Speakers

Camille Amar is the founder and CEO of Manita, a new-generation football club dedicated to expanding women’s participation in the sport and providing broader access to team play. Committed to inclusion through sport, she started from a personal observation: within companies, women often remain on the sidelines of sports activities, due to the lack of women’s teams, suitable training slots, or simply the confidence to get started. Manita was born from the desire to remove these barriers, to create a safe and motivating environment, and to promote a truly inclusive way of playing football.

Launching Manita in 2020, Camille has developed a concrete response to these challenges by offering a flexible model: matches, inter-company leagues, and training sessions bookable on demand, supported by coaches trained in progressive learning and well-being. Her project is rooted in a dual objective of public health and social cohesion: fighting the rise of sedentary lifestyles among working adults — a major challenge in today’s society — while strengthening social bonds, confidence, and energy at work through team sport.

Camille forges partnerships with clubs and institutional actors to firmly anchor women’s football in local territories and to make the sport a sustainable driver of gender diversity. Frequently invited to speak at events dedicated to sport innovation, she champions the advancement of women in a historically male-dominated sport and advocates for every woman — whether beginner or experienced — to find her place on the pitch. Her ambition is clear: to make football a source of empowerment, equality, and long-term health for all women.

Pierre Alquier is a Professor of Statistics in the Information Systems, Data Analytics and Operations Department at ESSEC Business School on the Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore, a position he has held since January 2023.

He holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (2006). He has previously held academic positions at Université Paris Diderot, University College Dublin, and ENSAE Paris, before joining the RIKEN research center in Tokyo as a research scientist (2019–2022).

A specialist in statistical theory and machine learning, his research focuses on approximate Bayesian methods, robust high-dimensional learning, and dependent models, with notable contributions in PAC-Bayesian theory and robust estimation.

He serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Machine Learning Research and Transactions in Machine Learning Research, and regularly holds program committee roles in major conferences such as NeurIPS, AISTATS, COLT, and ALT.

At ESSEC, he teaches core courses in statistics, machine learning, and data science (using Python and R) across several programs (BBA, Master in Finance, SMIB, Master in Data Science & Business Analytics), as well as an advanced course on online learning for the ESSEC-CentraleSupélec Master’s program.

Professor Xavier Bigard, a renowned professor of sports medicine, has served as Medical Director of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) since June 1, 2018, following his appointment by UCI President David Lappartient.

A former scientific advisor to the president of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), he has also worked as a specialist for the French Ministries of Health and Sport. Prior to that, he chaired the French Society for Sports and Exercise Medicine and served as a researcher in exercise physiology for the French Army until 2013.

As UCI Medical Director, his main responsibilities include defining a fitness-for-competition medical policy, implementing medical monitoring of elite athletes, coordinating medical services at competitions, and organizing research on the harmful effects of substances, methods, and tools used in sport.

Clémence Delavoipière, born on January 5, 2000, in Les Andelys (Eure, France), is a French para-fencer who has rapidly become one of the most promising athletes in international wheelchair fencing. Born with a congenital malformation that led to the amputation of her right leg, she discovered wheelchair fencing in 2019 at the Levallois Sporting Club Escrime, where her talent and determination quickly propelled her to the elite level. 

In 2022, she won three medals at the U23 World Championships in São Paulo — gold in épée, silver in sabre, and bronze in foil — before confirming her potential with a team silver at the 2024 European Championships. Competing in Category A, she combines strength, precision, and tactical intelligence, qualities that earned her a spot at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

Alongside her athletic career, Clémence pursues an exceptional academic path, studying at ESSEC Business School, Sciences Po, and CentraleSupélec. Originally from Normandy but trained in the Paris region, she embodies a new generation of athletes who balance sporting excellence with intellectual ambition. Her story is one of luminous resilience — turning constraint into strength, adversity into momentum, and competition into a true space of empowerment and inspiration. 

Jean-Philippe Gatien is an iconic figure in French sport and one of the most accomplished table tennis players on the international stage.

From an early age, he stood out as an exceptional talent, eventually becoming the only French player to date to win a World Championship title in men’s singles, in 1993 in Gothenburg. His achievements also include two Olympic medals: a silver in singles at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and a bronze in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games alongside Patrick Chila. In July 1992, he reached the world number one ranking, capping a career defined by discipline, consistency, and an assertive offensive playing style.

On the national level, Jean-Philippe Gatien claimed thirteen French national titles in singles, along with several doubles championships, cementing his status as a leading figure in the sport. He was a cornerstone of the Levallois club, which he helped elevate to the highest level of European competition.

Beyond his athletic career, Jean-Philippe Gatien has been deeply committed to the development of elite sport and the training of young talent. He served as President of the French National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP) from 2014 to 2021, before joining the Organising Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as Director of Sports. In this role, he has played a key role in shaping the Games’ sports strategy in close collaboration with federations and institutional stakeholders.

Fabien Gilot, born in 1984 in Denain, is one of the most decorated French swimmers of his generation. As a member of the 4×100m freestyle relay team, he became an Olympic champion at the London 2012 Games after already securing multiple World and European medals. A prominent figure in French sport, he stood out for his leadership within the national team, where he served as captain. At the end of his elite athletic career, he trained in sports management to prepare for his professional transition.

Alongside his career as an athlete, Fabien Gilot has developed strong ties with the business world, particularly in insurance and corporate consulting. His dual sport-and-business expertise quickly drew the attention of economic organizations: he first joined UPE 13 and then the MEDEF Comex 40, the network of leaders under 40. A strong advocate for bringing businesses and the sports ecosystem closer together, he promotes the idea that high-performance culture, stress management, and athletes’ resilience can serve as powerful managerial levers within companies.

In 2023, he was appointed Co-President of the MEDEF’s Sport Committee, a strategic role in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In this position, he highlights the economic, social, and health benefits of sport, particularly within professional organizations: tackling sedentary lifestyles, strengthening employee engagement, fostering local impact, and supporting amateur sport. As a spokesperson for athletes in the economic sphere, he works to make sport a lasting pillar of cohesion and performance in French companies and to ensure that the legacy of the Games endures well into the future.

Romain Lachens was Director of Engagement for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. A graduate of ISC Paris, he built his career around a strong conviction: sport is a powerful driver of mobilization and social transformation. After supporting elite athletes in their career transitions and holding senior marketing positions within the Lagardère group, he joined the Olympic adventure from the very start of Paris’s bid.

Between 2018 and 2024, he orchestrated all of Paris 2024’s engagement programs — Terre de Jeux 2024, Club Paris 2024, mobilization of the sports movement, citizen initiatives, and grassroots actions — with a clear ambition: to make the Games open, inclusive, and shared across all communities and generations.

Visionary and passionate, he worked to ensure that Paris 2024 would go beyond a sporting competition to become a true collective and lasting celebration.

Elisa Operti is a Professor of Strategy at ESSEC Business School, based on the Cergy campus, where she contributes to both teaching and research in strategic management. She earned her Ph.D. in Management from Bocconi University in 2009, after completing a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management (magna cum laude) at the Polytechnic University of Turin in 2003. Before joining ESSEC, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Lugano (USI) in Switzerland.

Her research focuses on relational networks, innovation, and the strategic behavior of organizations. Her work examines the dynamics of collaboration and competition within networks, the impact of inter-firm ties on performance, and the mechanisms through which firms recombine and leverage knowledge. Elisa Operti has published in leading academic journals such as Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Journal of Management Studies. She also serves in editorial roles, including as Associate Editor for the Journal of Management, and as a member of several editorial boards in the field of strategic management.

At ESSEC, she has held multiple academic and administrative responsibilities. Since 2025, she has been the Head of the Management Department. Over the years, she has progressed through the academic ranks at ESSEC — from Assistant Professor to Associate, and now Full Professor. Her research has earned several awards recognizing the quality and impact of her publications and peer-review activities. In addition to her academic work, Elisa Operti frequently participates in panels, workshops, and mentoring programs related to innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship, helping to bridge the gap between academic research and practical applications in business and policy.

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra is a major figure in the French sports and institutional landscape. A former professional tennis player, she notably won the Orange Bowl in 1992 and reached the semi-finals of the Junior Grand Slam before ending her sporting career in 1996 to devote herself to an academic career of excellence. A graduate of Sciences Po, ESSEC, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, and ENA, she began a career in senior civil service at the Court of Auditors, before joining major private groups, notably AXA and then Carrefour, where she held strategic management positions in the fields of digital technology, transformation, and innovation. In 2021, she was appointed Director General of the French Tennis Federation, where she notably oversees major competitions and the modernization of the institution. An active advocate for more ethical and effective governance of French sport, she co-founded the association "Rénovons le sport français" (Let's Renovate French Sport) and is involved in several educational and social projects.

In May 2022, she was appointed Minister of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a position she will hold until September 2024. In this position, she will play a key role in the preparation and success of the Paris 2024 Games, ensuring the social, educational, and environmental legacy of this global event.

Since September 2024, she has chaired the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), where she continues her commitment to more inclusive, sustainable, and meaningful sport for future generations.

Steven Seggie is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneur at ESSEC Business School, where he also serves as Academic Director of the Executive MBA program—first a traditional EMBA since 2019, then a hybrid EMBA starting in 2024.

Holding a PhD in Marketing and International Business from Michigan State University (2007), an MBA from Sabancı University in Turkey (2003), and a BA in Political Science from the University of Glasgow (1995), he served as a professor at Ozyegin University in Istanbul, where he also headed the entrepreneurship and management departments.

His research and teaching interests focus on customer-driven innovation, new product launches, interorganizational relationships, and scientometrics, with numerous publications in renowned international journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, and Industrial Marketing Management.

At the same time, he supports startups as a mentor and investor, and collaborates with large companies to help them structure their innovation processes.

Isabelle Solal is an Assistant Professor in the Management Department at ESSEC Business School, where she teaches entrepreneurship and organizational behavior. She holds a PhD in management from INSEAD in 2019, an MBA from INSEAD, an LLM from the College of Europe, a Master's degree in private law from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, and an LLB from King's College London.

Before entering academia, she worked as a lawyer specializing in investment dispute resolution and sports law, then as a management consultant at McKinsey, and finally as a compliance and integrity manager at FIFA T.M.S. in Switzerland.

Her research focuses on the mechanisms of inequality in labor and financial markets, particularly the role of gender in interpreting economic signals and the unintended effects of diversity initiatives. She also examines mental health at work, using quantitative methods and laboratory experiments in entrepreneurial and senior management contexts.

In 2023, she was a finalist for the UNWTO Responsible Research Award for her article "Not My CEO: Employee Reactions to the Threat of Female Leadership."

Benoît Taillardat is a French professional in the sports and nonprofit sectors, deeply committed to developing projects with strong social impact. Educated at AMOS Paris Business School, the University of Orléans, and Claude Bernard University Lyon I, he has built a dual expertise combining managerial and operational skills within the fields of team sports and event management. He describes himself as a dynamic and dedicated professional, eager to support sports organizations in the design, coordination, and successful delivery of their initiatives.

Throughout his career, Benoît Taillardat has held key positions within professional sports structures, contributing to the organization of major competitions, the coordination of teams, and the management of strategic partnerships. He now serves as a project leader, working with clubs, federations, associations, and large-scale events across the sports and cultural sectors. 

Throughout his career, Benoît Taillardat has held key positions in professional sports organizations, Equally engaged in issues of social inclusion and territorial cohesion, Benoît Taillardat currently serves as Regional Director for Île-de-France at Sport dans la Ville, a leading French nonprofit organization dedicated to social integration, equal opportunity, and community development through sport. In this capacity, he promotes social innovation in urban neighborhoods, builds bridges between youth, local authorities, and businesses, and champions the role of sport as a powerful driver of empowerment, citizenship, and collective progress.