PERSPECTIVES FOR 2023

The foundation is a key lever in the school’s contribution to the common good. It makes it possible to fund impactful chairs aimed at transforming society, to support GAIA – the ecological and social transition school – and to demonstrate the school’s diversity and inclusion policy. It does this through awarding solidarity grants to students in difficulty or by enabling those who may have drifted away from higher education to regain confidence and build on their achievements thanks to the Sirius scheme. Finally, I would say that the foundation is also a means for expressing the precious link that unites the different generations of past, present and future students.

The role of our community is crucial in enabling the foundation to continue its actions! On a personal level, the reason I have become a donor to the Audencia Foundation and why I accepted the Chairpersonship is because I wanted to give something back to the school which has given me so much. I strongly believe in the importance of having a network of graduates that show solidarity to the school’s students: it is a major asset of graduate colleges.

Commitment alongside the foundation is also a way of showing pride in belonging to Audencia and its community of graduates. Today, our network boasts more than 32,000 graduates. This network is made up of different backgrounds and generations that can contribute to the development of innovative projects which promote social as well as cultural openness, entrepreneurship and equal opportunities for students, to enable others to take the studies from which they have benefitted.

Because the issues of social and cultural openness and equal opportunities for as many people as possible are major challenges to which we wish to respond, we are launching a campaign in spring 2023 on the theme of Diversity and Inclusion. In relation to the vectors of the ECOS 25 strategic plan, it aims to strengthen the school’s plans to open up to all talents and will help to remove self-censorship and financial barriers to higher education at a business school.

In the longer term, I will be proud that my school, which is already strongly committed with regard to CSR, acts as a major player in ecological and social transition and that it is recognised for this in the academic and business worlds, thanks to the support of the foundation in contributing to creating new chairs and to developing GAIA and its innovative and transformative teaching.

The launch of our first class of SIRIUS scheme students. In one year, thanks to the support of businesses, graduates and the mobilisation of the teaching staff, the foundation has been able to set up the first class of the SIRIUS scheme. These students, from urban and rural environments around the Nantes conurbation, began their academic year last September and are now under the guidance of our teaching teams, which is something the foundation and school can be very proud of!

When asked about the relevance of the 2023 campaign on diversity & inclusion, the graduates who are major private donors not only largely endorsed the projects but also pledged to support them and to be active ambassadors, so solidarity is definitely the order of the day!