The Quai d’Orsay Celebrates Three Years of Imagine Fellows

Three  years to the day after its creation, HEC Imagine Fellows notched up its engagement by naming 12 students as Ambassadors for Business & Peace. In a moving ceremony in France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the business school also celebrated its commitment to these themes by spotlighting its new courses and research on business, ethics and peace. The March 6 event was marked by powerful testimonies from some of the recipients of this honorary title, many of whom are refugees who have survived the trauma of conflict to reach the Jouy-en-Josas campus.

“The Imagine Fellowship is more than an academic program for me. It’s given me so much hope and strength. It made me more resilient, more self-sufficient and assertive.” Behishta Nazir paused before the 70 guests sitting in the Beauvais Salon of the Quai d’Orsay and swallowed several times. “Sorry, it’s hard to continue when I see my fellow students cry,” she said pointing to the other Fellows in the front row, who smiled through their tears. To different degrees all had shared similar odysseys after receiving their full scholarships for one of school’s Master programs. “I want to share a journey of hope, resilience and empowerment at HEC,” Nazir continued. “It’s so far from Kabul where I was born and brought up. And where, overnight, my family and I lost everything.”

For Anna Bazarna, different geography and conflict, same consequences. This Ukrainian - enamored of information technology, polyglot, Young Ambassador in the European Commission, with eyes set on adding a double Master Sciences Po/HEC to her engineering studies in Kiev - spoke of her loss: “My home was bombarded in Ukraine. I was 19 ,with my dreams, my life and I didn’t want them taken away from me. Now, I’m here and with the Brave Generation association I’m helping students from my homeland to continue their education. Because, as Nelson Mandela said once: “The most powerful weapon is education. Only with this weapon can you really change the world.”

Support from Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs 

Such testimony made for an unforgettable evening which both paid homage to the work done by the 12 Imagine Fellows and called on those present (and beyond) to continue to support a program which only exists thanks to philanthropy. “This is a program which incarnates the alliance between the world of business and the quest for peace,” said Aurélien Lechevallier (H00), Director General for Global Affairs and Cultural and Economic Diplomacy in the Ministry.

The host was joined at the podium by fellow-alumnus Jean-Noël Barrot (H07), Minister Delegate for Europe, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Barrot holds an HEC Master degree and doctorate: “HEC is the common thread in my life,” he explains. By his own admission, he spent half his life in the school, either as a student or lecturer. Despite his new responsibilities, Barrot continues to support HEC and the Imagine Fellows program: “I hold it dear to me” he confided. “It’s dedicated to helping those most in need and attending this ceremony was an opportunity to testify my attachment to the school and all those who made this program possible.”

Like so many called up to share their support and experiences, Barrot praised the pioneering commitment by the program’s instigator, Adrien Nussenbaum (H01). But when called on to look to the future, the CEO of Mirakl asked for one thing above all else: “My dearest wish – apart from world peace – is to disappear from your accolades. I just want to be a name amongst many donors who contribute to the growth and success of a program. This is a small stream which must become a river and then a sea. And these 12 Fellows are our agents of change to bring it about."One fellow donor, Benoit Ficheur (H02), said he was intrigued by the program from the moment he first heard of the initiative back in 2021: “I always wanted to help a school which gave so much to me," said the director of the global private equity firm Astorg, "but I wanted to know exactly what my donation would be used for. An evening with exchanges and testimonies like these can only reinforce the conviction I have that there are concrete and powerful outcomes to my engagement.”

Another donor amongst the 70 privileged guests attending the evening drew from his long career to give the Imagine Fellows some advice: “It’s not just the academic value that we all learn at HEC,” said Bernard Ronsin, who graduated in 1963, when the school was still based in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. “The program is also a global network of people engaged in diplomacy and companies with a transnational vision. The Imagine Fellows label will open these doors and make your impact resound well beyond France. So, I call on all HEC graduates to back this program so it can expand.”

Attentive audience, with the Fellows & SASI students in front row.

Students Spotlight “Systemic” Abuses of Human Rights

Beyond these rallying calls, the evening was also a platform for the new programs the school has created allying business with peace, human rights and ethics. Lecturer Charles Autheman and one of his students from the Business & Human Rights course he’s been teaching testified to this development: “Back in 2004, as a student at HEC I puzzled over ways to transform our way to teach students to integrate these key overlaps,” said the academic who doubles up as a consultant for the International Labor Organization: “I wanted to transform students so they never have to juxtapose business with war. With these courses, I’ve seen how they’ve taken these challenges by the bit and taught me on issues I had no inkling about.” These include the work by his student Loéva Nahon. The SASI Master student was present to share her work on child labor and refugee labor abuses on hazelnut farms in Turkey. “It’s distressing to note that much of the harvest ends up in popular products like Nutella … Nestle’s candy bars and Godiva’s chocolates,” Nahon pointed out. “This underscores the urgency for systemic changes to address the deep-rooted issues in Turkey’s hazelnut production.”

Loéva Nahon & Charles Autheman

Challenges of Bureaucracy and Diplomacy

Behind many of these program initiatives is Yann Algan. The school’s Dean of Pre-experience has played a key role in transforming the school’s curriculum to include courses like Autheman’s. “I’m very proud that HEC is going beyond its initial mandate as a business school,” the economist told the audience. “Its students are embracing paths that go beyond careers in companies. They are answering a growing call from the business world to ally business with human rights. For, we have shown that business is capable of creating circuits in conflict areas that can end conflict. And many of the 12 Fellows gathered before us will develop their entrepreneurial and return to their respective countries to help make them prosper again.”

One of the major challenges facing the HEC team behind Imagine Fellows in their quest to expand the program is the diplomacy and red tape they must overcome for each candidate. As a major player in the host Ministry, Jean-Noël Barrot, said he is well aware of the problem: “The French diplomatic forces have put a lot of effort in making these procedures simpler. We've hosted a large number of refugees, in particularly in the aftermath of the war of aggression by Russia in Ukraine. And we'll keep doing so because we believe that by welcoming the greatest talents into our top universities, we empower them. To do so in France is the best investment we can make for our shared future.” Words which are music to the ears of Zarmina Fedawi, Mykyta Alekseiev, Anastasiia Ivankova, Alexandra Senina, Yaser Toma, Olha Vasyliv, Somaya Salem, Najwa Alam, Lima Safi, Zaid Kasem, Anna Bazarna and Behishta Nazir. They have joined efforts with other HEC students in creating the HEC Imagine association (co-president by Tara Dorfmann et Yanis Maazi , who were also present) devoted to building bridges with the brightest talents in the respective homelands thus accelerating the program’s impact.

These remain fundamental priorities for the HEC Foundation behind the program and the event at the Quai d’Orsay. Its Executive Director, Delphine Colson (H94), warmed to a general concept which, she said, “goes well beyond simple words, and incarnates a concrete commitment to a better future for the generations to come”: “This project,” she pursued, “does not satisfy itself by dreaming peace, it acts in favor of peace. By offering educational opportunities to students from conflict areas, HEC Imagine plants the seeds of positive change, a change which transcends borders and conflicts.”