ESSEC Appointments: Lazard, L'Oréal, Telespazio, Le Figaro...

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French and international business leaders, a French Foreign Trade Adviser… and three ESSEC graduates featured among the 200 young people shaping tomorrow’s France. A selection of recent appointments across the ESSEC network.

Corinne Mailles (EXEC PROG 23) has been appointed Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Telespazio France, the European leader in satellite space operations and services. She has built her entire career in the space sector. She began at Alcatel before joining Thales Alenia Space France, where she successively held strategic roles in commercial operations and business development, notably as Telecommunications Sales Director, and later within the Bid Management and Government Affairs divisions. Joining Telespazio France in 2011, she became Deputy CEO, steering the company’s overall strategy, growth plan and transformation.

Pierre-Cédric Ekombol (E13) has been promoted to Managing Director at Lazard, which he joined in 2013. A specialist in telecommunications, digital infrastructure and outsourced customer experience, he advises leading European corporates and investment funds on high-profile transactions. Prior to joining Lazard, he completed investment banking internships at Citi and Credit Agricole’s Corporate and Investment Bank in Paris.

Alexandre Salem (E11) has been appointed President of Arcade.com, a global mobile games publisher. He brings more than ten years’ executive experience in the mobile gaming and high-growth technology sectors. He has held senior leadership roles at King, Google, Huawei and Stillfront, where he structured and developed cross-functional product organisations, built partnerships with studios worldwide and led growth initiatives across multiple markets. Earlier in his career, Alexandre worked in investment banking at BNP Paribas and in strategy consulting at Booz & Company, gaining strong expertise in strategic planning and operational execution.

Erna Dreyfuss (MBA 08) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the women’s ready-to-wear brand Jeanne Vouland. She spent more than sixteen years within the French Printemps group, progressing from Women’s Fashion Buyer, then Lingerie, Children’s and Accessories Buyer, to senior leadership roles, notably in Marseille during the opening of the Printemps store at Les Terrasses du Port shopping centre, then at the La Valentine store, before becoming Director of the Terrasses du Port store in 2023.

Cécile Mérine (EXEC PROG 18) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer France of Pinnacle Pet Group, a specialist in pet health insurance. Cécile co-founded and served as CEO of Otherwise, a collaborative insurance platform acquired by Lovys in 2022. She also led BubbleIn, a SaaS platform for insurance brokers, and held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Swiss Life France.

Nicolaz Foucaud (E02) has been appointed Managing Director, Institutional Solutions at CFA Institute, a global not-for-profit professional body providing finance education to investment professionals. Nicolaz began his career at Ebone before joining Microsoft, where he spent over 13 years in strategic roles across Europe (sales, marketing, operations, incubation and commercial leadership). He then co-founded Temple in London, continued his international career at NetApp as EMEA Cloud & Partner Lead, before becoming Managing Director EMEA at Coursera, until his appointment at CFA Institute in January 2026.

Louis Haendler (EXEC MBA 14) has been appointed French Foreign Trade Adviser (Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France – CCEF) in Australia. Louis began at TotalEnergies as a VIE Business Analyst in the Philippines before moving into commercial and managerial roles (Sales Manager, Technical & Sales Manager, Business Development). He continued his career in Africa and Egypt in management positions within lubricants and fuels, then led commercial and marketing operations in Madagascar between 2020 and 2023. Since 2023, he has headed TotalEnergies’ Australian subsidiary.

Maxime Scheyen (MBA 11) has been appointed General Manager of L’Oréal Fragrance Brands. He has spent more than fifteen years within the L’Oréal group, building recognised expertise in international fragrance marketing. After early roles at Cartier and Roger Vivier, he joined L’Oréal and successively held international positions on Diesel, Maison Martin Margiela, Maybelline (in Brazil), then Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, where he led major strategic fragrance initiatives. He then headed International Marketing for Diesel & Cacharel Fragrances, before becoming International Marketing Director Fragrances for Lancôme, leading to his recent promotion.

Elisabeth Novelli (EXEC PROG 10) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of 3F Résidences, a subsidiary of the 3F group dedicated to specialised housing solutions in France. Elisabeth began her career in 1992 at France Habitation before joining Antin Résidences in 1999, where she successively served as Asset Director and Administrative Director. In 2005, she led the creation of the Residential Homes Division within France Habitation before being appointed Client Services Director in 2014. In 2019, she joined Seqens as Deputy CEO in charge of customers and regional operations. Alongside this role, she was appointed CEO of Seqens Solidarités in 2020, a subsidiary specialising in managed housing.

Distinctions

Three graduates have been included in the ranking “The 200 Who Will Shape Tomorrow’s France” by Le Figaro. Published on the occasion of the newspaper’s bicentenary, the ranking was produced in partnership with the Institut Choiseul and highlights 200 young talents under the age of 35 who, through their vision, impact and capacity for action, are set to play a key role in the France of tomorrow.

Jean-Baptiste Achard (E17), co-founder of StaffMe, the platform connecting young freelancers with companies for short-term assignments. He has helped transform young people’s access to employment by developing more flexible working models aligned with evolving labour market expectations.

Marie Ameller (E16), Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine. With a hybrid background spanning culture and public management, she champions a demanding vision of cultural public service based on the balance between budgetary discipline, audience engagement and the democratisation of cultural institutions.

Pierre-Emmanuel Saint-Esprit (E16), Director of Circular Economy and Client Decarbonisation at Manutan Group, Executive Director of the ESSEC Global Circular Economy Chair, entrepreneur and committed leader advocating sustainable transformation within the B2B distribution sector.