Ministerial Coup for Ipsos
February 23 2018
Ipsos has appointed former French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem as Deputy CEO, International Research and Social Innovation.
Vallaud-Belkacem graduated from the Institute of Political Research in Paris in 2002, worked in a lawyer's office and then for the city hall of Lyon before joining the regional council of Rhone-Alpes, in charge of cultural policy. She served as spokeswoman for Segolene Royal during the French presidential election in 2007 and then for Francois Hollande in 2012, becoming Minister of Women's Rights and government spokesperson in the subsequent Hollande administration, of which she was the youngest member. Two years later she became Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research, the first woman to hold the role.
As recently as the New Year, there was speculation that she would seek the leadership of the Socialist Party, but Vallaud-Belkacem then clarified she would not be running, declaring instead that 'there are other ways to make yourself useful'. At Ipsos, she will be making herself useful in three specific areas:
- helping international public institutions to define their policies, better understand their citizens and assess the effectiveness of their actions.
- helping businesses manage their relationship with wider society, including corporate responsibility and sustainable development; and
- working with the scientific community, as Ipsos seeks closer partnership with the sector in disciplines such as behavioural science, neuroscience, data science / big data, and artificial intelligence.
Didier Truchot, Ipsos founder, Chairman & CEO says of the coup: 'For more than 10 years, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has been very active in French political life... She has a unique personality above all. Having decided to stop her political career for the time being, Najat has chosen to work in a company whose signature is GAME CHANGERS and which is dedicated to helping its thousands of clients worldwide in facing the major issues of the transformation of society and the markets that every day are becoming more unpredictable, more digital, shaken by the consequences of scientific development, of the implementation of technologies. We have entered a world where the chances of being successful and happy are blending with fears and angers.
'Ipsos is dedicated to helping its clients to better understand society, markets and people. The integration of personalities like Najat plays an additional part to our project'.
Vallaud-Belkacem herself says of the new role, which she starts in Paris on March 1st: 'I am very happy to be joining such an engaged company which is so passionate and ambitious about its plans for the future. The study of international societal phenomena, the ever more diverse applications of scientific knowledge to improve understanding, and finally social innovation: these are topics which I will be thrilled to develop with our enthusiastic team'.
Web site:
www.ipsos.com .
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
