Sylvia Métayer, guest speaker of the MBA scholarship awards ceremony

The 96 students of September 2022 MBA class’ received a HEC Foundation Excellence Scholarship on their first weeks on campus. They were invited to attend a scholarship ceremony, chaired by Sylvia Métayer (H.86), Major Donor of the Foundation.

On Wednesday September 7th  in the back-to-school week,  the HEC Paris MBA students received a scholarship of excellence and gathered at  the Pierre Bellon amphitheatre. Sylvia Métayer (H.86), Former CEO of Sodexo and Executive Director of the Aéroports de Paris, Page, Animalcare and Keolis groups chaired the ceremony. Kristine de Valck, Dean of Graduate Programs and Delphine Colson (H.94), Executive Director of the HEC Foundation were also attending the event and offered scholarships certificates to the students.

Sylvia Métayer has been involved in the Foundation projects for more than 10 years and is also a student’s mentor. We are very grateful to her commitment and warmly thank her namely for her support on the “Purposeful Leadership” project. In her speech to the students she has shared her particularl care about this topic  namely by expressing  her vision of virtuous growth and her confidence in future generations to positively impact tomorrow’s world.

She took this  opportunity to also share some tips with the students: « When you're authentically into your purpose, then you suddenly see a world of opportunities. We need leaders who see opportunities and are able to be good ». Her inspiring speech was greatly appreciated and her  words will accompany the students on their HEC journey and in future careers, as one of them stated : « Sylvia not only inspired me with her speech, but she also  gave me a hope that we could still do a lot for our planet and its people. I know there will be ups and downs, but I hope I’ll remember Sylvia ‘s speech and get the energy to get through and create great things».

As a donor, I support the Foundation so that people like you can help us to reinvent the economic model and reconcile it with environmental and societal sustainability. I have absolutely confidence that you will make the difference.[...] Generosity requires that you believe in the future.

Sylvia Métayer (H.86)

After a Q&A session with the donor, the students had the opportunity to interact with her during a friendly cocktail. Everyone shared a strong admiration towards her career and also her personal values as the below message duly shows:

Did you know that in 2022, 172 MBA students received an excellence scholarship?

Thanks to the generosity of donors, the HEC Foundation can provide substantial assistance to the MBA program to fund more and more scholarships of excellence. These are both an additional asset to attract the best international talents to study at HEC Paris and help consolidate HEC Paris' position among the top 10 MBA programs in the world and ranked #1 in Europe according to The Economist.

YOUR IMPACT IS REAL...
For many talented candidates, financing a top MBA program abroad can be challenging (because of lower level of savings or difficulties in obtaining loans). A scholarship can make the difference and allow students to face financial difficulties to access this career/life changing experience.
By fostering the diversity in our student body, in terms of culture and background, HEC creates a unique environment to train responsible leaders in an increasingly open and multicultural society.

To support students, please contact us or make a donation in our web plateform.