Lord John Nash is the Chair of Future Academies’ Board of Trustees, having formerly served as Education Minister. This article will look at a recently expanded partnership between the Social Mobility Foundation and CNX Therapeutics, an initiative designed to provide work placement and mentoring opportunities for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds across the UK.
In an announcement published on the Social Mobility Foundation’s website, it was revealed that the award-wining partnership between the two companies would be expanded, introducing mentoring opportunities alongside work placement programmes.
CNX Therapeutics, a specialist pharmaceutical company that made history as the first UK-based pharma company to achieve B Corp status, joined forces with the Social Mobility Foundation to launch a 2026 programme offering six work placements alongside a new mentoring programme. The initiative will provide students form lower socioeconomic backgrounds with multiple entry points into the pharmaceuticals sector, helping them to gain hands-on experience across CNX Therapeutics’ diverse functions, from Legal, Data and People teams to Quality and Commercial.
The Social Mobility Foundation was launched with the vision of creating a society where all talent is harnessed, nurtured and rewarded, irrespective of social background. Since 2005, the organisation has been breaking down barriers and providing young people with direct support. As part of its Aspiring Professionals Programme, the Social Mobility Foundations welcomes thousands of young people annually to drive more social mobility. The Foundation also influences employers to increase diversity in their workforces through its Social Mobility Employer Index, as well as lobbying government on social mobility issues via its Department for Opportunities.
Nikolina Zawistowska participated in the 2025 internship programme presented via the partnership. She went on to be employed by CNX Therapeutics as a Quality Assistant. In an interview published on the Social Mobility Foundation website, she indicated that, prior to joining CNX Therapeutics, she assumed a career in pharmaceuticals would require networks and backgrounds she simply did not have. The internship opened the door for Ms Zawistowska, who highlights that with additional mentoring opportunities being added, CNX Therapeutics has opened the door even wider, benefiting more people. As Nikolina Zawistowska pointed out, different entry points matter, since not everyone’s path looks the same. While hers started with a placement, another individual may find ongoing mentoring support more beneficial.
Jessica Dall works as a Sustainability Manager for CNX Therapeutics. She underscored the transformative impact of the programme to give talented young people the opportunities they deserve. Ms Dall explained that introducing mentoring alongside work placements was a natural evolution. Now CNX Therapeutics is doing much more than merely talking about diversity and inclusion, playing an active role in creating sustainable career pathways that align with the company’s values and B Corp commitments.
Gemma Antenbring serves as Partnerships Manager for the Social Mobility Foundation. She expressed the organisation’s pride at partnering with employers like CNX Therapeutics, a company that recognises that while talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. Gemma Antenbring highlighted the importance of breaking down workplace barriers, suggesting that this process is more than merely a tick-box exercise that can be solved through one-off initiatives. She highlighted the importance of providing young people with genuine career opportunities, particularly those whose socioeconomic background limits their access. Ms Antenbring said she looked forward to working with CNX Therapeutics and changing more lives in 2026.
Guided by strong ESG principles, CNX Therapeutics is committed to helping improve the lives of patients with psychiatric and neurological disorders by delivering essential medicines for use in hospital settings. Grounded in the values of integrity, impact, agility and collaboration, the organisation holds itself to the highest standards of compliance, ethics and quality for the benefit of patients, the environment and society as a whole.
