Relive Batoul Hassoun (E07)'s Speech at the ESSEC Gala

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Batoul Hassoun (E07), Chairman and CEO of The Salmon Consulting (Havas Group) and member of the Club 21e siècle, was the patron of the ESSEC 2024 Gala organized by the BDE ESSEC Riviera, in partnership with ESSEC, ESSEC Alumni and EY-Parthenon, at the Pavillon d'Armenonville in Paris. Here is the transcript of her speech. 

I'm delighted to be back at ESSEC this evening. During my studies, I was more than active in the life of the School: I was a regular in class, of course, but also at ESSEC Basketball Club training sessions, at Pourquoi Pas Moi (PQPM) tutoring sessions, at Comedia rehearsals, at Musical vocal chord warm-ups, at Impro'visibles laughter sessions, at Im@ge website design trials, at JE missions... Suffice to say, I'm sure I can find something in common with most of you! 

And if it's not in this first list, the FIN 124 course will bring us together.

I'm honored to be the patron of our gala dinner. A big thank you to Nora Mathis (E25), Claire Bart (E25), Clémence Bernier (E25), Cassandre Roncin (E25)... to the whole super organizing team, who deserve a big round of applause.

Thank you for asking me to be the patron of this dinner.

When I got the call, I was delighted and, I confess, a little surprised. I asked myself “why me”. And then I remembered my favorite program at ESSEC and thought “why not me”.

So why not me?

I'm a ''slasher''. 

On my business card (those of you who still have one, raise your hand... ) or on my LinkedIn, I have to use several titles to describe who I am: “intrapreneur / citizen involved in the associative world / mom...” to name but a few.

First, I'm an intrapreneur, because throughout my career (up to now anyway), I've created offers, entities, boxes within larger structures... with other people's money, that's what we call intrapreneurship. My most recent venture was the creation of The Salmon Consulting, a strategy consultancy specializing in applied foresight: in other words, I help organizations to understand the future (what's going to change in political, economic, societal, technological and legal terms) and to transform, adapt and evolve their strategy, business model and organization accordingly.

Then, as a committed citizen: after having been very involved in PQPM at ESSEC, I wanted to continue creating more equal opportunities. I joined the Club 21e Siècle, which I've been lucky enough to co-chair for the past two years. This organization was created in 2004 following Jean-Marie Le Pen's arrival in the 2nd round of the 2002 french presidential election. The idea was to show that diversity of origin was already contributing a great deal to France, by bringing together this diversity that had succeeded. The idea was also for this successful diversity to act as role models, enabling younger generations to believe and succeed. 

Today, the Club's objective remains to fight against the extreme right, to show that France is rich in diversity and to create common ground.

And let's not forget the last slash, probably the most important for me: “mom”. With my husband, who was kind enough to accompany me this evening, we have two children - Layal and Naël - of whom I'm very proud, and if I dream of a better world in the years to come, it's for them that I'm working to build it.

Since I help organizations understand the future, I thought I'd try to take you into the future this evening. 

So I'm going to invite you now to plunge with me into the year 2040. You can close your eyes if you like.

Take a few seconds to start thinking about how old you'll be in 2040, i.e. 16 years from now. 

Personally, I'll be 56. 

I can hear you doing the math, I'll help you: yes, I'm 40 today - stop it, I can hear you, you're going to make me blush, I know it doesn't show... 

All joking aside, the year is 2040.

Imagine the life you've led over the last few years, the job you've had, the friendships you've developed, the city you live in, the heat...

You begin to glimpse that life in 2040.

What about ESSEC? What does our School look like in 2040?

Classrooms are equipped with immersive technologies offering virtual and augmented reality learning experiences. Students can travel to simulated companies around the world, interact with experts and solve real-life problems in a virtual environment.

Thanks to artificial intelligence and data analysis, teaching has become highly personalized. Each student benefits from a learning path adapted to his or her needs, skills and objectives, with access to tailor-made resources and activities - within the limit of the 140 points to be staked each term, of course... Some things never change!

Geographical borders are no longer a barrier to collaboration. ESSEC students work closely with peers from all over the world, exchanging ideas, sharing projects and developing a deep intercultural understanding. In fact, it was thanks to these exchanges that the climate crisis was partly contained: exchanges between students, economists and politicians from all over the world eventually led to acceptance of the idea of offering compensation to the world's poorest citizens to help them adapt to climate change and restore a form of equity.

ESSEC has become a center for social innovation and community involvement. Students are encouraged to get involved in impact projects, work with social enterprises and contribute to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.

To achieve this, teaching at ESSEC focuses on developing the skills essential for success in an uncertain and ever-changing world. These include critical thinking, problem-solving, effective communication, collaboration, creativity and resilience.

Ah, I hear a little more good news... 

The Association Hall is still the nerve center of the School...

Grand Hall evenings are now also available in virtual reality for nostalgic visitors...

Foy's is having a party next week and we're all invited... 

And tuition has not increased in the last 16 years! I'll let our dear director explain how he managed to find the model that allows our School to be as inclusive as possible...

What about France in 2040?

After a few complicated years, we've rediscovered a ''joie de vivre''.

Tensions have eased, and a local democratic revival has begun. 

There's less violence in our cities, fewer clashes on TV.

Fewer offensive words and less brutality on so-called “social” networks.

The temperature has risen, but not above +1.5°C.

Smartphones were banned until the age of 16.

Feelings of loneliness declined.

The tolerance index has greatly improved.

In short, our motto is no longer liberté, égalité, fraternité. But fraternité, égalité, liberté.

And that changes everything.

Now wake up. You can open your eyes.

It's still 2024, and the future is in our hands.

So what do we do?

What you do tomorrow is up to you and you alone. 

But let me give you a few ideas.

First idea: how about working on our biases?

We're all human, and whether we like it or not, our brains make 95% of their decisions automatically, without us really thinking about it. And thankfully so. Imagine if we had to think to breathe, walk... The downside is that, in order to act quickly, we take shortcuts; these are called biases: a slightly loud noise and you jump out of your skin, ready to run for your life; in the same way, you may tend to favor a person who looks like you during a job interview, or think that the person in front of you is gentle or strong depending on whether he's a man or a woman... So we can discriminate without realizing it.

The good news is that these biases are reflexes we can become aware of, and therefore act upon. 

My suggestion to you: how about embedding a new reflex in your daily routine, that of questioning your reflexes?

Second idea: how about we stop warming the planet and work on warming our bonds?

We regularly hear about planetary limits and the +2°C threshold that we must not exceed, and of course we must be concerned about this, but there is one thing that I believe we must warm up, and that is the bonds between us. We're afraid of what we don't know. To create common ground, we need to know each other. 

I'm sure many of you do physical exercise to stay healthy. I suggest that you do some civic exercises to recreate fraternity. 

Make an effort to meet one new person a month, as different from you as possible. 

And get two people from very different worlds to meet each other and build bridges. For example, if you're just as comfortable in a kebab shop in Trappes as you are in a ministry, bring these two worlds together.

Third idea: how about a commitment to commitment? 

With the first and the second ideas, we should already have more diversity in our towns, in our schools, in our companies, but also in our friends.

Let's take it a step further with this third and final idea (for tonight). Give your time to the collective. Get involved!

Get involved in an association, get involved in your children's school, get involved in mentoring or tutoring a young person or a migrant, get involved in your home, with your neighbors, in your town, get involved in politics in the etymological sense of the word, i.e. in the service of the city and its citizens - not hatred or power.

I even dream of a world where we would have compulsory political service: once in our lives, each of us would dedicate 5 years to the service of the collective. Non-renewable. 

Help your fellow man. It may not change the world (maybe not right away), but it will change the world for that person.

I hope these ideas will inspire you to take action tonight to make our society less polarized and more fraternal. This is what most of us aspire to, and what we can all contribute to in our own small way.

It's up to you. And I hope to see you in 2040 to review the situation!

Read our interview of Batoul Hassoun (E07)

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser  (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

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