Lilia Jolibois appointed to the Board of Directors of the 'Fondation INSEAD'
INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms. Lilia Jolibois as new Board Member of the ‘Fondation INSEAD’. Ms. Jolibois succeeded Mr. Philippe Houzé on 11 December 2014 who had been himself a member of the ‘Fondation INSEAD’ Board since 2007 and has now moved to a new role as board member of the school’s Board.
François Heriard-Dubreuil, Chairman of the ‘Fondation INSEAD’, declared with regard to Ms. Jolibois’ appointment: “Lilia represents, by her experience, a perfect INSEAD alumna: a life spent in three different international environments, a long commitment to the school, and a strong motivation to help the Fondation to fulfil its duties.”
Ms. Jolibois brings to her new position a wealth of experience in global management and international board level roles in public companies as also on non-profit boards. Since 2012, she has served as a Board Director and Member of the Audit Committee of Theolia, S.A., a French renewable energy producer, active in four countries and listed on NYSE Euronext. She is also a Trustee, Board Director and Member of the Finance and General Purpose Committee of CARA, a UK and Wales Charity and Company. CARA, the Council for Assistance to At-Risk Academics, is focused on protecting higher education academic freedom worldwide and was elected The Times Higher Education Charity of the Year in 2009 and 2013.
Ms Jolibois has led an 18 year career with the Lafarge Group with the latest role as Senior Vice-President with the worldwide aggregates, asphalt and road construction businesses, spanning 30 countries. At Lafarge, she launched the industry’s first global recycled sustainable aggregates brand Aggneo. Ms. Jolibois was instrumental in helping Lafarge to enter and develop its activities in Central Europe. She was appointed the first woman country CEO in the cement and plasterboard industries. Her early career includes international investment banking and consumer goods marketing experience at Merrill Lynch and Sara Lee.After her completion of the International Directors Programme (IDP) for Governance at INSEAD in 2014, Ms Jolibois has supported the INSEAD Corporate Governance Initiative and its many projects – including that of advancing the presence and contribution of women in business, which led INSEAD to become a founding member of the Global Board Ready Women (GBRW) network, created by the European Business Schools/Women on Board Initiative. This initiative has established the GBRW searchable database, listing women that are qualified to be considered for publicly listed company board-level positions.
“Even in gender and socially progressive countries, female presence in executive management and at board level remains pathologically low. Ms. Lilia Jolibois is a great example that barriers to the business top can and must be overcome. I have written about why the change towards more gender balance at the corporate top is so difficult and takes so long for improvement to occur. Women have to meet a number of visible and often invisible barriers to reach positions such as the one Lilia Jolibois has occupied. We can only applaud Lilia Jolibois and women of her skill and talent, and also encourage boards to appoint women of this caliber and record. I am thus very pleased for her, the Fondation and for INSEAD to see the ‘Fondation INSEAD’ appoint Lila Jolibois as a new member on its board,” explained Ludo Van der Heyden, the INSEAD Chaired Professor of Corporate Governance and Academic Director of the INSEAD Corporate Governance Initiative.
Ms. Jolibois commented on her appointment as board member of the ‘Fondation INSEAD’: “I feel deeply honored to join the ‘Fondation INSEAD’ board. Since my graduation from the INSEAD MBA programme in 1992, I have always stayed connected to the INSEAD community and sense the importance of supporting further excellence in research programmes and sharing these findings with the outside world. Equally important is the opportunity to grant access to INSEAD’s excellent teaching to less privileged high potential students through our scholarship programmes. My new role will allow me to further contribute to these missions at the ’Fondation INSEAD’. “
As a fundraising vehicle, the foundation collects donations mainly from INSEAD alumni, as well as individual and institutional donors in France. Gifts are also received from other foundations located in countries boasting a particularly active INSEAD network.
Ms. Jolibois holds a B.A. with honors in Economics from Harvard University. She studied International Relations at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Aix-en-Provence on a Rotary International Foundation Fellowship. Lilia Jolibois earned an MBA from INSEAD. In 2014, she completed the International Directors Programme (IDP) for Governance at INSEAD. Lilia Jolibois was born in the former Soviet Union, was raised and educated in the U.S. and resides in France.
Please find more information on the projects linked to Women on Boards on the INSEAD Corporate Governance Initiative website: http://centres.insead.edu/corporate-governance-initiative/research/women-on-boards.cfm
