The Steering Committee is responsible for the strategic planning, future development and content coordination of the Hub. The duties of the Steering Committee members include three Steering Committee meetings per year to discuss current developments, agenda prioritisation, work strategy and topics of interest. It consists of 16 voting members, two representing each of the eight stakeholder groups: Academia, Civil Society, Foundations, International Organizations/Experts, Political Spehere, Private Sector, Think Tanks and Youth. All members of the Hub were eligible to vote. Each eligible voter had two votes to cast within their own stakeholder group. 

Until now, the steering committee had been composed of equal numbers of women and men (one woman and one man per stakeholder group).
At the beginning of the year, the Steering Committee amended its statutes. From this year's election onwards, the following rule will apply:
 

1. If two women or non-binary persons receive the highest number of votes in their respective stakeholder groups, both will be given seats on the Steering Committee.
2. If this is not the case, the female or non-binary candidate with the most votes and the male candidate with the most votes will be elected to the Steering Committee, as before. 

Of the 1,892 eligible Hub members, 12.3% exercised their right to vote, casting their ballots via the POLYAS online voting platform from May 20 to June 2, 2026. The highest voter turnout was approximately 28.5% in the think tank stakeholder group. The lowest turnout was 8.2% in the stakeholder group youth. 

Turnout in the stakeholder groups 

A total of 33 candidates from the eight stakeholder groups were nominated for the election. Below are the candidates with the most votes who will receive a seat in the new Steering Committee: 

Academia: 

• Dr Daniela Fusco - Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM) 
• Prof Dr Dr Andrea Winkler - Center for Global Health, Technische Universität München (TUM)

Civil Society:

• Melissa Scharwey - Ärzte ohne Grenzen 
• Fiona Uellendahl - World Vision Deutschland e.V. 

International Organisations/ Experts: 

• Dr Julia Fitzner - World Health Organization (WHO)
• Katja Roll - Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

Foundations: 

• Jennifer Hart - Wellcome Trust 
• Tobias Kahler - Gates Foundation 

Political Sphere:

• Dr Kirsten Kappert-Gonther (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
• Sascha van Beek (CDU/CSU)

Private Sector:

• ​Dr Lara Petersen - German Health Alliance ​(GHA)
• Dr Alois Dörlemann - Health Focus GmbH

Think Tanks: 

• ​Victoria Saint - Berlin Interdisciplinary Global Health Network
• Dr Christoph Benn - Joep Lange Institute 

Youth: 

• Charlotte “Lotti” Holste - Bundesvertretung der Medizinstudierenden in Deutschland e.V. (bvmd)
• Ahmet Bekisoglu - Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin und AG Global Health, TU München

GET TO KNOW OUR STEERING COMMITTEE HERE (GERMAN ONLY)

These elected members have already been on the steering committee 

6 of the 16 elected steering Committee members were already members of the previous steering committee, including Dr. Christoph Benn, Dr. Alois Dörlemann, Dr. Julia Fitzner, Jennifer Hart, Tobias Kahler and Fiona Uellendahl.

The newly elected Steering Committee met for the first time at the beginning of June for onboarding and a virtual meet-and-greet. The first official meeting of the new Steering Committee will take place on 6 July 2026.

If you'd like to get in touch with the representatives of your stakeholder group, you can find your group on our Hub Collaboration Space.