Thank you event "HSG Made by You - Feel The Impact" - a review
On September 16, 2025, the HSG Foundation welcomed over 150 participants to its new thank-you event "HSG Made by You - Feel The Impact". On a multifaceted evening, donors were presented with existing and new HSG funding initiatives, the new champions of the "HSG Best Founders Program" were introduced and the eight fellows of the first St.Gallen Collegium were welcomed. An exciting evening dedicated to the impact that the commitment of donors and funding partners has at the HSG.
An evening dedicated to "talent and freedom"
A musical start to the evening
Olivia Meli, HSG-SIM student and art guide on campus as well as employee of the HSG Foundation, sets the mood for the evening with a musical contribution on the cello. She is an example of the multifaceted talents who study at the University of St.Gallen.
Prof. Dr. Manuel Ammann, Rector and Vice-President of the HSG Foundation, then warmly welcomed the guests and spoke about the promotion of talent and the freedom it gives students: to study, to develop personally and professionally, and also the freedom to develop entrepreneurial ideas and bring them to market maturity.
An exciting and jam-packed program awaited the guests, in which they were able to get to know the HSG's sponsorship projects, which are made possible thanks to their commitment, at close quarters. The evening was hosted by SIM student Louisa Henle and Michael Domeisen, Managing Director of the HSG Foundation.
In the first item on the agenda, Dr. Wolfram Eilenberger, St.Gallen Collegium Fellow, philosopher, author and SRF presenter of "Sternstunde Philosophie", and the Academic Director of the St.Gallen Collegium, Prof. Dr. Claudia Franziska Brühwiler, explained why it is necessary to discuss the concept of freedom anew. Already on the second day, which the Fellows spent on campus that September evening, it became clear what a variety of perspectives the eight Fellows will bring to the Collegium. The discussion already gave the audience an idea of the scope and depth of content that the St.Gallen Collegium is aiming for when it devotes itself to the topic of "Rethinking Freedom" in the coming year.
Improvisation as a mental exercise
Romeo Meyer, actor, singer and improvisation coach, was invited by SQUARE's artistic director Tim Kramer and dramaturge Melanie Osan to make a contribution. His challenge: to give the audience an understanding of SQUARE's basic mission in ten minutes and to make new ways of thinking and openness to new experiences tangible. And he succeeded perfectly. With a lot of imagination and exercises from improvisational theater, he encouraged the audience to join in, think and improvise. This was certainly a new experience for many in the room - as the laughter in the rows suggests.
Focus on promoting talent at the HSG
Prof. Dr. Manuel Ammann and Project Manager Dr. Jessica Aschari-Lincoln presented the "HSG Best Talents Program" as the third funding project on this evening. This new excellence promotion program was also recently initiated thanks to support from private funds. Ammann underlined the importance of the program in order to be and remain attractive as a university for top students from Europe and also to be competitive with other top universities in terms of scholarships. In the autumn semester of 2026, the first cohort of outstanding students will be able to begin their Master's studies at the HSG as part of this program.
The first champions
As a further highlight of the evening, the attendees learned first-hand who had been selected as champions of the "HSG Best Founders Program". After an introduction by Prof. Dr. Dietmar Grichnik about the entire entrepreneurship program at the HSG, Dr. Maria Luisa Fuchs introduced the two entrepreneurial talents Carmel Imhof and Henry Müller. Both HSG students are in the founding phase of their own start-ups and were able to convince the jury with their ideas, technical innovations and mature market entry strategies. They will receive a grant of CHF 100,000 for the further development of their start-up as part of the new HSG Best Founders Program and were now able to convince those present of their ideas with a 3-minute pitch. An exciting race against time!
Anna Rosenkranz, HSG alumna and founder of the start-up Health Yourself, shared her experiences with challenges and her good advice to Carmel and Henry to take the time to appreciate and celebrate successes in a conversation with Dr. Maria Luisa Fuchs afterwards.
At the concluding aperitif, all guests had the opportunity to talk to the stage guests, the project managers and the Fellows of the St.Gallen Collegium in person.
We would like to thank all guests and participants for attending this evening and for their great interest in and commitment to the HSG. Thank you very much!