ESSEC Appointments: Total, Orange, Dior, Google, French Tech…

Our alumni are waving the banner for French entrepreneurship, taking up management positions in major international groups, and developing international subsidiaries... Here’s a selection of the recent appointments within the ESSEC network.

Clara Chappaz (E12) is now the CEO of La French Tech. It is an appointment that was applauded on social media by the French President himself, and a fine opportunity that enticed Clara away from her role as Chief Business Officer at Vestiaire Collective, the second-hand clothing unicorn. Earlier in her career, she worked in a variety of management positions at Zalora group, in Bangkok and Singapore, had a stint working for BCG in New York, and co-founded the start-up Lullaby in Boston, and was Vice President International at Lyst in London. 

Laurent Gasse (EXEC MBA 08) is appointed director of human resources at ADP, a role that will also see him join the executive committee. He has previously worked in the same role at Soufflet, the world leader in cereals with 42 factories in Europe, Asia, and South America. He began his career at SEITA as a legal and social project manager, before working in a number of legal and financial roles at a variety of companies.

Félicie Moulard (E10) was appointed Deputy Vice President Business Development at Total Eren. She joined the renewable energy subsidiary one year ago as a project director, after a spell at H3P Financial Advisory. She began her career at Proparco and the French Development Agency.

Batoul Hassoun (E07) was appointed Chief Executive Officer at The Salmon Consulting, the new strategy and innovation consultancy from Havas group. It isn’t the first time that she has overseen the opening of a new subsidiary: her past achievements include developing the Parisian branch of Figtree, the London-based brand strategy consultancy, before managing the marketing for the launch of Ouibus. She had been managing director at Ogilvy Consulting since 2012. 

Hind Lfal (EXEC MBA 18) was appointed Secretary General of Orange Morocco. The former consultant from Arthur Andersen has spent years working at the top of major Moroccan companies. Her roles included overseeing the development of Cap Info group and a spell as director of purchasing at Nokia Networks in Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, before joining Barid Al-Maghrib (the Moroccan postal service), where she climbed the ranks to become director of strategy then executive vice president. In parallel, she served as chairperson of the board at the EMS Chronopost Morocco subsidiary, and served as treasurer for SororBiladi, a charity that offers aid to sick and underprivileged children in Rabat.

Fabrice Bonnifait (E00) was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Christian Dior Couture in China. He has been working in the Asia Pacific region since the early days of his career, and his past roles include positions at Louis Vuitton, LVMH Watch & Jewellery and Bulgari. 

Pierre Guimard (E93) joined Google Cloud as Customer Success Manager Retail, responsible for the EMEA region. After beginning his career in consulting at Accenture and then BCG, he specialised in the digital transformation, firstly in e-commerce at Fnac, and then by founding his own specialist agency, Keley Consulting. He is also president of the ESSEC Alumni Digital Club. 

Hélène Grossetie-Rückert (E10) was appointed general manager at Wooclap, an interactive platform that turns smartphones into teaching tools to better retain the attention of pupils while tracking their engagement. The role has seen her move to Brussels, after several years spent working in San Francisco, where she led an organic flower farm project for Réseau Cocagne, led the launch of the American subsidiary of the French start-up The Bubbles Company, organised learning expeditions for Silicon-Valley.fr, and managed French-speaking markets for Udemy, the edtech unicorn that is now getting ready to launch its IPO. And she’s still a qualified Udemy instructor in how to make a pitch. 

Ella Etienne-Denoy (E13) is now Chairwoman & CEO of Green Soluce, a strategy and innovation consultancy specialising in urban development and property, and is joining the board at Exel Industries, a family group that is a leader in agricultural and industrial spraying, and listed on Euronext. Previously, she launched and led a work group on green growth for the American Chamber of Commerce in France. She is also a non-executive director for SBA (Smart Building Alliance for Smart Cities).

Did you spot other alumni / other ESSEC startups / other ESSEC books / other ESSEC appointments in the news recently? Let us know! 

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