French Grandes Ecoles Singapore Alumni – Lunch Talk with the Ambassador of France

In the occasion of Bastille Day 2020, the French Grandes Ecoles Singapore Alumni organised a virtual Lunch Talk with HE Marc Abensour, Ambassador of France to Singapore.

COVID-19 has been a game changer for many, and its impact is felt all over the world. Many alumni of the French Grandes Ecoles face increasing difficulties keeping their businesses afloat, holding onto their employment or finding a job. This gave rise to a strong desire to reactivate their networks (the Embassy of France, France Alumni, French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, French Tech, etc.) to build rapport and solidarity. Hence in April 2020, the Presidents of the individual French Grandes Ecoles Alumni chapters in Singapore got together to launch a joint initiative to realise this vision. The French Grandes Ecoles Singapore Alumni initiative was thus born.

The French Grandes Ecoles Alumni in Singapore today comprises graduates from 18 French Grandes Ecoles, with more than 1,400 members listed on LinkedIn and 250 members on the Discord platform segmented by sectors and profession. To date, five lunchtime talks by alumni speakers who were leading industry figures were conducted in the past six weeks on various subjects.

The 5^th Lunch Talk organised on July 15, one day after the French National Day, was focused on France-Singapore partnership and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on it. It was also the occasion for the audience to know more about diplomacy and the path to become an Ambassador. The replay is available here (password is France2020@)

More talks around the theme of solidarity- caring – listening are in the pipeline. The next lunchtime talk will take place on 29 July 2020 with Philippe Hoffmann and Stéphane Fabregoul as the speakers, and will focus on managing your career while working abroad.

More information on the French Grandes Ecole Alumni network is available on LinkedIn.