BPCE Chair Awards ESCP Business School: A Night of Innovation and Excellence

On the evening of Monday, September 23, ESCP Business School hosted the BPCE Chair Awards ceremony, celebrating student excellence in research on mutual and cooperative banking. The event was attended by Nicolas Namias, Chairman of the BPCE Group, along with Jacques Beyssade, Secretary General of BPCE, and Cristina Peicuti, ESCP Professor, Scientific Director of the Chair.

This special event recognized the work of students who submitted the most innovative research papers on cooperative banking, a subject deeply aligned with the values of the BPCE Group.

The 2024 BPCE Award Winners

• BPCE Biodiversity and Business Award
  Joshua Wilks was honored for his thesis titled "A Theory of Change: enlisting the help of business in the fight against wildlife and forest crime". His work emphasizes the role of businesses in tackling environmental crime.
• BPCE New Business Models Award
  Léopoldine Franques received the award for her project "Reconciling a company’s definition of success with the paradigm of degrowth". This paper proposes a new way to define corporate success, aligned with degrowth principles.
• BPCE Innovation Award
  Giuseppe Pasquariello’s paper, "Cashless society: What are CBDC? A fully private CBDC using zero knowledge proof technology", explores the concept of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and proposes innovative technological solutions.
• BPCE Entrepreneur Award
  The entrepreneurial duo Théo Leforestier and Valérian Martin, founders of Mycélium, were awarded for their sustainable and innovative business model.

A Fruitful Partnership Between ESCP and BPCE

This ceremony illustrates the significance of the BPCE Chair, created in collaboration with ESCP Business School to foster research on cooperative banking. Through initiatives like this, ESCP and the BPCE Group demonstrate their shared commitment to sustainability and innovation in finance.

An Evening of Enriching Exchanges

Beyond the awards, the event was an opportunity for students to engage in discussions with key figures such as Nicolas Namias, providing invaluable insight into the current challenges faced by the banking sector. The exchanges highlighted the importance of mutual and cooperative banks in supporting local and global economies.

Towards a Sustainable Future with Mutual and Cooperative Banks

The BPCE Chair ESCP aims to drive research and support the evolution of cooperative banking models, contributing to economic and environmental transitions. The award-winning students represent the future of responsible finance.