5th Annual ESCP London Campus Social Impact & Sustainability Festival

The ESCP Social Impact & Sustainability Festival is a week-long platform for debate, learning, and action.

It brings together students, faculty, alumni, and external partners to move beyond performative sustainability and explore how social impact can be embedded into careers, organisations, and market systems.

This year’s festival combines career-focused panels, applied workshops, academic office hours, and public debate, creating multiple entry points for students at different stages of their impact journey.

Events Schedule

• 19th March
  Careers in Social Impact, Sustainability and ESG | Panel Discussion and Networking
   
• 24th March
  The Green & Impact Office presents: ESG Under the Microscope: Impact, Incentives, and Illusions - Debate Session
  Africa Scale-Up Event: Keynote + Fireside Chat + Networking
   
• 25th March
  Social Impact Hackathons: Choose your own adventures
  Unlocking our full potential for a purpose-driven and human-centred leadership DNA in the age of AI
   
• Throughout the festival
  Open Faculty Office Hours

More detail on each event can be found below. Alternatively, click here to reserve your places.

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Careers in Social Impact, Sustainability and ESG | Panel Discussion and Networking

19th March – 16:00 - 18:00 — G62/G61B
Register here

The London Careers Service team is delighted to invite you to our first-ever panel discussion on Careers in Social Impact, Sustainability and ESG. This exclusive event will open with a one-hour afternoon panel discussion in G62, featuring professionals from businesses across industries, including finance, technology, energy, and many others, all committed to sustainability, social impact, and ESG, with a strong focus on real-world impact.

The discussion will explore what purpose-led careers look like in practice, how mission-driven organisations operate, and what skills and experiences are increasingly valued in this field. It will be followed by a one-hour networking session in G61B, giving attendees the opportunity to ask further questions, connect directly with the speakers, and exchange ideas with fellow students who share an interest in responsible leadership and sustainable business.

Distinguished speakers include:

• Abhay Srivastava - Head of ESG at Weightmans LLP
• Abi Freeman - Founding Partner at Brink
• Basundhara Dutta - Climate Analytics Analyst at HSBC
• Jean Marc Debricon - Impact Investment and Former CEO of Alterfin, Managing Director at Rabobank and Portfolio Manager at EBRD
• Jerome Salemi - General Manager at Air France and KLM
• Lisa Armstrong - Principal Consultant at Chewing Rice
• Miguel Gomez - Associate Director at Schneider Electric Advisory Services
• JP Blangy - Senior Partner at Tristan Capital Partners Head of Asset Management, Head of ESG

If you have ever been curious about pursuing an impact-driven career, driving change within large organisations, and positioning yourself at the forefront of responsible leadership, this event is for you!

Please note that registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and places are limited. There are 65 spaces available for the panel discussion and networking session. If you register and are no longer able to attend, please UNREGISTER at least two days in advance so that your place can be offered to another participant.

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The Green & Impact Office presents: ESG Under the Microscope: Impact, Incentives, and Illusions - Debate Session

24th March — 16:30 - 17:30 — online
Register here

This debate brings together opposing perspectives to critically examine the most pressing questions facing ESG today: implementation gaps, credibility challenges, political headwinds, trade-offs, and the tension between measurable impact and reputational signalling. While the overall framing recognises the importance of ESG, the aim is to engage seriously and constructively with the criticisms and structural barriers that continue to shape — and sometimes constrain — its meaningful adoption.

Furthermore, the debate will explore the role of ESG in business education, surfacing tensions around:

• Whether sustainability belongs at the core of business education or as a specialisation
• Trade-offs between technical rigour, employability, and values-driven education
• Risks of dilution, performativity, or ideological bias versus risks of irrelevance What responsibility business schools have in shaping future leaders and markets

The session will challenge prevailing assumptions and invite the audience to reflect on what business education is for, skills, values, impact, or all three.

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Africa Scale-Up Event: Keynote + Fireside Chat + Networking

24th March — 18:30 - 20:30 — Barclays Innovation Hub
Register here

The event opens with Simon Woodroffe sharing his journey scaling YO! Sushi prior to its £400m+ acquisition. This is followed by a fireside discussion focused on Africa–UK scale-up opportunities, entrepreneurship, and cross-market growth dynamics.

Speakers:

• Simon Woodroffe – Founder, YO! Sushi (Guest Speaker)
• Alisa Sydow – Africa Lead, ESCP Business School (Moderator)
• Florence Bavanandan – Head of Platform, Launch Africa Ventures
• Dario Giuliani – Briter (Scaleup) & London Africa Network
• Takunda Chingonzo – Former Board Member, AfriLabs
• Anthony Catt – Founder & Director, Venture 54

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Social Impact Hackathons: Choose your own adventures

25th March – 13:30 - 16:30 – ESCP London Campus
Register here

A series of applied workshops focused on how social impact is designed, delivered, and scaled.
Open to all programmes, first come first serve. Compulsory for MMK.

Confirmed workshops:

• Rebecca Warren - Head of Learning Programmes, School of Systems Change
  Systems Thinking Masterclass: Case study on social sustainability impact and community driven leadership.
   
• Chin Ru Foo - Marketing expert, Executive Coach & Public Speaker
  Purpose-driven leadership and communication: From marketing expert to inclusive leadership and strategy.
   
• Jo Bautista - ESCP Berlin Alumna, Yunus Social Innovation Consultant & Founder of SendtoGive
  The power of story telling for: Entrepreneurship, impact ecosystems, and social innovation in practice.
   
• ZSL London Zoo - Head of Programme & Learning
  A case study on environmental and social business model goals, its tensions, and opportunity for holistic impact.

This workshop series brings together systems thinking, purpose-driven leadership, and social innovation through applied, real-world learning. Students will explore social sustainability and community-driven leadership using a live systems case, examine how purpose and communication shape effective leadership and strategy, and develop storytelling skills for entrepreneurship and impact ecosystems. Learning is grounded in practice through engagement with local partners, connecting theory to impact, and community-level action.

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Unlocking our full potential for a purpose-driven and human-centred leadership DNA in the age of AI: Fireside Chat + Networking

25 March — 17:00 - 19:30 — G77
Open to all internal and external guests. Register here

Our panel brings perspectives from organisational transformation, global brand culture, and creative strategy, and will discuss:

• How do we nurture human-centred leadership in an AI-shaped world?
• How do we equip Gen Z not just to participate, but to lead with purpose?
• What insights and trends do they observe, and needs for leadership capabilities of our students? 

Speakers:

• Dr. Adrienne Milner – Director of Talent Data and Insights, UNTHINK Consultancy
• Co-Team Lead – Innovation & Experience Design, Magnum Ice Cream
• Sophie van Olm – ESCP MMK Alumni, Strategist, SALT Marketing Agency
• Vanezza Scanlon – Lecturer and ESG Committee, ESCP London (Moderator)

UNTHINK Consultancy is a multi-award winning Leadership and Development consultancy, shaking up the industry. They are working with global organisations to rethink culture, leadership, and capability in a world shaped by rapid change and emerging technologies.

Magnum Ice Cream Yes - the brand known for indulgence, pleasure, and iconic moments of joy… but also a brand that understands culture, identity, and emotional connection at scale. They will be bringing insights from a global brand that knows how to engage younger generations not just as consumers, but as communities with values, voices, and expectations.

SALT Marketing Agency works at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, and digital culture, helping brands stay relevant in a landscape shaped by social change, technology, and generational shifts. They’ll be sharing practical insights into how Gen Z communicates, creates impact, and leads, and what organisations must understand if they want to support purpose-driven leaders rather than simply manage them.

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Open Faculty Office Hours

Throughout the festival — Professor Availabilities and topics

Throughout the week, engage directly with faculty researching social impact and sustainability. This is a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, gain insights, and ask pressing questions about the latest discoveries in the field. Open to all curious minds! Please register your interest by 8th March.

Participating Faculty:

• Hsin-Hsuan Meg Lee - DEI in influencer marketing & brand communication / Consumer well-being & mindfulness
• Vanezza Scanlon - A people-centred approach to impact. Social and Sustainable Impact for long-term business growth beyond CSR. Behavioural Insights to drive responsible and impactful behaviours
• Wioletta Nawrot - Sustainable Finance / Financing for Social Impact
• Anthony Evans - What does economics tell us about social impact? The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits!
• Argyro Avgoustaki - Work effort and employee well-being; Flexible working arrangements
• Chloe Preece - Media consumption, branded entertainment, digital wellbeing, consumer research