ESSEC Governance: 4 committed Alumni

Did you know? Graduates play a significant role in the governance of the ESSEC Group, under the initiative of ESSEC Alumni. Meet the four alumni who have just joined the School's Board of Directors and Board of Overseers.

A new chairperson for the Board of Directors:

Christine Loizy (IMHI 86) is Managing Director of Primark France. She began her career in marketing at Häagen-Dazs prior to joining the GrandVision group, where she spent 15 years in various general management roles for several subsidiaries. She is also an executive committee member of MEDEF and the Alliance du Commerce, as well as advisor to the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Two other graduates sit alongside her: Edward Arkwright (E96), CEO of the Altarea Group, and Jean-Luc Decornoy (E75), former chairman of the Board of Directors of KPMG and an ESSEC Alumni representative.

...And 3 new members of the Board of Overseers:

Perrine Bismuth (E05) is a founding partner of FrenchFood Capital, an investment platform specialised in food transition, which manages assets of €450M for impact SMEs. She began her career in marketing with Kraft Foods before co-launching La Deuxième Maison, a CSR consulting and communication service, and Le Cavernamuth, a multimedia solution geared towards children and families which takes a fun approach to tobacco prevention, in parallel with a lecturing position at Sciences Po. She then took over the general management of the independent communication group, Makheia. She is also a member of the ESSEC Board of Directors

Nathalie Collin (E88) is Managing Director of the consumer & digital branch of the La Poste group. She previously held general management positions at Virgin, was CEO of EMI Music, co-CEO of Libération, co-chairwoman of the L’Obs board of directors, and administrator of SNCF. She was also an administrator for EDF, the Banque Postale, Geopost and the University of Paris Foundation, in addition to member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Committee, following her role as member of the French Digital Council (CNN).  

Bruno Patino (E90) is CEO of Arte France, Associate Professor at Sciences Po and an essayist. He previously held managerial roles in the media and digital sector, including CEO of Monde Interactif, CEO of Télérama and Vice-President of the Le Monde group, Director of France Culture, and Managing Director in charge of channel programmes, strategy and digital at France Télévisions. He recently took the reins of the steering committee for the Information Forum (see our interview in French) and sponsored iMagination Week at ESSEC. He has also written several works on media and the digital world, published by Grasset, including: Rire avec le diable, Submersion, and Tempête dans le bocal , La Civilisation du poisson rouge.

These new members succeed Benoît Coquart (E95), CEO of Legrand; Béatrice Kosowski (E87), MD of IBM France, and Clémentine Baldon (E99), a lawyer specialised in environmental and human rights law, renowned for having represented the Nicolas Hulot Foundation in the Affaire du Siècle case.

Olivier Cantet (E87), CEO of Moustache Bike and President of ESSEC Alumni, continues to sit on the ESSEC Board of Overseers, while Pierre-André de Chalendar (E79), Honorary President of Saint-Gobain and co-President of the La Fabrique de l'Industrie think tank, retains his role as Chair.  

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