Photo: During the trip, all health and safety measures were strictly observed.
For this trip from 5 to 11 November, SKEMA dean Alice Guilhon was accompanied by Céline Gobeill (director of human resources and organisation), Nathalie Hector (development director) and Isabelle Jauny (Student Office director). They were welcomed by campus director Geneviève Poulingue and her teams.
This visit to Brazil aimed at supporting the development of the campus by fostering the sharing of experiences and best practices, talking to the students on site, and meeting with several businesses in the economic ecosystem of Belo Horizonte and the state of Minas Gerais.
On 6 November, the day was devoted to the campus team. Its representatives presented their achievements and the projects that have been or are being developed. During this interaction, the management team discussed the local implementation of programmes, such as the BBA with a focus on global business and the “nano degrees” in law and AI, civil liability and AI, etc.
After that, the team visited the Nova Lima campus to talk to Brazilian students in the BBA and French students in the MSc programmes.
The visit also included meetings with corporate partners. Ana Cristina Gazzola (campus Talent & Careers coach) joined the management team to meet senior executives from the Hermes Pardini Group, the FIEMG company and the Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais. This was an excellent opportunity to consolidate and develop links within the local economic fabric.
“We decided to come to Brazil five years ago. As a ‘glocal’ school, being in Latin America is a great challenge and a fantastic opportunity for SKEMA, our students, and the companies that work with us. Setting up a campus in Brazil seemed like an obvious choice because it is a country with a great, deep-rooted culture. When I came here for the first time, I was impressed by the attributes of the Brazilians, their education and, of course, the country’s dynamism! In five years, our campus has grown considerably and we now have many Brazilian and international students among us. We’ve developed research in AI, innovation and finance here; we have many high-quality partners and enjoy great support from all stakeholders. We can act like a gateway opening onto the world, for students, Brazilians, businesses, and the ’glocal’ society,”
“We came here during the pandemic, despite all the negative descriptions of this crisis in Brazil. But on the contrary, I have seen people who are working very hard, who are getting involved for their country, who want to change and transform society. Brazil has a fantastic dynamism and our students at the Belo Horizonte campus feel and experience it: they are highly involved in many fields and are seeing different changes. I am very proud and happy to be here with the SKEMA Brazil staff and our local partners, and I would like to emphasise that SKEMA wishes to act as a global player here in Belo Horizonte,” said Alice Guilhon.