You may have already read in the March edition of the Alumni Newsletter, the election of Daniel Labrecque as the new President of the INSEAD Alumni Association (IAA). Having started his role as President on 1 April, we asked Daniel to tell us about his background, his INSEAD experience in 1981, his previous activities with INSEAD and his ambitions and future goals for the IAA, which works closely with our 42 National Alumni Associations (NAA). INSEAD: In the March edition of the Alumni Newsletter, we informed alumni of your professional background. Can you tell us about yourself on a personal level?

Daniel Labrecque MBA '81

Daniel Labrecque: Sure, my wife Lise and I have been married for 29 years, we have three adult children, of which the first was born in 1981 just after I graduated from INSEAD. I was born and raised in Montréal and my background is in chartered accounting. I practice a lot of outdoor activities such as tennis, cycling and competitive skiing. I take part in an international skiing master race circuit in Canada each year. I like gardening - showing my age. I play some golf and have a passion for wine and food, which I think a lot of INSEAD alumni share with one another!

INSEAD: Can you describe your INSEAD experience in 1981 and what you value the most from the MBA programme?

DL: The year I spent at INSEAD transformed my education in terms of opening a door to the world and learning about what I call "transcultural agility". It gave me the capacity to interact with people from various cultures and backgrounds with different experiences in life. 25 years ago when I was at INSEAD this was important, but today it is absolutely crucial in order to understand the global environment that we live and work in. I knew before attending INSEAD how international its MBA programme was, but I never realised how rich it would be in terms of diversity. It was intense and challenging both professionally and personally and I strongly believe that having an MBA from INSEAD has enabled me to reach the professional position that I have today. N M Rothschild & Sons is a company with an international mindset, present in more than 25 countries. My job requires day to day interaction with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds and I don't think that I would have been prepared without having attended INSEAD. Of course I also made some fantastic friendships that still remain very strong today.

Today, in my role as President of the IAA, I am constantly in contact with INSEAD alumni who are incredible individuals with high energy levels. For example, at the meetings we have held for the IAA Executive Committee, I have interacted with alumni, all extremely interested in INSEAD and dedicated to showing an uncommon passion about our school. I also participated earlier on this year in the NAA USA annual general meeting which gave me the same feeling.

INSEAD: What do you remember the most from INSEAD?

DL: Some of my most favourite memories were simply informal chats around the Camembert or in the bar with exceptional people who came from every corner of the world.

INSEAD: Where did you live?

DL: My wife and I lived in the gardeners house on rue Lagorsse, which is a small street on the outskirts of the Fontainebleau forest leading towards Melun.

INSEAD: Since graduating from INSEAD you have remained actively involved as Chairman of the INSEAD National Council and with the National Alumni Association in Canada. Can you tell us about their activities and the Council's purpose?

DL: Immediately after graduation I started working with the National Alumni Association in Canada. As we were then a small community of about 10 - 15 alumni, I organised many joint speaker events with other US business schools, such as Harvard or Wharton. Today, Philippe Castonguay MBA '89J, President of the NAA Canada has a community of about 600 alumni, for whom many events are organised on a national and regional basis.

The National Council, also known as the "Canadian INSEAD Foundation" was founded in 1987 and is managed by a committee of alumni and Canadian business leaders, about half and half. Initially sponsored by three Canadian companies under the leadership of Power Corporation, its purpose is to bring INSEAD and Canadian business leaders together and also to provide scholarships for Canadians at INSEAD. Since its inception, we have provided more than one million Canadian dollars in scholarships to more than 100 MBA participants. An interesting observation we have made is that about two years after scholarship recipients graduate from INSEAD, most are happy to give back to the Foundation to provide for further MBA scholarships.

The Council plays an important role in promoting INSEAD's brand recognition in Canada by reaching out to people who would not normally have a relationship with the school and its activities. In order to achieve this goal, one major event is held each year. The annual Salamander Dinner is traditionally held in Toronto as this is where the initiative was started ten years ago. However, this year it will be held in Montréal at the offices of Power Corporation who have kindly offered to host the event. This will be a fundraising event and will take place on the 25th of October. On this occasion, we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Foundation as well as the 10th edition of the Salamander Dinner.

INSEAD: Can you describe your role as President of the IAA?

DL: My main objective is to provide leadership to the INSEAD Alumni Association and the Executive Committee for which I am responsible. Initially we will focus on creating and promoting a constructive dialogue for alumni through the National Alumni Associations. INSEAD recognises that its most important constituency is its alumni and that their success reflects on the school's success and brand recognition on a global basis. Together we will provide the support and guidance that our 42 National Alumni Associations need to operate successfully, hold events and activities and offer services to their individual alumni communities, bringing them closer together and closer to the school. We have agreed upon a three-year plan starting in September this year to reach our goals.

INSEAD: What are your first impressions of being in this role?

DL: As I previously mentioned, I have a unique opportunity to meet and interact with exceptional people who are constantly asking me how they can help. Alumni are very interested in the school and its activities, I have received emails from alumni around the world offering their help, it is quite exciting! I am honored to be in this role.

INSEAD: You have expressed three main objectives that you would like to achieve during your term as President of the IAA.

1. Increase communication between the IAA, NAAs and INSEAD
2. Raise membership in existing NAAs
3. Increase the number of NAAs

How do you intend to achieve these goals?

DL: We will increase communication by reaching out through our 42 NAAs on a regular basis to listen to what I call the "voice of the alumni". I want to make sure that both INSEAD and the Executive Committee are aware of alumni concerns, issues and their new ideas. We have put a governance in place that is committed to this.

We intend to increase NAA membership levels by:

a) Helping the NAAs to communicate membership services and lifelong learning tools.
For example, as alumni are not always aware of membership services available, we recently sent a summary of these services and lifelong learning tools to all NAAs to be used in their communications.

b) Improving online services and communication methods.
We need to improve existing services and add new communication tools such as forums, websites, etc. We are making good progress in this area and I encourage everyone to go to INSEAD Connect.

c) Improving alumni career services.
INSEAD is working on the jobs database and career services to centralise and improve this service which is extremely important for our alumni. This is high on our list of priorities.

All of these points are included in our three-year plan. We have also created an online space for our NAAs to interact with each other so they can share their ideas and procedures and follow best practises. This online space will also be used for information purposes for alumni wishing to create new associations, in countries where we do not already have a presence. Once we have a user-friendly reliable online site, we will consider adding fun services permitting house swapping or children exchange around the world within our alumni community.

INSEAD: What does being an INSEAD alumnus mean to you?

DL: A great deal! As I am sure all alumni would tell you, attending INSEAD early in your professional and personal life, opens your mind to the world and transforms your life. Today, I belong to an extremely diverse community which shares a common interest in developing a network and helping each other to support our community and the school. Given my position as President of the IAA, I have the opportunity to give back to the school after having received a wealth of knowledge and diversity and meeting exceptional people all over the world for the last 25 years. We, as alumni have a unique network, we simply need to know how to use it better!