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Reverse mentoring workshop on 11 February in Lille

21 February 2020 Events

The second edition of the Reverse Mentoring workshop was held at SKEMA Lille on 11 February 2020.

This event was the fruit of a collaboration between SKEMA Ventures (Franck Hanoh SK 90), SKEMA Alumni, the Women in Business Chair (Stephanie Chasserio), the Force Femmes association, Femmes Chefs d’entreprises (FCE) and the student association Enactus. Some twenty people, including alumni entrepreneurs, students and women business owners, gathered at the Lille campus KCenter to support, advise and challenge five women entrepreneurs from the Force Femmes association, and in some cases even encourage them to pivot. Four SKEMA alumni ─ Raphael Robil (SK 2007), Associate Director at Lemon InteractiveAurelien Deschodt (SK 2003), Digital Communication Leader at Decathlon France; Laurent Varjacques (SK 2008), accountant at Pansard & Associés; and Tanguy Dubly (SK 2010), lawyer at Bignon Lebray in Lille ─ shared their advice and experience with these women entrepreneurs who had come to seek an external point of view. Experiences, intergenerational advice and titbits of legal, financial, communication and marketing information were shared in the welcoming setting provided by the KCenter. Thank you to our alumni for their generosity and involvement.

“I’m very fond of SKEMA and of helping entrepreneurs. The original reverse mentoring format is what convinced me to take part. The contributions of the students and entrepreneurs to the women’s business ventures made this a very enriching moment. As an entrepreneur, talking to a new business owner about their venture allows you to hold a mirror up to your own, in a way, and it is fascinating. Adding in the perspectives of SKEMA’s students is even more enriching. Of course, I recommend it to alumni wishing to open up and learn"  Raphael Robil, SK 2007.

“I agreed to participate in this workshop because SKEMA is special to me and because I truly believe in entrepreneurship as a tool for personal and social development. I get excited when I see students being so invested and passionate, whether it’s about social issues or about how to start a business. So for me these discussions are enriching and eye-opening”  Aurelien Deschodt, SK 2004. 

Five representatives of the student association Enactus (Maxence Padua, Theodora Cauchois, Laure Manzanera, Regine Strasser and Maxime Simeon) also played the role of mentor to share their feedback and their impressions of the ventures presented. Thank you to Enactus for this rich collaboration.

For the past two years, the aim of this reverse mentoring event has been intergenerational knowledge sharing. While this type of mentoring is more commonly used for digital skills, we found it a good idea to extend the scope and apply the same process of connecting people and sharing to entrepreneurial ventures started by women. It is a great opportunity for SKEMA students to meet some women entrepreneurs and some alumni.

The feedback from the fledgling entrepreneurs was also very positive.

“Well done for everything this has brought to our candidates! They came away from this event with a lot of new awareness, things to reassess and some possible shifts in focus. It really got them thinking, to say the least!” ─ Carole Le Melledo, coordinator at Force Femmes.

This event reflects SKEMA’s strong desire to participate in the development of its territories and to contribute to the economic landscape that surrounds it. We plan to organise another event of this type in 2021.

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