her understanding of equality initiatives in universities deepened through her postdoctoral work on a research project about excellence and equal opportunities before joining the DE&I team in 2019. Anna-Katrin is passionately committed to making diversity a tangible enrichment. She is dedicated to creating conditions that allow everyone to realise their full potential.

Dr. Verena Witzig is a Diversity, Equality & Inclusion expert. Her areas of expertise are in balancing family, studies and career as well as in bias training in recruitment processes. Following her master's degree in International Relations, Verena completed a doctorate in Sociology. As part of her doctoral thesis, she examined the division of labour of separated parents. In her professional practice, Verena wants to contribute to an inclusive culture based on fairness, compromise and mutual understanding.

Lia Merk is a student assistant in the DE&I team. She completed her Matura in the city of Zurich and has been studying Law at the University of St. Gallen since the fall semester of 2022, where she is expected to complete her bachelor's degree in 2025. She supports the entire team in all areas and works on various projects. As a student, it is important to her to make it easier for other students to deal with challenging situations in everyday university life.

Christoph Breier is a DE&I specialist. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD, focusing on the careers of persons with disabilities. He has been part of various research-practice cooperations at HSG’s Center for Disability and Integration aimed at fostering disability inclusion in organisations and workplaces. Christoph holds a bachelor's- and a master's degree in politics and public administration from the University of Konstanz. He understands inclusion as a holistic concept, whereby individuals within organisations not only feel a sense of belonging but are also encouraged to show their authentic selves. Ensuring equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their origin, gender, disability, age or other personal characteristics, is as much a part of creating inclusion as is fostering and valuing diverse perspectives.