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Wendy Savage (SKEMA 2001): “We all have the opportunity to make a difference”

07 December 2020 INTERVIEW

Since childhood, Wendy’s ambition has always been to build a career that would allow her to help others and to take action against social inequalities. Originally from Lima in Peru, she moved to the United States and later to France, where she studied at SKEMA Business School. After extensive travel and multiple professional experiences in CSR, Wendy is now in charge of social responsibility and supply chain traceability for the Patagonia group. A career that combines her passion for international exposure and her desire to make a difference. She shares her inspiring journey with us. 

 

Can you tell us about your educational background? Why did you choose to study at SKEMA Business School? 

I left my homeland of Peru in 1994 to settle in California. I didn’t speak English at the time, but I knew I wanted to study in the States. So I took night classes at a community college. For two years I learned English, and then I spent 4 years studying at UCLA, where I majored in sociology. I was sure I wanted to build an international career that would also allow me to help others, but I didn’t really know where to start. After a year of working, I decided to get a master’s degree. Because I couldn’t afford to pay for it, I looked into scholarships. That’s when I discovered the Rotary Club’s ambassadorial scholarships for funding studies abroad. My scholarship application was successful and the Rotary Club financed all of my studies and my stay in France. That scholarship truly changed my future. I chose to go to France because I’ve always loved French culture. That’s how I got to study at SKEMA, which I chose from among several other leading business schools. 

 

What memories do you have of your experience at SKEMA and the time you spent in France?

It was a fantastic experience! I was part of a group of international students with whom I went through the phase of adapting to a new school, a new culture, and a different language. While studying at SKEMA I made some wonderful friendships and discovered the conviviality of the French. The professors were great too, and most had an international background, which made exchanges much easier. The French and international students were all really willing to help one another, too. It was a brand new world for me, after Peru and the United States, but the school was always there to help and support me, especially with the different formalities (health, accommodation, etc.), which can be very complicated to take care of alone when you don’t speak the language. I really only have great memories of that time.

 

How did your workforce integration go after graduating from SKEMA? 

After my studies, my plan was to settle in France. So I started to apply for jobs and I got an interview, in Sophia Antipolis, with a big tech company specialising in management for the distribution and sale of travel services. But then the events of September 11 2001 happened and I had to return to the United States. I found a job there in the aerospace industry, but I didn’t find it particularly fulfilling. It was an international role, but it lacked the social aspect I wanted in my work. It was really important to me to do something meaningful. After a few years, I heard about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Today, there are many courses in this area and you hear a lot of talk on this subject. But at the time, it was something that was really cutting-edge and we were only just starting to realise that brands are responsible for the well-being of their workers and have a duty to defend their rights. So I found a job with a CSR consultancy, which gave me a foot in the door in this sector. Actually, my SKEMA degree, my language skills and my different travel experiences really helped me to get into this field, which requires a great deal of adaptability and openness to other cultures. 

 

Today, you work at Patagonia as Director of Social Responsibility and Supply Chain Traceability. What does this position involve? 

All of my professional experiences and travels led me to dream of working for Patagonia, a brand that is known for upholding strong values. So after holding several positions in different industries, I applied to Patagonia and I have now been working there for going on 10 years. My expertise is in human rights, product traceability and animal welfare. It’s a very interesting role that I’m hugely passionate about. In concrete terms, among other things we ensure that workers’ rights are respected at the manufacturing plants, that they earn fair wages, and that the factories don’t have a negative impact on the environment in which they operate. Where animal welfare is concerned, we ensure that the animals that provide the fibres for our clothing (such as wool or goose down) are treated humanely. Another part of my job is to make sure that everything we communicate in our marketing and advertising is well-founded and authenticated, and that it isn’t just greenwashing. 

 

In your opinion, where does your need to make a difference and to help others come from? 

Actually, it comes from my mother. I was born and raised in Peru, where my mother worked for an organisation that helped underprivileged children in Lima. Her entire life, she has fought to defend human rights. We travelled all over the country, including the Amazon jungle, to help people in need. As a child, I witnessed social injustices first-hand and my mother taught me the importance of helping others. I used to tell her that I wanted to become a social worker, like her, but she advised me to work in the private sector instead, for companies that really have the means and resources to help people easily. That is what prompted me to attend a business school, so that I could work for a company where I could make a real difference. CSR was the perfect combination of everything I’d always wanted to do: work in the private sector, for brands with the resources to make a really significant change. 

 

You are currently on the Board of the SKEMA US Foundation. What does that role involve? 

When CERAM became SKEMA Business School, the school interviewed a number of alumni to ask for their opinion on where the school should focus its efforts. I was one of those alumni, and I was very much inspired by the school’s approach, and also by the fact that a woman was dean of SKEMA Business School, because that is quite rare in academia in France. After that interview I was again contacted by the school, as they were looking for alumni to help develop the American section of the school, which had just opened some campuses in the United States. One of the missions of the SKEMA US Foundation Board is to offer students scholarships and to raise funds to finance innovative programmes, focusing on artificial intelligence for example. Recently, we also organised a fundraiser to help the students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We still need support right now to help those students. If anyone wishes to make a donation, they can contribute to the SKEMA United emergency fundraising campaign.


Wendy is an ambassador of the SKEMA United solidarity fund, in place to help the students who have been financially impacted by COVID-19. 


Was it important for you to maintain ties with SKEMA?

Before being contacted to join the Board, I already had a connection with the school through my best friends who live in France. So SKEMA has always been present in my life through the longstanding friendships I formed while studying. When the opportunity came up to be part of the foundation’s Board, I told myself that I was at a point in my career where it would be good to make a bit of room in my schedule to help and to give something back after having received so much.

 

Do you have any advice for young SKEMA graduates who, like you, would like to make a difference through their work? 

The opportunities are there; I think you have to knock on doors. You have to maintain connections, friendships, talk to alumni working in the sector. Even if they don’t have a job for you, they will have advice to give you. It’s also important to remember that environmental responsibility and defending human rights is not just the job of NGOs and activists, it is everyone’s responsibility. As consumers, we have the power to choose the kind of planet we want to leave the next generation. Every small action counts and all companies must be capable of clearly explaining their human and environmental impacts. You have the power to inspire responsible and transparent business practices in whatever company you work for. Whatever our position or industry, we all have the possibility of having an impact, of making a difference.

 

ContactWendy Savage, Director of Social Responsibility and Traceability at Patagonia 

Interview by lepetitjournal.com for SKEMA Alumni

 

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