Executive Committee

The Harvard Club of France is run by a team of alumni from the College and Graduate Schools who represent a  diversity of degrees, nationalities and professional activities.

2010-2011 Executive Committee

Philippe Le Corre (IAF ’04) President
Philippe is a Partner with Corporate communications & PR firm Publicis Consultants and a Lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He previously served as an adviser to the French Minister of Defense and as a senior policy analyst with the Ministry’s policy planning staff. He also worked as a Foreign correspondent for 14 years in Asia and Europe and was a Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (’03-’04). He is an Arthur Sachs scholar. Philippe is the author of 4 books and numerous articles mainly on China in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and Foreign Policy. He sits on the supervisory board of the French-American Foundation (France).

Claire Mays Poumadère (AB ’81, Harvard College) First Vice President, Vice President for College Interviewing, Honorary Board Member
Claire is an American who has lived in France since her graduation from Harvard and Radcliffe in 1981/82. She studied Psychology and Social Relations at Harvard and Clinical Social Psychology at Paris 7-Censier. Claire is an independent researcher and consultant with Institut Symlog in Paris. Her domain is governance of technological and natural risk and the empowerment of local communities. She is Radcliffe Class Secretary for Class of 1981 and is a founder of HASA (Harvard Alumni for Social Action). Claire has interviewed lycée candidates for Harvard College since arriving in France, and now coordinates a team of about 15 alumni interviewers (a core of longtime members and others newly arrived or passing through). The team was honored through Claire with the 2004 Hunn Award of Harvard University “for loyalty, dedication and longstanding effort in behalf of the Undergraduate Admissions Committee”.

Benoît Rossi (MPP ’06 Kennedy School of Government) Secretary General
Benoît B. Rossi, MPP, Kennedy School of Government, 2006 Benoît works on the development of ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (PPP) in Europe for the subsidiary of a Spanish infrastructure firm specialized in managing highways, airports, logistics platforms and telecom networks. He also holds a Master of Science in Transport Engineering from the University of New of South Wales, Australia. Prior to joining the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Benoît spent eight years in the Asia Pacific. He lived two years in Singapore and spent six years in Australia working both for private and public entities and, in particular, the State government. At the Kennedy School, Benoît specialized in public policies as well as business and government relationships. He authored a report on e-health for the OECD.

Meriem Ait Ali Slimane (MPA/ID ’08 Harvard Kennedy School) Treasurer
Meriem has been working at the World Bank since her graduation from Harvard Kennedy School in 2008. There she studied international development and was a recipient of the Harvard Public Service Scholarship. Prior to that, Meriem worked in Paris for five years in telecom strategy. She holds an Engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Polytechnique in Algiers and a Master’s degree from Ecole Centrale de Paris.

Felicia A. Henderson (JD ’97, Harvard Law School) Vice-President Membership
Felicia is an American who has lived in Paris since 2001. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1997, Felicia began her career as a corporate lawyer in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a large international law firm. She moved to the firm’s Paris office in July 2001 and continued to practice corporate law with Debevoise until early 2010. Following over a dozen years of working as a large-firm lawyer, Felicia is enjoying time off to pursue personal interests. Felicia received a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University in French Studies and International Comparative Studies in 1994. While at Harvard Law School, Felicia served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Women’s Law Journal. Felicia is a member of the New York bar and has passed the Article 100 equivalency exam for foreign lawyers wishing to be admitted to practice in France.

Nicolas Landrin (MBA ’99, Harvard Business School) Immediate Past President
Nicolas Landrin is a Partner with I-Source Gestion, a leading venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in information technologies and communications. He currently sits on the board of directors of six early-stage technology companies. Nicolas has 18 years of experience in the telecommunications and software industry and in private equity. He also teaches Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics at MBA HEC. Nicolas earned his M.S. degree from ENSTB in 1991 and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1999. He is an Arthur Sachs Scholar and a beneficiary of the Harvard French Scholarship Fund. Over the last few years, Nicolas has been active in the HBS Club de France, within the Commission Coaching & Networking, the Harvard French Scholarship Fund, which he co-led with other beneficiaries and the Association des Boursiers Arthur Sachs. He also created two years ago an informal club of HBS graduates working in hi-tech, which gathers every year in Barcelona.

Ned Gubbins (AB ’94, Harvard College) Former President, Honorary Board Member
After working as a Researcher / Writer at the White House Office of Communications in 1994, Ned Gubbins spent the next nine years working as a management consultant in Washington and Paris before gravitating to the film world. In 2004 he co-founded éO Productions, an independent film production company based in Paris, to produce original, cinematographic documentaries and feature films with international appeal.  In his days at Harvard College, Ned was President of Currier House and elected Marshall of his College Class. After graduation he got involved in alumni activities, first at the Harvard Club of Washington, DC, and then at the Harvard Club of France, which elected him President in 2002.  After a four-year tenure as President, Ned has continued to stay involved as a Board Member and member of the Club’s new Honorary Board.  Ned is likewise a member of Harvardwood and has organized a Harvard event at the Cannes Film Festival for the past three years.

Carine Barco (MBA ’95, Harvard Business School) Vice-President
For the past twelve years, Carine Barco has dedicated herself to helping others through coaching, therapy and yoga training. It was, however, in the financial world of international M&A at Smith Barney in New York that she began her career before obtaining her MBA at Harvard and then becoming a consultant with McKinsey in London. It was at this time she decided to devote herself completely to her passion: holistic health and well-being. Of French-Spanish origins, Carine has lived a large part of her life abroad: England, Latin-America and the United States.

Emmanuel Cassimatis (MBA ’09, Harvard Business School) Vice-President
Emmanuel founded Goodwizz, a global social meeting network that helps people go beyond first contact online.  Emmanuel previously co-founded an energy company, EGG-energy, and founded an ngo, Paper for All. Previously, Emmanuel worked in business development at Sanrio and management consulting at Deloitte & Touche.  He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master from Edhec Business School.


Olivier Herbez (MDS’99, Graduate School of Design) Vice-President
Olivier was trained at Agence d’Architecture Anthony Bechu before opening his own practice in Paris in 2001. His current architectural work include residential, educational and office buildings in France. Olivier also collaborates with the scientist Jean Lorenceau from the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle (ICM) and the artist Michel Paysant on problématiques linking art, science and architectural design via the study of eye movements and vision perception. Olivier holds a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publics (1998), a Master in Design Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Design (1999), a Diplôme d’Architecte DPLG from Ecole d’Architecture de Paris la Villette (2001) and a Master in Cognitive Science from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (2002).

Elizabeth Kan (AB ’85 Harvard College) Vice-President
Elizabeth Kan is Director of Synergies and of Retail Training for luxury brand Louis Vuitton in Paris. A 1985 graduate of Harvard College in Government, she began her career at McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles. In 1990 she received a Rotary Fellowship to study fashion design in Paris at, l’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. While working at the House of Givenchy, she had the chance to witness both the last period of traditional Haute Couture, under Monsieur Hubert de Givenchy, and the dawn of a new era, with the arrival of John Galliano at the revered house. After a rich cross-cultural experience at Kenzo, she went on to become Director of the Ready-to-Wear business unit at Céline, where she worked with Michael Kors. In 2009 she joined Louis Vuitton to work on Synergies and Training, across all product categories.

Marianne Najafi (MPA ’11 Harvard Kennedy School) Vice-President
Marianne is a recent graduate of Harvard Kennedy School of Government where she studied international affairs and public leadership and was a recipient of Harvard Presidential Fellowship. Prior to Harvard she worked 6 years in Financial consulting in PricewaterhouseCoopers in Paris. She enjoys meeting new people, discovering new cultures, tasting French wine and reading Persian poetry. She speaks Persian, French, Turkish, Arabic and Spanish. She is also a graduate of TELECOM Ecole de Management and Université Paris Dauphine.

 


Alexandre Terrien (BA ’11 Harvard College) Vice-President
A graduate of the Lycée International ’06 and of Harvard College ’11, Alexandre took a gap year to travel and do community service before studying American history and literature in college. He now works with Harvard professor David Edwards and manages the ArtScience Labs’ concept store, the Lab Store.

 

 

 

Roland Ziadé (LLM ’02, Harvard Law School) Vice-President

Roland Ziadé is a lawyer and a member of the Bars in Paris, New York, and Beirut. He is also a member of the international arbitration practice group of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, based in Paris. Roland holds a D.E.A. in private international law from the University of Paris II-Assas (1996), a D.E.S.S. in international business law from the University of Paris I-Sorbonne (1996), and an LL.M from Harvard Law School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar (2002).  Roland regularly acts as counsel and arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings.