An annual event with the spotlight on entrepreneurship
The HEC Foundation’s annual evening event took place on Tuesday October 5, in the presence of donors, partner companies, alumni, students, teachers and staff. This event was hosted by Delphine Colson, Executive Director of the HEC Foundation, and provided an opportunity to showcase entrepreneurship, one of the 5 values of HEC Paris.
This year, the Foundation event was held in the Hall of Honor on the HEC Paris campus in Jouy-en-Josas, and was also broadcast live online via a dedicated platform. Entrepreneurship was the theme of the evening, which brought together the entrepreneurs, innovators and members of the HEC community who actively support our actions.
This annual event is above all an occasion to share the progress of the Impact tomorrow campaign and of projects for the School, all made possible thanks to the precious support of our patrons.
We were thus proud to announce on October 5 2021 that we have exceeded the amount raised by our previous tHECampaign, with a current total of €116 million in donations and pledges towards the €200 million target set for 2024.
A look at the major advances at the school made possible by our patrons’ support
In the field of research:
Olivier Sevillia (MBA.90), President of the Foundation, began by highlighting the significant progress made in the area of teaching and research support.
A new form of philanthropic initiative, in the form of chairs, has been created to enable individuals to fund teaching and research. It began with Hubert Joly (H.81) and his "Joly Family Chair in Purposeful Leadership", followed by Jean-Marie Eveillard (H.62) with the creation of the "Value Investing" chair, and more recently, the outstanding donation made by Pierre Andurand (MS.00). This form of support provides aid in particular to the faculty and School to enrich its portfolio of high-profile teacher-researchers.
The President of the Foundation also spoke about the creation of 'Hi! Paris, a research and excellence center, launched in partnership with the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and thanks to the support of 5 founding patrons: L’Oréal, Capgemini, TOTAL, Kering and Rexel. Raphaëlle Gautier (H.02), Director of Corporate Partners and Public Funding, expressed her thanks to all the Foundation’s corporate patrons who have enabled the creation of this much-needed margin of excellence, openness and innovation. “There’s still a long way to go, but the whole team is sincerely thankful”, she added.
Lastly, Olivier Sevillia acknowledged the exceptional support of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, a private foundation which provided its funding to 2 research chairs for HEC Paris.
In the field of Equal Opportunities:
Our patrons’ donations have also allowed us to make great strides in terms of equal opportunities, a core mission of our Foundation.
The President recalled some of the key moments of the year for the inclusion of all talents. A special mention went to the substantial donations by Valérie Colloredo (H.94) and Henri (H.76) et Jérôme de Castries (H.16) and the hosted foundations they set up to fund scholarships for students of HEC Paris, high school or preparatory classes.
He also acknowledged the ongoing commitment of our donors to Equal Opportunities and pointed out that the generosity of the HEC Foundation’s donors had in no way been affected by the COVID epidemic.
Moreover, numerous collective initiatives were launched during this difficult period, such as the la roll-out of Club Gen Share via which 134 donors rallied together to provide living grants to HEC students impacted by the COVID crisis, or the Class of H.67 pooled donation, which provides annual funding for a student’s tuition.
For more details on all the projects carried out in 2020, click HERE to see our annual report.
By supporting the Foundation, you contribute to train the future generation’s leaders, who will also act for the planet, the economy, the inclusion and tomorrow’s future.
Olivier Sevillia (MBA.90), President, HEC Foundation
Words from our donors
This annual event was also an opportunity to hear from our donors. For this 2021 edition, we were delighted to welcome a young couple of donors, Bénédicte and Kevin Guenegan (H.03), who have demonstrated remarkable support for us. Watch their moving testimony below:
Entrepreneurship at HEC Paris
We chose to devote the second part of our evening to the spirit of enterprise at HEC, primarily because we are experiencing an exceptional momentum in HEC with a sharp rise in the number of start-ups created by HEC students, an acceleration in the entrepreneurial success of Alumni, the creation of new programs and the growing reputation of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center.
As Inge Kerkloh-Devif (EM.06), Senior Executive Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, pointed out in a report made at HEC Records, the latest site in the HEC eco-system:
This is why, through testimonies by several entrepreneurs and members of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, we wanted to highlight this upswing and encourage our patrons or future donors to support this center and its actions.
Now, more than ever, the School needs HEC Alumni’s support. Its economic model is evolving, global competition is intensifying, the School is changing and is engaging in new projects. In order to be able to lead them, the School needs to count on its Alumni.
Adrien Couret (H.07), President, HEC Alumni
This year’s event coincided with the 140th anniversary of the School, and we were delighted to welcome Eloïc Peyrache, Dean of HEC Paris, and Bernard Ramanantsoa (MBA.76), former Dean (1995-2015), to look back at some of the key moments in the history of HEC. Their contributions to the evening emphasized just how much entrepreneurship is a founding value of the school in addition to one of its driving forces.
This maturity of entrepreneurship on Campus, is at the service of our students. It also serves the French Society and the world itself. It will play a very strong role to change the Countries destinies.
Eloïc Peyrache, Dean, HEC Paris
Your donations change lives
To conclude the evening, Yasmine (H.15), a former student and beneficiary of an HEC Foundation grant, was kind enough to join us. Certain donors still remembered the very moving letter she addressed to us a few years ago and which we shared with our patrons.
She evoked her highly personal and touching experience, illustrating just how much our patrons’ donations support concrete actions.
Your actions can change lives. It is important to say it again not only on my side, but also on behalf of the hundreds of past and future HEC students who will benefit from your help and whose lifelong dreams will also come true thanks to you.
Yasmine (H.15)
A big thank you to all of you, donors, corporate partners, ambassadors, volunteers, who are committed to supporting the Foundation.
Thanks to all those who helped to prepare for this evening, in particular to Olivier Sevillia (MBA.90) and all the speakers:
Yasmine Abdelaziz (H.15), Arthur Barillas (H.16), Sébastien Breteau (MS.97), Adrien Couret (H.07), Raphaëlle Gautier (H.02), Bénédicte & Kevin Guénégan (H.03), Sihem Jouini, Inge Kerkloh-Devif (EM.06), Emilie Korchia (EM.15), Guillaume Le Dieu de Ville (M.06), Adrien Nussenbaum (H.01), Eloïc Peyrache, Alix Pradère (H.94), Bernard Ramanantsoa (MBA.76), Hugo Sallé (H.21), Sandy Uznanski (M.21) et Jean-Paul Vermès.
Together, we are giving HEC the means to make a great impact.
And each and every one of us has the capacity to make a difference: