Two years ago, a woman approached Pascale Witz MBA’96J and asked whether she remembered her. Twenty years earlier, she had nearly turned down a new role because she did not feel ready. Pascale’s response was immediate: “Are you crazy?” She urged her not to rule herself out. Two decades later, the woman said it had been the best decision of her career.
The encounter stayed with Pascale because it reflected what she values most in leadership: helping people — especially women — develop, take on greater responsibility and go as far as they can.
INSEAD came at a pivotal moment in her career. Trained as a biochemistry engineer and progressing rapidly in pharmaceuticals, Pascale was beginning to manage teams, budgets and marketing plans without formal business training. She enrolled in the MBA to develop those skills. She also had a nine-month-old baby and was the only mother in her class. The year was intense and exhilarating. With her husband’s support, she could focus on the programme. INSEAD gave her practical frameworks, an appetite for continuous learning and a global community that stayed with her.
When Pascale joined GE Healthcare in 1996, few women held senior positions. Before diversity became a corporate standard, she joined the company’s emerging Women’s Network and eventually co-lead it. While raising a family and taking on demanding roles, she learned to manage her time carefully, delegate and mobilise a wider network. The experience taught her to lead through influence.
In 2000, while at GE, she co-founded the Cercle InterL with IBM and Orange, to share best practices for advancing women’s careers in science and technology. One of France’s early cross-company women’s networks, it now includes about 15 large industrial companies and recently marked its 25th anniversary.
Progress has followed, but slowly. In 2016, a French woman led a CAC 40 company for the first time. A decade later, five CAC 40 companies are led by women, which Pascale views as both a great progress and a reminder of how much remains to be done.
Meanwhile, she built an international healthcare career. At GE Healthcare and Sanofi, Pascale led organisations across more than 80 countries. Today, she serves on the INSEAD Board and other healthcare, biotechnology and not-for-profit boards.
Healthcare matters to her because it connects science and business with a clear purpose: improving patients’ lives.
Yet when she reflects on what makes her proudest, she speaks first about the people she has developed and coached. Pascale also believes in remaining close to her teams: “A powerful team is better than strong individuals,” she says.
Analytical, decisive and demanding, she believes that anticipating difficult scenarios allows leaders to react faster. “The best way to prepare for a crisis is to have a healthy paranoia,” she says.
After years in the United States and the United Kingdom, Pascale returned to France in 2013. As her children grew older, she reconnected with INSEAD through the French Council and later the school’s Board. Having benefited from the MBA and its community, she began considering how to help more women access the opportunity.
In 2023, she established a scholarship for French women who need financial support to pursue the INSEAD MBA.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing, in my journey was built alone.” The scholarship continues a commitment that began in 1997. It supports women when an opportunity can change a career, while extending Pascale’s contribution to INSEAD — as an alumna, volunteer, Board member and donor.
