Board of Directors

Jean-François Ducrest has been engaged in the business of international equities since 1988. He started his career on the sell side as an equity analyst at Paris-based European broker Cheuvreux.

From 1995 to 2001, he was a Senior Vice President and Principal of Cheuvreux’ U.S. operations, serving institutions investing in European equities.

In 2002, Jean-François became part of the Northern Cross group as an analyst. In 2003, he became a founding partner of and portfolio manager for Northern Cross, LLC. He retired from managing public assets in December 2018 and has since split his time between his family office and his philanthropic interests. He is the chair of the Audit Committee on the Board of JC DECAUX, the global leader in outdoor advertising. He is also an early investor and Board Member of Cambridge based biotech company Lytica.

 He is a 1986 graduate of Sciences Po and vice chair of the French Library (Boston).

Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge is the Investment Manager of KFMG, a boutique investment vehicle focused on startups and niche brands in luxury and retail, as well as the co-founder and President of the Luxury Education Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on nurturing future leaders in the luxury industry.
Ms. Maisonrouge joined the Columbia Business School adjunct faculty in 2004 and teaches the Master Class Luxury Approach. She served as a senior advisor to the Gores Group from 2010 to 2015 and ran KM&Co. until 2012, specializing in marketing and communications in the areas of fine arts and luxury goods. Ms. Maisonrouge also served as the permanent US Representative of the Comité Colbert, an association of over 70 French Luxury companies. 
She is a member of the Board of Directors of Action Against Hunger, as well as the Sciences Po American Foundation, Honorary Trustee of Kips Bay Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and Director Emerita of National Dance Institute.
She is a graduate of Sciences Po and holds a Master’s in Law from the Sorbonne. The French Government awarded her the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Mérite in 2001, and the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2009.

Vanessa Bressler practiced corporate law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP for ten years. She has been honored for her pro bono work as a lawyer.

Ms. Bressler advises pro bono not-for-profit institutions and VCs on corporate matters and deal-structuring, and is involved in community building.

Vanessa Bressler is a graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiquea de Paris and of Columbia Law School. She collaborated on a book with Pr. Dr. Gephart - Voyages Sociologiques.

Ms. Bressler is a director and secretary of the US Sciences Po Foundation.

Remi has 20 years of international experience in the United States, Europe and Africa and is the National Leader for French Business Services, and partner at RSM US LLP.

Remi provides transaction, post-merger integration and audit services to multinational companies, both public and private, as they expand their operations in the United States or in France.
Remi’s technical background includes knowledge of SEC, IFRS and U.S. GAAP. He has served clients in sectors such as utilities (water and energy), infrastructure, biotech and pharma, manufacturing, services, and consumer and luxury goods. Prior to joining RSM, he was a partner with a national firm in New York, providing audit and advisory services to public companies, which included the lead of the audit of a €80bn merger initiated by the largest French gas utilities and its related filing with the SEC. Earlier in his career, Remi was a manager in the New York Transaction Services Group for one of the Big4 firm, assisting US investors in their projects overseas.

He is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and holds a Master's degree in econometrics from the University of Paris II-Assas.

Gérard Araud, a career diplomat, has retired in April 2019 from the French foreign service as Ambassador of France to the United States (2014-2019). He previously held numerous positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notably Director for Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament (2000-2003), Ambassador of France to Israel (2003-2006), Director General for Political Affairs and Security (2006-2009), and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York (2009-2014). He has reached the highest rank in the French diplomatic service (‘’Ambassadeur de France’’).

Over the course of his career, Mr. Araud has developed specialized knowledge in two key areas: Middle East and strategic & security issues. As regards the latter, he was the French negotiator on the Iranian nuclear issue from 2006 to 2009. In New York, at the Security Council, he notably contributed to the adoption of resolutions on Libya (#1970 and #1973), Côte d’Ivoire (#1975), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and the Central African Republic, and participated in debates on the Syrian and Ukrainian crises.

He has written numerous journal articles, including recently in ‘’Commentaire’’, on the outbreak of WWI, on the treaty of Versailles, on the French foreign policy between 1919 and 1939, and on the fall of the Roman Empire and in ‘’Esprit’’, on the search for a new world order. He has just published his Memoirs (“Passeport diplomatique’’ chez Grasset) and is working on a version for the American readers.

After retiring, he is advising several companies. He is trustee of the International Crisis Group and Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Atlantic Council in Washington DC. He is a columnist for the French weekly ‘’Le Point’’, for the French TV channel BFM TV and for the National French Radio ‘’France Inter’’ and has frequently being interviewed as an foreign affairs expert by CNN International, the BBC and other English speaking TV and radios.

Emily de La Bruyere is a co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a leading geopolitical consultancy, and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 

She is a recognized expert on China's technological and industrial ambitions; their implications for global security, economics, and human rights; and the role of trans-Atlantic ties in contemporary international competition. Her analysis is regularly featured in international media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Emily advises leaders across US and allied governments and private sectors on geopolitical risks and strategic planning -- and has also led research projects at major non-partisan policy think tanks, like The Brookings Institution and National Bureau of Asian Research. She has testified as an expert witness before the US Senate Banking Committee and the US-China Economic Security and Review Commission; her commentaries are frequently published by outlets ranging from Bloomberg to TechCrunch. 

She holds a BA summa cum laude from Princeton University and an MA summa cum laude from Sciences Po, Paris, where she was the Michel David-Weill fellow. Emily's athletic accolades include silver and bronze medals in the 10,000m and 5,000m competitions, respectively, at the French national meet convened by the Fédération Française d'Athlétisme.

Maribeth Gainard is the Chief Human Resources Officer of BSE Global, the parent company of the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Liberty, the Long Island Nets and NetsGC.

With a career that has spanned working in six countries, she relocated to New York in 2018 after serving as Chief Financial Officer of 3SI Holding, a $1 billion retail e-commerce and logistics company, headquartered in France with a German owner, the Otto Group. In 2019-2020, she was Vice President of Product-to-Market at Adore Me, a disruptive e-commerce startup. Earlier in her career, she practiced corporate and securities law at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and worked as a financial auditor at EY in Paris.

She holds graduate degrees from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (JD), the Kellogg School of Management (MBA) and Sciences Po Paris (Masters). She completed undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program earning a BS in Economics from the Wharton School and a BA in International Studies and French from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Maribeth currently serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit WIN: Women in Innovation. She is currently a member of the Huntsman Program Alumni Council of the University of Pennsylvania and the Economic Club of New York. Maribeth is a recipient of graduate fellowships from the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Fulbright Program and the Rotary World Peace Fellowship Program.

Maribeth is a dual French and U.S. citizen and member of the New York and DC Bars. She resides in Manhattan with her husband and their two children.

Stephan Haimo is a member of the New York bar and Avocat à la Cour de Paris. After his upbringing in New York, Mr. Haimo graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and obtained law and graduate degrees from the University of Paris and then New York University School of Law. He is a retired partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and serves on board of directors and as a strategic advisor.

Mr. Haimo is actively involved in international education, both as the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Lycée Français de New York and as Chairman Emeritus and a founding member of the Sciences Po American Foundation. In 2006, the French government awarded him the distinction of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Darren Isom is a partner in The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office. 

He first joined the firm as a consultant in 2007, left as a manager in 2014 and returned as a partner in 2019. During his earlier tenure with Bridgespan, Darren was engaged with a diverse array of cases and was consistently lauded for building deep, enduring client relationships, helping clients develop bold yet pragmatic strategies, and his commitment to amplifying community voice and engagement in developing and leading innovative, high-impact youth and community programs, practices, and philanthropy.


Darren also speaks and writes on racial equity in philanthropy. His recent publications include: “Endow Black-Led Nonprofits” (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2021), and “Race and Place-based Philanthropy: Learnings from Funders Focused on Equitable Impact” (Bridgespan.org, 2021).


After leaving Bridgespan in 2014, Darren was the founder and executive director of the Memphis Music Initiative (MMI), an ambitious five-year, $20M grantmaking and community arts development initiative. He led efforts to use targeted investments and programmatic offerings to strengthen youth and community music engagement activities for low-income, Black, and Latino youth and communities. MMI leverages the city’s powerful musical legacy to develop a vibrant music and arts ecosystem for the city’s culturally rich, but historically underserved communities, and grew to impact 4500 youth, 50 schools, 100 musicians and artists, 10 neighborhoods, and 15 community organizations. It has also sponsored research to create a national conversation on the importance of community engagement and inclusion, disruptive philanthropy, and the powerful role of arts investments in driving equitable, high-impact community outcomes. To launch and lead the organization, Darren built strategic relationships with arts organizations, musicians, schools, funders, community, public, and private groups; built the team, including a diverse and inclusive board and 20 staff; and developed a robust infrastructure for delivering results in Memphis and the Mid-South, a particularly racialized region.

Before Bridgespan he worked as the art, design, and public programming director for Times Square Alliance, planning and implementing programming for public art and performance initiatives throughout the Times Square District. Prior to working at Times Square Alliance, Darren served as VP of Programs for Groundwork, a start-up youth services organization in East New York, Brooklyn, helping young people in underserved communities develop their strengths and skills through experiential learning and enrichment programs.

A seventh generation New Orleans native, Darren is a graduate of Howard University, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, and Columbia Business School’s Institute for Nonprofit Management. An activist for disconnected youth and LGBT communities of color, he has served as an advisor to the leaders of several Bay Area, Southeast US, and national foundations. He currently serves on the board of Beloved Community of New Orleans, Collage Dance Collective of Memphis, Springboard to Opportunities in Jackson, MS, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

Hubert Joly is a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Best Buy.

He is also a member of the board of directors of Johnson & Johnson and Ralph Lauren Corporation, a member of the International Advisory Board of HEC Paris, and a Trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Joly has been recognized as one of the top 100 CEOs in the world by the Harvard Business Review, one of the top 30 CEOs in the world by Barron’s and one of the top 10 CEOs in the U.S. by Glassdoor.

He is the author of the upcoming book “The Heart of Business – Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism.”

Slawomir Krupa is Societe Generale Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, having been appointed May 23, 2023. 

Slawomir Krupa has over 26 years of experience in the international financial sector. 

He joined the Societe Generale group in 1996 and began his career as an inspector at the General Inspection. In 1999, he left the Group to found and manage an e-finance start-up in eastern Europe. He returned to the Group in 2002 in the General Inspection department where he was made a member of its management team in 2005. During his time at the General Inspection, he acquired an extensive and in-depth knowledge of the operations and challenges of financial institutions around the world. 

In 2007, he joined the Corporate and Investment Banking division, where he took on successive responsibilities that enabled him to further broaden his expertise and his knowledge of the bank’s businesses, serving its large international clients. In 2007, he was Director of Strategy and Development, head of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle-East and Africa (CEEMEA) in 2009, and Deputy Director of Financing in 2012, supervising in particular the primary markets business, securitisation and leveraged financing, while maintaining his regional responsibilities, which were extended in 2013 to include Private Banking, Asset Management, and Securities. Appointed CEO of SG Americas in January 2016, he oversaw the turnaround of the Americas platform, both in terms of business performance and risk management, in a challenging regulatory environment. 

In January 2021, he joined the Group’s Executive Management team as Head of Global Banking and Investor Solutions. He strengthened the division by defining for its businesses a profitable and sustainable growth strategy, which he oversaw for 18 months. In doing so, he restored the trust of the stakeholders of this core business through an effective program of risk reduction, cost control, and diversification of the business portfolio to seize development opportunities. He has also initiated an in-depth transformation of the business lines towards a sustainable growth model “ESG by Design”. 

Slawomir Krupa is a Franco-Polish citizen and a graduate of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris.

Cedric Meeschaert is the Chairman and former CEO of the Meeschaert Group, a leading provider of wealth management, asset management, family office, and private equity solutions in France with over 7 billion euros in AUM.

As Chairman, Cedric partners with the management team and board of directors to support long-term strategy development, corporate governance, and business operations across all Meeschart entities. He also advises on growth strategy and M&A opportunities to drive expansion in alignment with company values.

In his role as CEO, Cedric was instrumental in establishing the Meeschaert Group’s reputation as a pioneer and leader in sustainable investment solutions. He led the launch of one of France’s first family office services and expanded the business by entering the US market, introducing investment banking services, and establishing the company’s private equity arm.

Cedric also steered the group’s ESG initiatives, investing over $500 million to benefit medical research, pediatrics, and education charities and hosting art auctions to benefit Haiti relief efforts. To enable his clients to pursue their own philanthropic endeavours, he introduced donor-advised funds as philanthropic giving vehicles in France.

Previously, Cedric was a Foreign Trade Advisor of France, where he helped French businesses expand into the US. He started his career with Merrill Lynch’s International Private Client division based in New York.

Outside of work, Cedric is involved in multiple philanthropic and business initiatives. He serves as a member of the Sciences Po American Foundation and was the President of La Fondation Meeschaert pour l’enfance. He is also a member of the Wharton Family Office Group and YPO NYC chapter.

Cedric holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently completing the YPO/Harvard Presidents’ Program at Harvard Business School. 

Pierre Mordacq is the Managing Partner of The Gate Technologies, a US, family anchored private investment firm focusing on mature, technology driven companies.

Pierre is an early investor in technology, focusing on BtoB enterprise software, e-commerce, and fintech. Previously Pierre led principal investments across infrastructure assets at Macquarie Capital in New York, for a combined amount of over $12bn with responsibility for origination in the US. Earlier in his career Pierre held positions in the public-private partnerships financing teams of Airbus and of the Bouygues Group.

Pierre holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and is a graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). He is a director of the Sciences Po American Foundation and a member of its investment committee as well as a Advisory Board Member of the Global Family Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School. Pierre is chairman of the Fondation de Hautefort, a leading sustainably managed estate with over 100,000 visitors a year.

Pierre is a contributor to the French review Commentaire and to Institutional Investor and lives in New-York with his wife Agathe and their two children.

Jeremy Perelman is the Director of International Affairs at Sciences Po. In this capacity, he is responsible for steering the institution's international policy and the strategy for international university partnerships. In this capacity, he will be responsible for representing the institution and enhancing its attractiveness within the various international networks.

A teacher and researcher with an international perspective 

Jeremy Perelman holds Master's degrees in international law (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University), international law (Stanford Law School), international relations (Fletcher School, Tufts University) and a Doctorate (Doctor of Juridical Science, Harvard Law School).

He taught in the United States before joining Sciences Po in 2011 as Associate Professor. His courses focus on human rights, social and economic rights, poverty, inequality, international investment and sustainable development. He teaches students at the Udergraduate College, the Law School and the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA).

He is also involved in numerous research, teaching, and advocacy projects in the fields of human rights, poverty alleviation and development in the United States, Africa and Latin America, which have resulted in numerous publications.

He is also a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Human Rights and, since 2022, a member of IDDRI's scientific council.

Head of the Law School Clinic for the last 12 years

Since its creation in 2012, he has been Director of the Law School Clinic, which now welcomes students from the Law School, PSIA and the Urban School within six programmes.

In this capacity, he co-led a working group on pedagogical innovation at Sciences Po in 2015 for two years. In 2022, he was a visiting professor at Columbia Law School and New York University. Since September 2023, he has been in charge of international relations at the Law School.

Brigitte Taittinger-Jouyet has been Director of Sciences Po Paris in charge of partnerships and business development from May 2013 to October 2017.

Previously she was President of the Société des Parfums Annick Goutal (1991 – 2012), successively a subsidiary of the famous Groupe Taittinger (until 1995), then of the American global investment firm Starwood Capital (2005 – 2011) and lastly of the Korean Group Amore Pacific (from 2011 on).

From 1988 to 1991 she was Project Manager in the Marketing Direction of the Groupe du Louvre (a subsidiary of the Groupe Taittinger) in charge of the industrial products (Deville – Eurosit) and of the budget hotel business (Campanile).

She began her career as an Advertising Manager of the Groupe Publicis, a worldwide known communication and advertising agency (1984 – 1988).