President’s Welcome

Welcome to the Harvard Club of France (HCF), the second largest Harvard Community in Europe.

This January 2025, you elected a new Board of 12 officers representing 7 different Harvard Schools and 13 nationalities. I am deeply honored to be the President leading this incredible team. We are dedicated to serving our community and beyond.

Our objective is to make the most of Harvard’s incredible network for you and for the greater good. In one sentence, our Vision is to Enhance our #Network4Good to Deploy #HarvardImpact.

To this end, we have designed a Roadmap to Enlarge our Community and Deepen our Engagement through: Events, Collaborations, and Special Programs.

Events will fall under three broad categories: Leadership, Sustainability, and Technology / Innovation.

We will also offer regional events to serve alumni who live outside the Paris area and represent 30% of our community, as well as art-related events such as the annual Musée d’Orsay Spring Open House with the American Friends of the Musées d'Orsay et de l'Orangerie (AFMO), and classic networking events like our Monthly Drinks.

Collaborations are at the heart of our strategy, as the more we are aligned in our mission, the greater our impact. Collaborations will take place within Harvard such as the Harvard Women France (HWF) initiative or the Harvard Kennedy School Chapter; and outside Harvard with other IVY League and French schools’ alumni clubs.

Finally, we will support existing Special Programs and create new ventures: #Fundraising4Access programs such as the Harvard French Scholarship Fund (HFSF), to send high school students from underprivileged suburbs to Harvard Summer School; as well as Personal Development programs around Spirituality, Neuroscience, Anthropology, and Psychology, which involve events and curated tools and resources.

I will end with this quote which I heard last fall when I was back on campus, and which deeply resonated with me:

“We didn’t go to Harvard to be the best in the world; we went to Harvard to be the best FOR the world”.

I know that all of us on this Board believe this to be true.

Again, as the new President and on behalf of the whole team, I wish to express my profound gratitude and commitment to bring the best of Harvard to you, to our community, and to the world.