Vaccines, Open-Source Digital, Waste Prevention, Love... ESSEC in the News

Managers, committed citizens, experts, entrepreneurs and even treasure-hunt organisers: ESSEC is making the headlines in all fields! Press Review

Executives 

Les Échos published an interview with Marie-Ange Saraka-Yao (E89), Chief Resource Mobilization and Growth Officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI). Her mission? “To raise 9 billion dollars by 2026 to purchase vaccines at preferential rates from twenty or so pharmaceutical laboratories for the benefit of 54 low-income countries.”
Read an extract (in French)

Madame Figaro applauded the actions taken by Nathalie Collin (E88), Deputy CEO in charge of the General Public & Digital Technology Branch of the group La Poste, for a free and inclusive digital world. “She has a sense of respect for privacy; La Poste data is stored in France and the company has created the NumSpot sovereign cloud to manage sensitive data, on health for example.”
Read the article (in French) 

Le Monde reported on the first actions taken by Christophe Jakubyszyn (E90) since he was appointed Managing Editor of Les Échos. “His priorities: an editorial relaunch accompanied by a reorganisation of the editorial board and, in 2025, the creation of a new service, a daily selection of about fifteen articles, called Le 18-20, that will go online at the end of each afternoon.”
Read an extract (in French)

Commitment

Libération gave a voice to the French-Moroccan feminist and anti-racist activist, Jamal Ouazzani (E14), on the release of his essay, Amour, in which he takes inspiration from Arabic-Muslim wisdom texts to lay the foundation of a more inclusive and respectful society. “Racism, misogyny and the destruction of LGBT lives have no place in Islam. The fight against discrimination is perfectly compatible with Koranic law."
Read an extract (in French)
See also our interview (in French)

Le Télégramme paid tribute to the initiative of skipper Bruno van Deinse (E82) to offer free sailing trips to the members of solidarity associations such as Ligue Contre le Cancer. “This initiative is wholly in keeping with my off-season volunteering commitment to the Restos du Cœur charity. Beyond my sailing school, I want to donate my time and offer feel-good experiences."
Read an extract (in French) 

Maël Crinière (ACT 27), who is studying for the new ACT Bachelor’s degree created by ESSEC and CY Cergy Paris University, explained to Le Parisien why he chose this course that deals with ecological and social transition: “I want my profession to be my campaigning weapon. Simply earning a living is out of the question, when there’s a commitment to make."
Read the article (in French)

 Experts

In Les Échos, Virginie Saks (E09), co-founder of Compagnum and manager of the ESSEC Alumni Club Industrie, drew our attention to companies that are investing for their local ecosystem. “At a time when communities are being told to make savings, this type of initiative isn’t encouraged or highlighted enough."
Read an extract (in French)

Courrier Cadres shared with us “5 (unexpected) managerial qualities to be developed” according to François Langlade-Demoyen (E82). Sensibility is one of them: “Early on in working life, the need is felt to toughen up, to be strong, and even to dominate in order to avoid being dominated. Sensitive people are better at understanding the complexity of reality. They are less reductionist and more open to seeing things as they are."
Read the article (in French)

Entrepreneurship

Maddyness announced the arrival of the former head of Deezer, Simon Baldeyrou (EXEC M06), as CEO of Phenix, an anti-food-waste scale-up company co-founded by Jean Moreau (E07). The latter explains: “After four years alone at the helm of the company, I was in search of an associate, a day-to-day sparring partner.” We wish them similar success to that of the famous streaming platform.
Read an extract (in French)

Europe 1 selected Olala, a start-up created by Simon Ferniot (EXEC MBA 97), as its pick of the day. “We make vegan seafood from lemon fibre, pea protein, algae oil and so on, in response to the need to reduce our consumption of animal products.”
Listen to the programme (in French)

On the BFM TV channel, Thomas Laurent (E07) presented Micropep Technologies, his start-up that has just raised 40 million dollars. “We’re developing a range of new, active molecules intended to protect crops and eliminate the need for pesticides.”
See the programme (in French)

The website How We Made It in Africa retraced the success story of Yuma Sasaki (MBA 16), who left an executive position in an oil company in Japan to launch an electric motorcycle start-up in Ethiopia. “In all, he has raised 7 million dollars and boasts the sector’s fastest growth in the country."
Read the article 

During budget negotiations at the National Assembly, France Info delivered the thoughts of two ESSEC entrepreneurs on the topic of taxation: Cécile Colas (E14), co-founder of Seconde Œuvre, the reuse solution for the construction industry, and Sébastien Worms (E11), co-founder of Vitaline food supplements. “As a start-up, our primary concern is labour costs. There’s the complexity of recruiting, the administrative complexity, social contributions and so on. Any simplification in that area would be a breath of fresh air."
Listen to the programme (in French)

France 2 broadcast a report about Marie Quéru (M04) who proposes various services (workshops for individuals, lectures at company premises, coaching for organisational positions) relating to the Interior Ecology® concept that she has created and patented. “Learning to combine design and sufficiency, to create an impression of spaciousness, and to fight against visual pollution are among the topics covered”
Watch the programme (in French)
See also our article (in French)

Culture & Entertainment

BFM covered the launch of the second treasure hunt organised by Etienne Picand (E21) and Simon Couasse (E21) with their company Unsolved, in partnership with the Puy-du-Fou theme park. “They have invented a foolproof method of putting together riddles capable of challenging the extraordinary resources of artificial intelligence.”
Read the article (in French)
See also our article (in French)

Midi Libre painted a portrait of Nathalie Erin (EXEC M04) through the eyes of her daughter. “Her career took her from the business world in a procurement manager position to that of music and singing. In 2007 she began teaching vocal technique to music students while pursuing her own training in singing, before founding the C’est de l’Art association with her partner, himself an Ecole Polytechnique student and artist."
Read the article (in French) 

The website Écrire mes Mémoires opened its pages to Sophie Grégoire (E09) who has just published a collection of autobiographical short stories entitled La Nuit aux Bougainvilliers. “I don’t aim to transform through writing. I’ve understood that it takes genuine vulnerability to truly connect with others. Help, console, inspire, resonate, unite."
Read the article (in French)
See also our article (in French)  

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