Working Out: The Mentoring Programme for Young LGBT+ Professionals

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In 2020, Vanessa Bottero (E18), Basile Anthonioz (E18) and Alexandre Oriez (E18) founded Working Out, a mentoring programme for young LGBT+ professionals at the start of their careers. The initiative was born of a simple observation: entering the world of work is a decisive period for LGBT+ people. Without a trusted environment, many choose to stay silent and go back into the closet. 

To mark Pride Month, we take a closer look at an association founded by three alumni.

During their studies, all three hid their sexual orientation. “When we left the school, we weren't out. We were only out among ourselves,” recalls Vanessa Bottero. At the time, Unite (the school's LGBT+ network) existed under the name Diversity, but kept a low profile. “The network was run by a group of ESSEC students, but their meetings mostly took place in Paris. There were no events on campus. Today, Unite organises parties on campus — it's very different,” notes Basile Anthonioz.

Beyond the campus gates, the invisibility continued. In their first jobs, the three graduates quickly became aware of how much professional environments can differ. “We saw that there were real cultural differences between firms. Alex and I were at McKinsey and BCG, Anglo-Saxon firms that are very LGBT-friendly. It was quite a privileged setting in which to start a career. Basile, on the other hand, joined a French consulting firm where the LGBT+ issue simply wasn't discussed at the time,” says Vanessa Bottero.

Yet having to conceal part of who you are at work has a direct impact on the well-being and performance of the employees concerned. And contrary to popular belief, visibility is not improving: in France, it is actually declining. According to the latest Out@Work barometer published by BCG, fewer than one in two LGBT+ employees (48%) said they were out at work in 2025, compared with 54% in 2018.

“We approached it like consultants: launching something that would deliver maximum impact with minimum effort,” explains Vanessa Bottero. Drawing inspiration from associations such as Article 1 and Nos Quartiers ont du Talent, they designed a structured mentoring programme. “We put together a mentoring guide. The programme runs for a semester, during which mentors and mentees meet once a month to discuss visibility in the workplace,” says Alexandre Oriez. Mentors have at least five years' professional experience, while mentees are just entering the world of work.

The first cohort was launched at the end of 2021, bringing together twenty mentors and mentees, most of them from the consulting sector. Subsequent cohorts gradually opened up to other industries: tech, finance and law. The key to the programme remains the quality of the matching process. “We made a real effort to seek out role models and invite them to become mentors, particularly women, who all too often remain invisible in the professional world,” concludes Alexandre Oriez.