Giovanni Ciserani joined the Hero Group Board of Directors in 2017 and took on the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors in March 2019. He also holds the chair of the Group’s Human Resources Committee.

Verona-born Ciserani worked his way up the ranks at P&G to become one of the company’s top executives. Educated at the prestigious Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, Ciserani spent his entire career at P&G, where he worked for more than 30 years. He retired from the position of Sector Group President Global Fabric and Home Care, Global Baby and Feminine Care at P&G in November 2018.

Ciserani, who is based in Switzerland, joined the Hero Group Board of Directors in 2017. He took over the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors in March 2019 from Dr Hasso Kaempfe who had held the position since January 2013. Ciserani’s position as Chairman was approved during the company's General Assembly in March 2019. Ciserani is also Chairman of the Hero Group Human Resources Committee.

Herbert J. Scheidt is Vice-Chairman of the Hero Group Board of Directors, and also holds the chairmanship of the Group’s Finance and Audit Committee and is a member of the Human Resources Committee.
He has been Chairman of the Vontobel Board of Directors since 2011, before which he served as the bank’s CEO. Prior to that, he worked for Deutsche Bank AG in various roles for two decades from 1982 culminating with his appointment as CEO of Deutsche Bank (Schweiz) AG in 2001.

Scheidt holds a Master’s in Economics from the University of Sussex (UK) and an MBA from the University of New York.

In addition to the Hero Group, Scheidt is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Vontobel AG and Vontobel Holding AG, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SIX Group AG (Zurich, Switzerland), Member  of the Board of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce, Member of the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Commerce Germany-Switzerland (Zurich), Member of the Presidium of the German Council for Foreign Relations  e.V. (DGAP), and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.  

Dr Hagen Duenbostel is a member of both the Hero Finance & Audit Committee and a guest at the Human Resources Committee. He is currently CEO and Executive Board Member of KWS Saat SE, a provider of agricultural seed, based in Einbeck, Germany.  He has been with the company since 1998 in various capacities, CFO of KWS, and latterly responsible for the Corn Division and Corporate Marketing. He began his professional career in auditing at PricewaterhouseCoopers AG in 1995.

Dr Duenbostel holds an MBA from the universities of Regensburg and Passau in Germany and obtained his doctorate from the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Beside his CEO mandate at KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA, Dr Duenbostel is a Member of the Executive Board of the German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP) in Bonn and Member of C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG Advisory Board in Ingelheim, Germany.

Leopold Oetker joined the Hero Board of Directors in 2016. Since March 2019, he has been a member of the Hero Human Resources Committee and  Finance and Audit Committee.

Oetker successfully completed his studies in Culture Studies and History in Berlin and Copenhagen.

He undertook a two-year international business development traineeship at the Hero Group’s former partner Yildiz Holding, and worked at the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. He is involved in charitable work, helping underprivileged children in his hometown Berlin, Germany.

Oetker has taken an active role in formulating and promoting the Hero Group’s sustainability commitment to become net neutral.

Margaret Versteden joined the Hero Board of Directors in March 2019 and is a Member of the Human Resources Committee.

Versteden holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Systems (IT) from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and an MBA from INSEAD, France. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of bol.com, the leading retail platform in the Netherlands and Belgium. Versteden joined bol.com from Bain & Company, where she was a managing partner, specializing in FMCG, retail, and eCommerce.

Prior to this, Versteden also worked at Nike as General Manager for Central and Northern Europe, and as strategy consultant at BCG in Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe for eight years.