Looking Back: CEDEP’s 50-Year Anniversary Celebration
As we continue building toward CEDEP’s next chapter, we wanted to revisit a milestone moment in our history: the celebration of our 50th anniversary. Here’s a look back at that special day – and at what it revealed about where we’re headed next.
A rare opportunity to reconnect
It was a rare opportunity to celebrate, reconnect, reimagine, and share with our community – and, as always, to inspire new thinking. Set against the backdrop of the Fontainebleau Forest, the event brought together CEDEP members, faculty, and partners to reflect on five decades of collaborative leadership development, and to start dreaming about what comes next.
Highlights from the day
Opening Address
Thomas Hinterseer, CEDEP Managing Director, and Suresh Tripathi, CEDEP Chairman of the Board and HRO at Air India (former Vice President HR at Tata Steel), opened the event by reflecting on CEDEP’s inspiring 50-year journey and on what continues to make it unique in an ever-evolving world of executive education.
Member Insights Session: L’Oréal
L’Oréal’s executives Elisabeth Araujo (CEDEP Board Member and Managing Director Europe Zone, Active Cosmetics Division), David Arnera (Group Culture and Leadership Transformation Officer), and Yasmina Jaidi (International Learning Director, Leadership & Culture Programs) explored the success of CEDEP’s founding partnership with L’Oréal, the company that, alongside its co-founders, helped launch CEDEP in 1969, and how that partnership continues to evolve.
The Future of Work, Demystified
Sébastien Olléon and Jasmine Manet led a cross-generational Fishbowl Conversation exploring and challenging common myths about the future of work.
Pioneering the Future of Health & Safety
Muriel Barnier and Andrew Sharman explored what’s next for workplace safety leadership, a conversation that would go on to help shape the launch of CEDEP’s International Institute of Leadership & Safety Culture (IILSC).
Dreaming and Envisioning the Next 25 Years of CEDEP
Ravi Shankar, CEDEP’s Academic Director, facilitated a workshop asking the big questions: What’s our vision for the future of executive education? Will leadership models have evolved in 25 years? What role will emerging technologies play in developing the leaders of tomorrow?
Closing Remarks
Thomas Hinterseer closed the day with a look ahead to CEDEP’s future, and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped bring the celebration to life.
Celebrating impact beyond the classroom
The event also showcased CEDEP’s commitment to social impact, with a Live for Good booth featuring seven social enterprises, from anti-waste craft beer (La Miche) to sustainable wellbeing drinks made from French-grown grains (BIBO). The day closed with live music from harpist and composer Pia Salvia and drummer Noam Israeli.
Looking ahead
Fifty years after Guy Landon and François Dalle first envisioned an executive education club built on collaboration and shared humanist values, that same spirit continues to guide CEDEP today, through programs like our General Management Program and our Achieving Managerial Excellence Program, still co-designed with our member companies.