An interview with Marie-Pierre Schickel, Managing Director, Sounya Kiniffo, Head of Ecological and Social Impact, and Claire Hallier, Head of Lifelong Learning and Career Projects, at ESSEC Alumni, on their initiative to develop the online Impact Learning Hub dedicated not only to accompany alumni and others throughout their careers, but with a special focus on the skills and knowledge required for the ecological transition.

The Impact Learning Hub: An ESSEC Alumni initiative for the planet and the common good by Tom Gamble, Sounya Kiniffo, Claire Hallier and Marie-Pierre Schickel.

Behind every innovation are they people who developed it. Such is the case with the Impact Learning Hub – an online source of free content focusing on sustainability, social impact, and more broadly, the ecological transition.

Both based at the Maison des ESSEC – the headquarters of the Alumni association at ESSEC Business School – located in the 8^th arrondissement of Paris, Sounya Kiniffo and Claire Hallier now manage the hub they developed from ideation to implementation.

Head of Ecological and Social Impact at ESSEC Alumni, Sounya is responsible for guiding the ESSEC alumni community on all matters related to the ecological and social transition. “This is accomplished through a comprehensive action plan aimed at raising awareness among alumni, providing them with the necessary tools, and empowering them to take meaningful- action,” states Sounya.

Beginning her professional journey in digital project management, she quickly transitioned to the social and solidarity economy sector. Since then, she has had the opportunity to support various social initiatives, including programs focused on integrating young people facing significant challenges in the labour market and promoting cooperative entrepreneurship. “My roles have been diverse and cross-functional,” she says. “They have involved a wide range of responsibilities such as fundraising, partnership management and development, community building, communications, creating and implementing training programs, and supporting vulnerable groups.”

The ESSEC Alumni community is global and spans a wide variety of sectors. “By raising awareness and equipping this extensive network of more than 70,000 alumni to drive change within their organisations, we have a powerful lever to contribute to the positive transformation of our society,” says Sounya. “This is why I chose to engage with the ESSEC Alumni community!”

For her part, Claire Hallier has a background in International Business and her professional journey has seen her gain a comprehensive understanding of global business management through diverse work and study experiences across multiple countries. Her career began in international marketing, communication, and brand management within the industrial sector, where she successfully led cross-functional and global projects.

“Motivated by a deep-seated desire to contribute to impactful initiatives,” she says, “I transitioned to the nonprofit sector, where I honed my skills in fundraising, advocacy, volunteer community management, and partnership development.”

This move, combined for a passion for lifelong learning and education, led her to ESSEC Alumni, where she currently serves as Head of Lifelong Learning and Career Projects. “In this role,” she states, “I guide alumni throughout their professional journeys by offering a constantly evolving range of content, training programs, and support mechanisms designed to facilitate career transitions.”

“Most recently, Sounya and I launched the Impact Learning Hub, an online resource centre focusing on the social and environmental transition. The project has combined our professional expertise with our commitment to creating meaningful change.”

A proven Alumni interest in sustainability and social and environmental impact

How interested in sustainability – and more broadly social and environmental impact – are alumni? Enter Marie-Pierre Schickel who, from her early years at Bain & Company to eight years spent in higher education in Italy and now Managing Director of ESSEC Alumni, has a commitment to the common good in her personal DNA. For her, there is no doubt that alumni are very much concerned by the topics. “It’s part of the roots of our school and hence its alumni,” she says, recalling that ESSEC was a pioneer in integrating sustainability and social impact in its programme curricula, “and part of our founding values linked to highlighting initiatives for the common good and the environment into business practices. “In the current situation, “she adds, “any individual – whether a graduate from ESSEC or any other school – has to be interested in sustainability given how the challenges are shaping the economic landscape.”

Indeed, prior to the launch of various initiatives at ESSEC Alumni, including the Impact Learning Hub, a survey was carried out with ObSoCo – the French watchdog on society and consumption – on ESSEC alumni thoughts on the matter. The results were revealing.

71% of the alumni surveyed expressed the need to acquire new competencies to tackle environmental and sociological challenges. With only 6% feeling adequately supported to manage this skills and knowledge gap. Their interests ranged from topics such as sustainability (82%), gender parity (86%), and diversity & inclusion (74%). A resounding 68% of those surveyed declared themselves to be interested by the training offered by ESSEC Business School and the professional development tools provided by ESSEC Alumni as part of the lifelong learning offer.

“Our study showed that our alumni thought only 15% of the companies and organizations are engaged in a much needed radical transformation,” says Marie-Pierre Schickel. “A strong 20% declared they were personally engaged in the active transformation of their organisations. Among these, 25% of alumni had just started and wanted to increase their commitment. Another 35% declared to be aware – however, they were a bit at a loss as to how to take action. Finally, an encouraging 48% of younger graduates expressed the desire to reorient their career toward jobs with impact.”

ESSEC Alumni counts among its mission guidelines the “Together to Act” pillar entirely centred on the SDGs, and how to act collectively to improve its impact for the planet and the common good. Tangible examples of how ESSEC Alumni is promoting those topics transversely into their ecosystem of services include, among others, the ESSEC Transition Alumni and ESSEC Alumni Sustainable business clubs who regularly partner with other regional or professional Clubs to organize roundtable, debates and conferences on crucial sustainability and social impact topics. “Independently” states Marie-Pierre Schickel, “all our Clubs have included impact initiatives in their programs. Our lifelong learning and career offer also ideated 1-hour webinars baptized “Transition Workshops” to which alumni regularly sign up as they focus on “hot topics” crucial for companies & organizations. Not forgetting our cycle of Impact Jobs in collaboration with Birdeo, the sustainability talent agency. I’ll stop here – but you can get the idea of the importance of this pillar for our alumni community.”

The Impact Learning Hub: Its mission

The Impact Learning Hub centralises a relevant selection of resources, key individuals, and information on the ecological and social transition.

This collection of resources, created specifically for those with an interest in sustainability, CSR issues and social impact, offers the opportunity not only for ESSEC Alumni, but also for the wider community, to learn, stay informed, and acquire essential knowledge to improve understanding of these crucial issues at the heart of the transition. Moreover, the Impact Learning Hub is an evolving project, shaped by user feedback.

“The Impact Learning Hub offers a wide range of resources that allow users to stay informed, learn, and acquire the essential knowledge to understand and take action on major ecological and social challenges,” states Sounya Kiniffo. Indeed, the initiative leverages the collective expertise of the ESSEC Business School network, including the Center for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CISE), numerous clubs and centres within ESSEC Alumni, as well as the CEDI (Center for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) and ESSEC Together, the department within the school that managers the strategic shift towards sustainability in the institution as a whole.

The latest newcomer to this knowledge cluster is the Council on Business & Society (CoBS) – a global alliance of leading international business schools coordinated from ESSEC’s main campus in Cergy-Pontoise, and which has been active in the fields of responsible leadership and CSR since 2011. The Impact Learning Hub platform is accessible free to all ESSEC alumni – and the wider public – in French and English versions. For Sounya it demonstrates ESSEC’s shared commitment to being active participants in the transition.

Why launch the Impact Learning Hub?

“As an alumni association,” says Claire Hallier, “one of our core missions, particularly through the Lifelong Learningdivision, is to support our community in continuously educating and informing themselves throughout their careers. When it comes to environmental and social transition topics, this can be quite challenging,” adds Claire. “For those beginning to explore these areas, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of available information. It’s not always clear where to start or which sources are trustworthy.”

The Impact Learning Hubwas initially created with the purpose of guiding alumni who wish to deepen their understanding and enhance their skills in the fields of environmental and social transition. Rather than designing the platform for experts, the choice was made to offer it to those on the journey of learning about these crucial issues. The choice was also made to open the platform to the wider public – as part of the institution’s belief in serving the wider community and the common good. And while the Impact Learning Hub is accessible to everyone, its focus is not on the academic sector or those already deeply embedded in the impact space. Instead, the hub aims to cater to those at the beginning of their journey, providing an introduction and path of discovery. “For those who are already active in the impact field,” adds Sounya, “we encourage you to explore the resources offered by the ESSEC Center for Social and Ecological Innovation (CISE), which focuses on developing concrete initiatives to drive social and ecological transition.

To ensure the quality and relevance of the resources offered, the Impact Learning Hub relies on the expertise of a validation committee composed of key players from the ESSEC Alumni transition ecosystem:

The ESSEC Transition Alumni Club

• The ESSEC Sustainable Business Club
• The Center for Social and Ecological Innovation at ESSEC Business School
• The ESSEC Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Center
• The ESSEC TOGETHER team
• The Council on Business & Society team.

“We add new resources every quarter and update the existing content every six months to remove any that may have become outdated,” says Claire. “This ongoing effort ensures that the Hub remains a valuable and up-to-date tool for our community.”

The Impact Learning Hub stands as a crucial resource for alumni and the wider public navigating the complexities of the environmental and social transition. By providing curated, accessible information and knowledge, it empowers users to take meaningful steps in their personal and professional lives.

As the Hub evolves, driven by community feedback and expert guidance, it remains committed to fostering lifelong learning and collective action. “My advice for visitors to our website is to explore,” says Marie-Pierre Schickel. “We do not have an academic purpose, but more of a call-to-action purpose that we encourage through serious games, articles, MOOCs, podcasts and reports curated from experts within our ecosystem.” “Together,” echo Sounya Kiniffo and Claire Hallier, “we can make informed choices that contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future.”

Useful links:

• Link up with Marie-Pierre Schickel, Sounya Kiniffo, and Claire Hallier on LinkedIn
• Read a related article: Business, People, and the Transition to Sustainability with José Luis Blasco and Concepción Galdón
• Discover the Impact Learning Hub, its resources and ESSEC Alumni
• Meet the school behind thee alumni: ESSEC Business School France-Singapore-Morocco.

Learn more about the Council on Business & Society

The Council on Business & Society (The CoBS), visionary in its conception and purpose, was created in 2011, and is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society including sustainability, diversity, ethical leadership and the place responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good.  

• Follow the CoBS on X and LinkedIn

Member schools of the Council on Business & Society.

• ESSEC Business School, France, Singapore, Morocco
• FGV-EAESP, Brazil
• School of Management Fudan University, China
• IE Business School, Spain
• Keio Business School, Japan
• Monash Business School, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia
• Olin Business School, USA
• Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Canada
• Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa
• Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.