#1Month1EngagedAlumna – Andréa Dih Kahn, ESSEC Executive MBA ’22 "Dare to join communities, share your experiences, and build meaningful alliances."
06.04.2026
A graduate of the ESSEC Executive MBA in 2022, Andréa Dih Kahn is the President of Akitsu Consulting and France Market Lead for WEConnect International. For several years, she has been actively promoting women’s entrepreneurship, responsible innovation, and impact-driven ecosystems. A member of Paris Business Angels, she also serves as Honorary President of the ESSEC Alumni Digital & Technology Club.
Through her consulting activities, community leadership, and event organisation, she builds bridges between women entrepreneurs, large corporations, public institutions, and investors to accelerate economic, social, and environmental transformation.
Convinced that tomorrow’s challenges can only be addressed through collective intelligence, she brings together communities of female leaders and committed allies—both men and women—to help build a more inclusive, sustainable, and value-creating economy. She also advises organisations on leadership, diversity, innovation, and impact, and hosts the Akitsu Leaders Voices podcast, which explores impact, transformation, and leadership.
E.S.B.: Could you tell us about your background and what led you to focus on impact and transition issues?
A.D.K.: My career has developed at the intersection of finance, entrepreneurship, transformation consulting, and a commitment to a more inclusive economy.
After several years in financial audit with Big Four firms, I joined a major insurance company before founding Akitsu Consulting in 2023, a boutique consultancy dedicated to transformation, leadership, and impact. We support both B2B organisations and B2C leaders.
Early on, I became convinced that economic performance and positive impact are not mutually exclusive; rather, they can reinforce one another.
Throughout my career, I have observed that the most sustainable transformations emerge when bridges are built between worlds that rarely interact: women entrepreneurs, large corporations, investors, public institutions, and local communities.
This conviction now guides my work at both WEConnect International and Akitsu Consulting: creating opportunities, fostering meaningful connections, and enabling more women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, visibility, and influence.
E.S.B.: What does impact mean in practice in your own life?
A.D.K.: Impact is at the heart of everything I build. In practical terms, it means creating spaces for dialogue, fostering collaboration, connecting talented individuals, and opening doors to opportunities that might otherwise never have existed. I receive a great deal of positive feedback, which encourages me to continue.
I place particular importance on community building. When women entrepreneurs meet, share experiences, support one another, and develop projects together, the impact extends far beyond individual success.
My role is often that of a catalyst: bringing the right people together, creating the conditions for trust, and helping meaningful initiatives grow. I often speak about positive transformation, and in many ways, that is my mission.
E.S.B.: How do you define impact today?
A.D.K.: To me, impact is the ability to generate positive and lasting transformation—whether economic, social, or environmental.
Impact cannot be measured solely through financial indicators. It is also reflected in the quality of the relationships we build, the opportunities we create for others, and our ability to transform the systems within which we operate. Very often, that changes everything.
I support clients on their transformation journeys across digital, financial, and human resources dimensions. This allows me to work across a wide range of topics and connect different worlds that do not always speak to one another.
I strongly believe in the power of collective action. Our world is becoming increasingly complex. Technology enables us to save time and move faster, but no individual or organisation can succeed alone. Businesses, entrepreneurs, institutions, and civil society must learn to collaborate more effectively if we are to address the major challenges of our time.
E.S.B.: How can impact and CSR serve as business catalysts, and what return on investment do you observe?
A.D.K.: Impact has become a genuine driver of value creation. Companies and entrepreneurs who sincerely integrate these issues strengthen their attractiveness, credibility, and innovation capacity.
Younger generations increasingly seek purpose, transparency, and commitment. The same is true of partners, customers, and investors.
The return on investment can be seen on multiple levels: business development, talent attraction and retention, stronger brand equity, stakeholder trust, and the ability to build long-term partnerships.
Today, one thing is certain: the most resilient organisations are often those that successfully combine performance, responsibility, and a long-term vision.
E.S.B.: What message would you like to share with engaged alumni and, more broadly, with those working to drive transition and change?
A.D.K.: We are living through a pivotal period that requires us to rethink our economic models, our ways of collaborating, and the way we create value.
In the face of these challenges, individual commitment and collective action are our greatest strengths.
We need bridge-builders, leaders who can unite people, entrepreneurs who dare to experiment, and communities that foster mutual support rather than constant competition.
And I firmly believe that every individual has the power to accelerate the transitions we need.
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