As every year, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) – who analyses the global higher education market – has released its 2020 ranking of best Executive MBA programs. emlyon business school gains 4 places on a European level and becomes the 16th best program! A great performance that also enables emlyon Executive MBA to become the 3rd best ranked program in France. This ranking analyzes up to 160 EMBA programs, with over 50% of results based on external sources: a worldwide panel of recruiters, professors, researchers, business school and university deans who are directly surveyed by QS. A school survey is also conducted to complete the data. Amongst the strengths of emlyon business school’s EMBA which are highlighted in this ranking, we can underline diversity (% of women in the cohort, high number of nationalities) and the highly qualified profile of participants (highest score in “professional experience” and “position within their company”).  “It’s great to see in these rankings that our EMBAs, who already started the program in senior leadership positions, are being promoted after starting the program to even higher level positions. This really demonstrates the strong return on investment of the emlyon program.” Rhoda Davidson, Director of EMBA program. * To discover emlyon business school’s EMBA program, click here!

For almost 10 years, Professor Michel PHAN ran and developed the MSc in Luxury Management and Marketing. The program was such a success that Michel Phan was appointed head of the “Global Doctorate of Business Administration”. The Global Doctorate of Business Administration is a 4-year doctoral program. This double degree is taught in collaboration with the Durham University Business School. Michel Phan will be supported by Tyrone PITSIS, Director of the program at Durham, to develop the doctorate. The first two years are dedicated to coursework. Participants will further enhance their knowledge in several domains (Leadership & Followership, Innovation & TechnologyManagement, etc.). Half of the program is taught by the Professors of the Durham University, and the other half will be taught by the Professors of emlyon business school. Year 3 and 4 are exclusively dedicated to theses writing. Launched in 2019, the program is rapidly growing. “The first year, we only had 11 participants. In 2020, we had 20” explained Michel Phan. Most of the candidates have jobs with high responsibilities in their companies (Supervisors,Senior Executives, CEOs, CFOs…) but they strive for more knowledge and competences. An International Program “Taking over thisGlobal DBA is a captivating and motivating challenge. I am proud to take up the great challenge promoting and developing this prestigious program” says Michel Phan. Based on his expertise in luxury marketing, Michel Phan is counting on his experience to continue developing the international aspect of the GDBA. This doctorate, split between Paris (France) and Durham (United-Kingdom), attracts participants from various nationalities. With such variety of backgrounds, cultural, professional and intellectual interactions are particularly rich for all participants. According to Michel Phan, the Global Doctorate of Business Administration is both innovative and special. Participants are driven and motivated by their passion. When integrating this program, participants already know what issue they want to address in their theses. That is why they enter the GDBA with a thirst for knowledge. The former director of the MSc in Luxury Management & Marketing wants to develop the program while preserving its soul and strengths. He wants to restrict the number of participants to ensure quality individual support. Right from the start, each participant is closely followed by a professor. This method allows the participant to produce a theses of higher quality. Transverse teaching between the Durham University and emlyon business school, and the various methods both schools use, allow to broaden the field of competences. A gratified and gratifying degree “I want to promote the richness of the program” adds Michel Phan.“Some participants work at the World Health Organization, in public organizations, embassies etc. Such professional profiles in our alumninetwork show the quality of our teachings.” The GDBA provides quite a few advantages for participants: This program allows participants to obtain a doctorate degree (Doctorate in Business Administration) Participants can address and offer innovative solutions to an issue that matters to them Participants are guided and supported by professors and other individuals with doctorate degrees, and will in turn, become experts in the issue and domain they are addressing in their theses Working on a specific topic for several years allows participants to become international experts in the said matter GDBA participants acquire knowledge, but also on a more personal point of view, pride and personal recognition. Michel Phan explains that “first and foremost, program participants are looking for competences. My objective is to do our best to help develop such talents. “In the future, participants will in turn be able to share their knowledge and supervise theses. It is important that they pass on their message, their knowledge and passion.” For more than 10 years now, emlyon business school has chosen to trust in Michel Phan and his competences. The quality of his achievements will certainly allow the Global Doctorate of Business Administration to fully bloom. Right from the start, a close follow-up with a professor is implemented for each participant. This work and analysis method allows for enhanced quality in theses. Transverse teaching between the Durham University and emlyon business school, and the various methods both schools use, allow to broaden the field of competences.

Meant for senior directors and managers, with at least a 7-year professional experience, the Executive MBA of emlyon business school, ranked #47 worldwide by the Financial Times, provides a whole range of learning experiences allowing to develop the relevant competences to be better equipped to lead and manage in an ever-changing world. Soon to be open on the campus of the Ecole Centrale in Casablanca, this track connects pedagogical inputs, how to put them into practice in real projects and the professional transformation of the participants. In addition to the modules of management fundamentals (Strategy, Finance, Company Governance, Marketing, Supply Chain, HR ...), the program tackles the current challenges today’s leaders have to address, such as Corporate Social Responsibility, climate issues, or change management. A learning trip in Europe and an individual strategic project round off the program. For Nassef Hmimda, Director of Executive Education and Director of Innovative Pedagogy at the Fondation École Centrale Casablanca: “Ever since it was created, the Ecole Centrale Casablanca has been dedicated to carrying out the three fundamental missions of a Major School: engineering training via its higher education program, research and continued education, to support skill development for executive managers and directors in Morocco and more broadly, in Africa. The partnership we have just signed with emlyon business school to implement Exed offers in Morocco for Africa, comes as a complement of our training offer for executive managers and directors thus providing a world renown and distinguished training program, which will be supported by 3 major training institutions: emlyon business school, CentraleSupélec and the École Centrale Casablanca.” For Céline Précis, Executive Education Director, CentraleSupélec Exed: “In the current emergency context, in a societal leadership era in which searching for a positive impact on our societies is increasingly prevalent, managers and directors play a key role. Their ability to federate men and women of organizations around a common vision is crucial to achieve today and tomorrow’s transitions successfully. Based on a systemic approach of issues, the Executive MBA allows to acquire the necessary knowledge, competences and behaviors to implement effective and sustainable strategies.” For Dr. Christine Baldy-Ngayo, Associated Dean Executive Education, emlyon business school: “In a world undergoing deep transformations, where anticipating the challenges ahead is essential, the Executive MBA is tailored for leaders wanting to be equipped to address the new issues of the business world, to understand them, to face them in a responsible manner, and stay one step ahead. This is a high-minded program, with a high-quality academic content.” About emlyon business school: Founded in 1872 by the Lyon CCI, emlyon business school has an enrollment of 9,020 students of 125 nationalities over 6 campuses worldwide (Lyon-Ecully, Saint-Etienne, Shanghai, Paris, Bhubaneswar and Mumbai). emlyon draws on a Faculty of 172 international professors and researchers, and a network of 190 global academic partners, to provide learning tracks of excellence opened to the world. emlyon runs a community of 38,600 alumni spread out in 130 countries. As a Société à Mission since July 2021, emlyon’s raison d’être consists in: “providing life-long training and support to meaningful individuals able to transform organizations, for a fairer society, with more solidarity and respect for the planet.” In its early makers pedagogy, action and reflection are closely intertwined. Skill hybridization and social responsibility are at the heart of its training programs, where the best of both socio-economic and academic worlds meet. www.em-lyon.com About CentraleSupélec Exed: CentraleSupélec Exed is the Executive Education branch of CentraleSupélec, the 2nd engineering school in France. A major actor in continued education providing programs for executive directors and managers in domains such as change management, digital technologies, operational excellence and great technology systems. Its certifying training programs are France compétences accredited. It is Qualiopi certified for its training actions and also has an Iso 9001 certification. Its specificity, beyond the excellence which is part of its genetic code, is to closely associate programs with the most sophisticated technical skills, with stance and soft skills, allowing for successful achievements. Its ambition is to guide customers through the key moments of their careers, by providing them not only with training tools, but also with certifications attesting that they are actually improving competence wise, throughout their lives. https://exed.centralesupelec.fr/ About the Fondation École Centrale Casablanca: The Fondation École Centrale Casablanca is home for the École Centrale Casablanca, a fully functioning school providing higher education programs, executive education ant research. The way the ECC was designed and developed is compliant with the requirements of the Ecoles Centrale Group in France and on the international scene including India and China. As such, the ECC is supported by the Ecoles Centrale Group notably in terms of professor availability, engineering, pedagogical programs and student international mobility. The ECC serves as a hub for training engineers of pan-African outreach, with the definite aim to contribute to the emergence of tomorrow’s African elite. http://www.centrale-casablanca.ma/fr/ Press contacts: KBZ Corporate for emlyon: Laurence Martin - lmartin@kbzcorporate.com - 06 47 69 85 99 Karine Zimeray - kzimeray@kbzcorporate.com - 06 09 15 65 14 For CentraleSupelec Exed: Virginie PATI - virginie.patil@centralesupelec.fr - 01 75 31 68 47 For the Fondation École Centrale Casablanca: Omar LAYACHI - omar.layachi@centrale-casablanca.ma - +212 (0) 6 69 72 01 66

Created by the FNEGE (Fondation Nationale pour l’Enseignement de la Gestion des Entreprises - National Foundation for the Education in Business Management), the BSIS Label (Business School Impact System) measures the nature and the extent of the impact schools have, over their local and regional environment. emlyon business school receives the Label once again, for its positive impact on its local and regional environment. 

The BSIS metrics measure the impact of higher education institutions in 7 areas: financial impact, educational impact, impact on business development, intellectual impact, impact over the regional ecosystem, impact over society and impact on the image. Based on a solid supporting documentation, emlyon demonstrated many assets, both on tangible and non-tangible elements, that the School provides to both the city of Lyon, its economic area, and to the whole of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (AURA) Region, the 2nd economic and the 1st industrial region in France. After analyzing the whole data and discussing with many interlocutors of the School and of its ecosystem, the BSIS experts spoke about emlyon as “a very beautiful institution with solid academic assets and a research of great quality, and one with a major impact on its territory, the city and its region.” The School is strongly anchored in the local ecosystem of higher education and research, thanks to the presence of its research professors and its great many partnerships with other institutions such as the University of Lyon, the Ecole Centrale of Lyon, the Ecole des Mines of Saint-Etienne, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP Lyon), the Institut Paul Bocuse, the ENS of Lyon, the INSA of Lyon, and the Cité du Désign of Saint-Etienne. According to the experts, emlyon “has a unique history of entrepreneurship which is still going on strongly and is ever renewed.” Founded in 1872 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry which is still to this day, its majority shareholder, emlyon actively contributes to the development of businesses on the territory of the AURA region by creating value. Not only does the School provide resources in terms of research, pedagogy and talents, but it does also support the creation of innovative businesses via its Incubator and its Accelerator. The conclusions of the BSIS report establish that emlyon “is truly one step ahead in the business school landscape when it comes to the société à mission and ESG dimensions. Social and environmental commitment are now the guiding thread of the School’s activities and programs. The société à mission status, the compulsory “Act for climate” course, the social program or even the follow up of its carbon footprint are as many CSR actions emlyon has taken which generate direct or indirect benefits on the social and environmental situation of Lyon and its area. Lastly, the BSIS experts think that the “renewed governance has the capacity to expend the School’s current impact”, and the return of emlyon in the City is to play the role of “an accelerator for its development and impact”. emlyon is rolling out its “Confluences 2025” strategic plan effectively, as a means to become one of the top 15 business schools in Europe, with the next major step, the opening of its future campus in the city center of Lyon. Download press release > Isabelle Huault, President of the Executive Board and Dean of emlyon business school, explains that: “150 years ago, emlyon business school was opening its doors at the heart of the second district of Lyon.To this day, the School finds its strength in its local ecosystem thanks to the solid relationships built with the socio-economic and academic scenes of its territory, to better contribute to the influence of the AURA Region in France and worldwide. We welcome the renewed BSIS Label as it praises the positive impact the whole of emlyon’s activities have: research and programs through their research-professors, students with their student associations, Alumni with their network, institutional and socio-economic partners, the start-ups of the Incubator and Accelerator.” Press contacts: emlyon business school: Julie Guillot - guillot@em-lyon.com - 06 45 23 23 04 KBZ Corporate for emlyon: Laurence Martin - lmartin@kbzcorporate.com - 06 47 69 85 99 Karine Zimeray - kzimeray@kbzcorporate.com - 06 09 15 65 14

The leadership journey of emlyon Executive MBA participant Sophie Prévost visuel_sophie_prevot Sophie Prévost’s top priority has always been to be true to herself while at the same time developing the skills to progress in her career and to be a better leader. She first considered taking an MBA while managing her first team in her 20s, when feeling the need to acquire the skill to inspire and empower others. However, after eight years at Aster-Cephac including four as Head of the Medical Writing Department, in 2005 she was head-hunted by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, before she was able to go for the MBA. Twelve years on Sophie is now Quality Risk Manager at Sanofi Pasteur, part of a team that analyses and manages risks for industrial operations at site and corporate level. “I am a scientist and a bio-technologist – but most of all a learner” says Sophie, and it was with this in mind that she initially turned down the opportunity to take a more senior management position at Sanofi Pasteur. She felt she needed to learn more about herself and the business and to grow her leadership skills without taking a formal leadership role, so she worked for several years in “a normal job” as first a medical writer and then an operational training specialist and transversal project manager. The epitome of a high-potential executive, by 2017 Sophie was ready to take a further step in her development and to apply for an Executive MBA – something she very much wanted to fund herself albeit with the blessing of her managers. She had two clear objectives: First, coming from an operational role, she wanted to gain a holistic understanding of business and how sustainable strategies are defined and to develop the skills to use this understanding as a leader. Secondly, she wanted the legitimacy to free-up her career choices and to extend her personal perspective. The fact that Sophie was already based in the Lyon area in no way constrained by this in her choice of EMBA provider. She had been reading about the ‘Best MBA’ business schools since her twenties and, taking a forensic approach to making this important choice, she homed in on five leading schools to make detailed enquires, visits and/or attended webinars, etc. Her choice of emlyon comes back to the idea that she wants above all to be true to herself. “I didn’t want [a school] to ‘format’ me, I want to be helped to grow,” she says. Discussions with emlyon encouraged her to believe its methodology was on the same page. Furthermore, the transparency in how the school presented itself gave her confidence to, as she says, “be sure of the quality of knowledge provided… to understand what my investment was going to give me.” Now a few months into the 18-month program she has not been at all disappointed. The catalyst that determined Sophie to gain deeper knowledge and up-grade her skills and propelled her to invest her own funds in an EMBA was the 2008/9 financial crisis and the period of gloom that followed it, when around the world many long-established companies were forced to retrench, close facilities, and make redundancies. Sophie felt there must be a more sustainable better way for businesses to conceive their strategies so as to avoid the consequence of rapid change and transformation on people. In fact, Sanofi Pasteur responded in an exemplary way to these difficult years and developed several initiatives to better support employees and foster future leaders through internal mentorship programs and also the Big Opportunity Program – an initiative to revitalise the corporate culture and to: ‘Leverage the diversity of our employees to create innovation, engagement and operational excellence; to create connections and networks at all levels’. According to Sophie this “really gives hope about how we could all do a better tomorrow within our companies thanks to our humanly inspired leaders!” The reputations of all large businesses, but pharmaceutical companies in particular, is built on a sense of their offering value to the community and in parallel to that their commitment to serving all of their stakeholders including their employees. When economic pressures and constant change cause people to suffer at work, and employees to see their bosses as detached hiring and firing automata rather than as mentors or sponsors of their careers, something has gone wrong. Sophie wanted to understand “the true meaning of ‘the company’ and how taking risks, creating competitive advantage, and guaranteeing returns could be balanced with a more human approach.” As a project manager she understood the concept of ‘agility’ as a method applied to projects but believed the much-vaunted concept of the ‘agile manager’ was de-humanizing. Change is hard and humans have a limit to how much change they can take. As a leader from a generation that, unlike its predecessor, has been able to learn from the post-crisis era, Sophie wanted to arm herself to be able to enable a values-driven culture through her leadership. The EMBA program has already given Sophie renewed energy at work, but she describes it as a marathon. She has had to give up swimming coaching and other activities and has to be extra well organized at work in order to leave on time to then put in two hours of EMBA work every evening – on top of the one day (8-10 hours) every weekend which she dedicates to the EMBA. Two aspects of the program are proving important: First the sharing of ideas with emlyon faculty and particularly with the fifteen other participants – a group from a wide range of backgrounds, including people who think very differently to her, that has bonded around ‘rugby’ embracing the team spirit as the ‘The XV cohort’– a group she is “very proud of.” Secondly, while an emphasis on softer interpersonal skills runs through the program, the new knowledge she is acquiring in finance, strategy management, scenario planning, collective intelligence and the like is transforming. A scientist who has no difficulty with mathematical formula, Sophie has found accounting and cost flow management to be a new language and ideas around value creation – merging and testing numbers to create viable strategies – hard to grasp but exciting. In this early stage of the program the pace is fast and there is little time to integrate her learning into actually doing, but this will come later in the program when there will also have more time to reflect on the learning. The EMBA experience is already helping Sophie understand “where management decisions are coming from.” Which in turn is making her feel more confident, less anxious about change, and more relaxed about moving forward in her career as a manager. Where will this take her? Sophie does not see herself as an entrepreneur in the innovative start-up sense, rather she aspires to be a better optimiser and organiser, a leader with intrapreneurial skills who can be an effective link between senior strategic management and effective implementation and operations. Strongly inspired by the Positive Leadership Institute, Sophie is committed to a business culture that takes CSR seriously and respects resources both environmental and human. She is one of a new generation of leaders that is acquiring the essential knowledge, skill, and outlook needed to succeed in an age of disruptive change. Learn more about the emlyon Executive MBA here.

Pursuing a burgeoning career, following a demanding Master's program, and answering the call of a wife and mother…. such has been the triple-challenge faced by two emlyon alumnae, Marie-Aline Bourdon and Nadia Issad. They recount the highs and lows of their personal, professional, and educational adventure, and suggest ways in which life could be made easier for others having to perform the same juggling act. Q. What prompted you to rise to the challenge and pursue an Executive MBA at emlyon? Marie-Aline: I have a 15-year background in engineering, marketing and communications, but wanted to gain more of a strategic business vision and become stronger in leadership and management. To accomplish this, I felt the need for a label or “stamp” to validate the new skills I was going to acquire and then apply, hence my decision to take the emlyon Fast Track Executive MBA. I was well aware this would involve combining work, studies and home life, but I have always been a firm believer in creating your own luck, not waiting for it to happen. Nadia: I had moved up the ladder in Préfon, a company specializing in retirement, life insurance, and pension plans. But, I felt the need to spread my wings and acquire a more generalist business overview, for which I chose to take the emlyon Executive MBA in part-time mode. This was no small decision as my children were only 4, 6 and 8 at the time. In fact, I was encouraged by my husband to do so, despite the additional working hours I was no doubt going to discover…and did! Q. What were the toughest situations you encountered during your studies and how did you overcome them? Marie-Aline: I arrived in Lyon from Paris knowing no one beyond my husband and kids. Previously, I had tried to combine a maternity leave with a part-time position in aerospace to no avail. This time around, it was full steam ahead with my emlyon studies (not forgetting the children!) but I had to multitask; applying for full-time positions while studying. I now work as the VP in Group Communications and Marketing for CLASQUIN, but the route to get here was demanding. I negotiated with the company to allow me to conduct my Executive MBA strategy project about them, ahead of my joining the company full-time upon graduation. The working hours were tough but it turned out to be the ultimate win-win for all concerned. I familiarized myself with the strategy and values of CLASQUIN in tandem with the Chairman, and they got to know my way of working so I was then able to hit the ground running when I joined, fully equipped with my EMBA. Nadia: I will not lie, there were some difficult nights and I had a period where I struggled to balance managing my youngest child, my highly strategic role at Préfon, and my EMBA teamwork projects, but with the support of my classmates and husband, I was able to succeed in all of my responsibilities! After making my decision, the cohort at emlyon became almost a second family to me. I was the only young mother juggling work and studies, but they were there for me, including times when we were on study trips to Paris and I had to delegate care for my children to my husband. The support from family and classmates was essential. Q. How could things be made easier for working-and-studying mothers in the future? Marie-Aline & Nadia: We are both of the opinion that good managers will recognize the mutual benefits of establishing and understanding a work-life balance. Allowing people to manage their time according to their needs so that they return the gesture by working even harder for the company and remaining faithful employees. Good communication between those in charge and their team members is crucial to making this work. There is no reason why, on the one hand, we cannot plan our hours to avoid clashes with home life but, on the other hand, team leaders cannot organize projects whilst considering individual needs and constraints. Maybe this could be integrated into future EMBA programs, to nurture a new spirit of responsible and understanding management? To be continued. Until then, good luck to all those who find themselves in our recent boat !

In 2018 emlyon business school along with Durham University Business School welcomed the first cohort of the Global Doctorate of Business Administration. Amongst the first students is American Jannies Burlingame, who was born in Taiwan. 1. What are your educational and professional backgrounds? As for professional background, I am a certified public accountant (CPA—Chartered Accountant in Great Britain), and was most recently the Chief Audit Executive of a bio-pharmaceutical company in the US. I am also a public speaker and teach my fellow professional internal auditors risk management framework, audit methodology, and emotional/cultural intelligence (which ties to my dissertation!). Lastly, I am president of a non-profit, Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA, Los Angeles Chapter) which is composed of 1000+ professional members. Currently I work as a consultant for Fortune 1000 companies and assist them with risk management/regulatory compliance initiatives. Being a consultant enables me the ability to balance school and work. 2. Why did you decide to do a DBA programme? Jannies_Burlingame (2) Perpetual pursuit of knowledge - to further my education, and to prepare myself for higher levels of leadership positions on Corporate boards. 3. Why did you choose this particular programme? Why is this double degree of value to you? The Global aspect of this program and quality of the faculty/cohort were both strong considerations in choosing this programme. The joint effort between two top Business Schools added value to my academic endeavor. 4. What is the topic of your doctoral thesis and why did you choose this particular topic? “Bridging the Gap Between Artificial Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence.” I chose a dissertation that was relevant in today’s business world, and in areas I am passionate about. 5. Is your company supportive of you enrolling in a DBA programme, if so how are they supporting you? I am an independent consultant at the moment, but my future company will certainly support my efforts should I decide to take on another executive position. 6. What do you wish to do after you have finished the programme? How do you want to use your degree? I would like to serve on the boards of multiple global companies as a financial expert. I would also consider teaching and giving back to our future generation. 7. How are you finding the programme so far and your classmates? The programme is both challenging and intellectually satisfying. I adore my cohort—we are one big global family and support each other. I love that instead of competing with each other, we elevate each other. 8. Is it challenging studying in different locations? Yes it is, but with today’s technology we make it work. We communicate frequently (nearly daily), keeping each other updated. It is fascinating to learn the world-view on the current global pandemic. It brings many flavors to our colorful discussions. 9. Do you have any further information to add? “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” (Steven Covey) The diversity of our cohort is one of our most valuable strengths. We come from a variety of backgrounds (gender, countries/culture, industries, and generations), and it is exciting to be charting new waters with my G-DBA family. I would have liked to meet someone who has experienced the programme. However, given that we are the inaugural cohort, I am happy to share my experiences with the next cohort so that we can bring each other to a higher level of success. Jannies with colleagues and emlyon staff members, in October 2019

With over 15 years of professional experience in the Finance industry in New York, Melissa Cape was looking to expand her career through a post-graduate program, integrating at the same time an international experience. Her undergraduate degree was focused on communications, journalism and languages and she wanted to go back to her passion for learning languages and discovering different cultures but this time in a professional context. Melissa enrolled in the Executive MBA program at emlyon business school in October 2019 on the Paris campus and is expected to complete the program this year. Find out more about why Melissa chose the Executive MBA at emlyon and about her experience in the program and life in Paris. 1. Why did you decide to come to Paris to do your Executive MBA with emlyon business school? Ever since I graduated from college in the US I’ve always wanted to do a post-graduate degree for my own personal ambition. I’ve also had a passion for learning languages and had developed a love for the French language, in particular, from the age of 8. This was my opportunity to combine both areas of study. I chose emlyon business school after having researched a few programs in Paris on the internet –the focus on both personal and professional development as well as applied business practice and theory really appealed to me. I then had the opportunity to meet the recruiter and tour the campus while on vacation, a year before my program started, and that really sealed the deal for me. 2. What do you hope to do after the MBA? After the MBA my hope is to find a job and remain in France. My background is in Finance but I’ve been looking to change careers and I’m hoping the knowledge and experiences gained through the program will act as a bridge toward my next career goal. My aim is to focus on opportunities that really incite my passions. The program helps you to explore and define those areas more clearly. I’ve already begun to fulfill some of my lifelong dreams by being here so it will be exciting to see what the future holds. 3. How do you find Paris as a city for expats? EMBA-Melissa Paris is a very dynamic and vibrant city. It has a very rich history of culture, food, fashion, art and so much more. There are plenty of places to explore from museums to locations en plein air, etc. and learning opportunities are abundant. People from all walks of life gather to share interests, ideas and build community. It reminds me a lot of New York which is where I’m from. I love living here. From what I have seen, it rains quite a lot, sometimes unexpectedly, in the winter time too so my advice would be to be prepared and carry an umbrella. 4. Have you settled into the city? Have you started to create a network for yourself? Image 2 It has been about 5 months and I have managed to settle in the city quite well. My apartment is within walking distance from school and the area has a very neighborhood feel which I like. Prior to moving to France, I had already joined several Paris-based “meetup” organizations so even though I moved here on my own, I always had the ability to go out with like-minded individuals. And so, I had already begun to create a network which now has been expanded to include administrators and colleagues at emlyon business school. 5. How is the Executive MBA preparing you for your next career step? The Executive MBA prepares you for your next career steps because it introduces you to concepts and theories that are relative to the changing business environment. It challenges you to become a more agile and critical thinker and helps you to develop your leadership style as you become a better decision maker. Many of the courses are designed to foster both individual and collaborative (group) work which mimic the natural business environment, where it’s important for diverse voices to be heard. The emphasis is on applying practical theory and analysis to modern-day industry as well as to anticipate potential disruptions, not only in business but in other eco-systems where globalism, sustainability and the uses of technology are becoming increasingly more important. Executive MBA class profile Paris 2019/2020 Number of participants: 24 (20 Part-time – 4 Fast-track) Male / Female Ratio: 79% Male, 21%Female. Average Age: 39 Average Work Experience: Average 15 years; Minimum Work Experience: 7 years Origin of cohort: France 58% / rest of the world: 42% Number of nationalities: 12 countries represented: France, Spain, USA, Ukraine, Brazil, Tunisia, Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, China, Japan, Cameroon. Profile: senior managers, managing directors, project directors, liberal professions, entrepreneurs, project managers. The Executive MBA, a course with two options available in Lyon or Paris: With a part-time option of 3 days a month over 20 months or 10 months of full-time, fast-track teaching, the emlyon business school Executive MBA is for experienced managers and executives who intend to undertake a new project or want to challenge themselves by acquiring new skills focused on the challenges of today's business world. Ranked top 10 worldwide for career progression by the Financial Times (2019), the Executive MBA explores business and strategy issues, decision-making, management, data and personal development and situations. For more information, download the brochure Global DBA virginie lafont Virginie Lafont gdba@eml-executive.com +33 (0) 6 81 73 28 80