Home>Claire Versini, Class of 2013
19.04.2022
Claire Versini, Class of 2013
CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?
After a dual Master's degree in European affairs from Sciences Po and the London School of Economics, I worked at the Jacques Delors Institute for 5 years as head of publishing of the Jacques Delors archives, and as head of events and development of the Notre Europe Academy.
In 2018, through the company i3L, I professionaly became a "multi-hyphenate" person, mainly working in facilitation activities in collective intelligence and change coaching, as well as several consulting projects, project management, and training.
Since 2020, I have worked for the association Tous Tes Possibles, which seeks to find, experiment and disseminate innovative solutions for those who are furthest from employment.
As the co-pilot of its "Laboratory" team, I am in charge of the "human dynamics" of the team, in order to take care of individuals and the collective, in a team that works remotely; and of several projects, one of which is interested in the health of job seekers as a lever for their professional integration.
Since 2009, I have been involved in the Young European Federalists association and have held several responsibilities at the local and national levels. Today, I continue my federalist commitment within the Union of European Federalists.
Since 2015, I have also become a sports leisure leader - a fitness coach! I started out as a callisthenics instructor and am now also trained in Pilates.
WHAT WERE THE MAIN STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PATH?
I started at Sciences Po in 2008 with the full intention of becoming a journalist... and was caught up by the EU, whose political project immediately fascinated me. I confirmed my interest by choosing the options that would allow me to deepen my knowledge and by getting involved in the Young Europeans. I quickly knew that the Master in European Affairs was made for me!
It was within the Young Europeans that I discovered and laid the foundations of another thread of my professional career: teaching, civic engagement and collective intelligence.
By working for a think-tank and an evaluation mission of public health policies related to the implementation of the Development Goals during my third year abroad at Johns Hopkins University, I affirmed a keen interest in the semi-public sector.
Before leaving for London, I did a four-month internship in the Salto Euromed Jeunesse unit, within the INJEP (Institut national de la jeunesse et de l'éducation populaire). It was an opportunity to discover the daily life of the ministries and to be published for the first time in a 'Cahier de l'Action.' It also allowed me to realise that I would not be able to quench my thirst for action in the service of citizens in the public administration, nor in research...
At the end of my Masters, I was delighted to find a job at the Jacques Delors Institute. With elements of European affairs, an associative structure, practical and operational elements rather than research. There was even a bit of teaching and civic engagement, as I quickly became responsible for the events of the Jacques Delors Institute and for partnerships and then I was responsible for teaching at the Notre Europe Academy, which opened up major European issues to young people who were far from it, and within which I even had the pleasure of working with my former Masters director, Imola Streho!
In addition to all these activities, I trained in sports coaching and started to give Swedish gym classes as a self-employed person. I have kept this work alongside my other professional activities, and it has also enriched my reflection on my professional future.
After 5 years at the Jacques Delors Institute, I decided to start my own business in a rather different way, mixing project management, facilitation in collective intelligence, setting in motion, and coaching, with a common thread: to help people to become the leaders of their projects.
I was supported in setting up a company and used another as an incubator, where I signed a training contract that allowed me to develop skills in facilitation, training, change management, active teaching methods, etc.
My studies in change management made me want to find a position that would allow me to support people who are no longer in employment... And that's how I came into contact with Tous Tes Possibles where I am now the project manager for the "health of job seekers" project, and co-responsible for the association's "Lab" team, in charge of its "human dynamics"!
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR POSITION TODAY?
I manage a team, pilot projects, design and conduct facilitations and training, conduct research and connections in order to dissect a research topic that becomes a subject of experimentation, pilot impact measurements, and teach sports!
I have finally achieved a professional balance that suits me perfectly and does not require me to set up my own structure: my desires and needs in terms of diversity of missions, freedom and flexibility of organisation, meaning and cause to work for, are perfectly fulfilled in the configuration in which I find myself today.
WHAT CONTRIBUTIONS DID YOUR STUDY AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MORE SPECIFICALLY THE MASTER IN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, HAVE ON THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY?
Without wishing to wax lyrical, the Master in European Affairs, and Sciences Po in general, offered me the wonderful opportunity to be able to follow my heart's desires and intuitions, giving me many options and giving me the possibility of pushing or not pushing open many very diverse doors.
The duties I now perform are, on the whole, quite far removed from European affairs. And yet what I learned in my Master's degree and in this School is useful to me every day: from grant applications to the impact of European directives and regulations in the fields of integration and vocational training, not to mention all that the student associations taught me in terms of project management and operational implementation, the wonderful network of people I met in class and in associations, professors, students at Sciences Po or on exchange, or the multicultural openness... the contributions are vast!
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE A STUDENT OR A FUTURE YOUNG GRADUATE?
Don’t focus on the name of a degree or an option. Sciences Po offers many other things, so take advantage of all the opportunities that the programme offers you, use the knowledge and skills that it gives you in the field, in associations, in internships, in work-study programmes, and take advantage of the incredible opportunity that you have to be able to push open all the doors, to be curious, to try everything!
