Chair Seminars 2023

On 30th March 2023, the Chair students arrived at the L'Oréal Beauty Tech campus for a Chair Seminar with Anke Hadasch, Global Vice President Color Science Métier and Digital Transformation at L'Oréal. The topic of the presentation was ‘It’s More Than Just a Color: How to Make the World More Inclusive?’. The seminar started with a foreword by Nina G Jablonski, Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology at The Pennsylvania State University on the definition of inclusivity. Following this, Anke talked about the technical rationales behind color technology and how one can leverage data to make the shade range for cosmetics more inclusive, citing NYX Professional Make-up as a perfect example of the same. The Chair students got many helpful tips from her on their projects for designing an inclusive consumer experience during the Q&A.

Thus, the seminar not only helped the Chair students deep dive into the world of color science technology but also gave them an opportunity to incorporate this information into their projects with NYX.

On 23rd March 2023, the Chair students got the opportunity to connect with Clemence Poinsignon, Sustainable Sourcing- Social Initiatives Director at L'Oréal and ESSEC Alumni for a Chair Seminar on ‘Inclusive Sourcing Challenges’. It was an interactive session and students shared their understanding on the topic before handing the baton to Clemence. Clemence then spoke about L'Oréal’s ‘Solidarity Sourcing Program’ that aims to facilitate social inclusion, improve the main source of revenue for marginalised communities through fair sourcing, and promote supplier diversity by giving an equal opportunity to companies in disadvantaged situations.

The Chair students were thus inspired to tackle global inequality by having a sourcing-driven commitment in their future business endeavours.

On 16th March 2023, the Chair students arrived at L'Oréal Beauty Tech Campus for the Chair seminar on ‘Inclusive Leadership’ by Eva Azoulay, Global CPD Human Relations Director and Lamia Alkass Fleury, Global O+O Shopper Activation Director and Diversity, Leadership & Inclusion Lead. The seminar began with a tale called ‘A Peacock in the Land of Penguins’ that brought new insight to an important topic - workforce diversity. The discussion then delved into important actions and policies to correct internal bias, create equitable opportunities for all and the importance of starting at the top of the hierarchy to ensure Inclusive Leadership. Q&A on cross-cultural management and quantitative measurement of DE&I efforts concluded the event.

The Seminar unveiled various dimensions of Inclusive Leadership like effective collaboration and cultural intelligence. The Chair students took home a very important message that Inclusive Leadership is more about the small, circadian actions and less about the big, grand gestures!

On 16th February 2023 the Chair students had a virtual rendezvous with the multi talented Sylviane Ballustre, Director of L'Oréal Fund for Women, Fondation L'Oréal and Beauty program. Sylviane began the seminar by meticulously delineating the projects and processes involved in L'Oréal’s ‘Beauty for a Better Life’ and ‘L'Oréal Fund for Women’ initiatives with special focus on qualitative and quantitative impact analysis. The floor was then opened to the Chair students for the Q&A session, where they got more insights on how the company tracks progress of its initiatives, what KPIs they use for the same, and potential collaborations for the program.

The seminar was a resounding success and filled the Chair students with optimism and determinism to be the catalysts of change they want to see in the world.

On 9th February 2023, the Chair students gathered at L'Oréal Beauty Tech campus for an interactive session with armchair fencing champion and sports doctor, Maxime Valet. Maxime spoke passionately about his triumphs in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the hurdles he overcame while transitioning from playing in the Olympics to playing in the Paralympics. He not only articulated the physical qualities one needs to master the sport but also stressed upon the importance of tactical strategy, experience and mental health. He brought to light several present-day realities regarding the visibility of para sports in the media, and the funds allocated to para sports by sports organizations around the world. 

This instilled a sense of determination in the students to spearhead the change in business policies towards differently-abled people in every sphere.