Board of Directors

Jérôme Brunel is an Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris graduate, has a master’s in public law from Université de Paris-Assas, and attended both ENA (1980) and INSEAD (AMP - 1990).

After joining Crédit Lyonnais at the end of 1990, Jérôme Brunel held several operational leadership positions in France, Asia and North America, before becoming its Head of Human Resources in 2001. When Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais merged in 2003, he was appointed Head of Human Resources for the Crédit Agricole Group. He was then Head of the Regional Banks Division, Head of Private Equity, Head of Private Banking and Head of Public Affairs for Crédit Agricole S.A. He served as the Group’s Corporate Secretary until he retired at December 31, 2019.

Jérôme Brunel has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Diaconnesses Croix Saint-Simon hospital group since 2010.

Beñat Ortega, 42 years old and École Centrale Paris alumni took up his position as Chief Executive Officer on 2022 and was appointed as a director of the Group on 20 April 2023.

He joined Klépierre, a leading European listed retail real estate company with a 22 billion euro portfolio, in 2012, and since then he has lead its operational activities. He has and played a key role in its transformation through the portfolio’s refocusing around 120 leading shopping malls and an ambitious value creation and cash flow growth strategy. Since 2016, he was a member of the Executive Board, Chief Operating Officer. He previously spent nine years in Paris with the Office teams of the listed group Unibail-Rodamco.

A former student of the École Polytechnique (class of 1984), Nathalie Charles is a Senior Advisor and
Independent Director.
She was recently Deputy CEO and Global Head of Investment Management of BNP Paribas Real Estate
(2019-2023), overseeing a portfolio with €30 billion of assets under management in Europe. Previously, she
was Head of Development and European Country Teams at AXA IM Real Assets (2013-2019) and Corporate
Real Estate Managing Director for the EDF Group (2008-2013). Before that, Nathalie Charles spent twelve years
at the Unibail-Rodamco Group (now URW). During this period, she held various positions in the office and
commercial real estate sector and worked on major development projects in Paris and the regions.
She also held various positions in banking groups from 1987 to 1996 and is a member of the Global
Governing Trustees of the ULI Europe Institute.
She was awarded the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2011.

Laurence Danon Arnaud entered the École normale supérieure de Paris in 1977. She then qualified as a college lecturer in physical sciences in 1980. After two years of research at the French national center for scientific research (CNRS) laboratories, she entered the École nationale supérieure des Mines in 1981 and graduated as a Corps des Mines engineer in 1984. After five years with the French Ministry for Industry and the Hydrocarbons Division, Laurence Danon Arnaud joined the ELF group in 1989. From 1989 to 2001, she held various positions in the Total Fina ELF group’s chemicals branch, notably as CEO of Bostik, the world’s second largest adhesives company, from 1996 to 2001. In 2001, Laurence Danon Arnaud was appointed Chairwoman and CEO of Printemps and a member of the Executive Board of PPR (Kering). Following the repositioning and successful sale of Printemps in 2007, she moved to the world of finance. She served as Chairwoman of the Management Board of Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance from 2007 to 2013, then from 2013 as Chairwoman of the investment bank Leonardo & Co. (subsidiary of the Italian Banca Leonardo group). After Leonardo & Co. was sold to Natixis in 2015, she devoted herself to her family office, Primerose. Laurence Danon Arnaud has been a Director of Amundi since  2015 and is Chairwoman of its Strategic Committee. She also served as a member of other companies’ Boards of Directors (TF1, Diageo, Plastic Omnium, Experian Plc and Rhodia) and of the Supervisory Board of BPCE (2009-2013), where she chaired the Appointments and Compensation Committee. From 2005 to 2013, Laurence Danon Arnaud was also Chairwoman of the Medef Commission. From 2000 to 2003, she was Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of École des mines de Nantes, and, from  2004 to  2006, Chairwoman of the École normale supérieure Paris Foundation.

After studying science, Dominique Dudan joined the real estate industry. Admitted as Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), she subsequently became a Fellow of the institution. Between  1996 and  2005, Dominique Dudan held the position of Development Director at the Accor  Hotels &  Resorts group. She then joined HSBC Reim as Director of Operations and an Executive Board member, then BNP Paribas Reim as Deputy CEO and Director of Regulated Real Estate Funds. In 2009, Dominique Dudan launched her own company, Artio Conseil, and became CEO of Arcole Asset Management the following year. From 2011 to 2015, she was Chairwoman of Union Investment Real Estate France SAS, and was then appointed Manager of Warburg HIH France. Now a Senior Adviser at LBO France and Nema Capital (Morocco) and a Corporate Director, Dominique Dudan is also a member of the Observatoire Régional de l’Immobilier d’Île-de-France (ORIE), having served as its Chairwoman, a member of the Club de l’Immobilier, and a member of Breizh Immo. She is a Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Gabrielle Gauthey is the Representative of the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies to the European Union institutions and Director of European Public Affairs. She is a former student of the École Polytechnique and a graduate of Télécom Paris Tech and École des Mines de Paris. A general mining engineer, she has a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in economic analysis. The appointment of Gabrielle Gauthey enables the Board, in particular, to benefit from her expertise in real estate investments, new technologies and innovation, energy and climate. From February  2015 to March  2018, Gabrielle Gauthey was Investment Director and a member of the Management Committee of the Caisse des Dépôts group, a French public institution. She was Senior Vice President of Carbon Neutrality Businesses at Total, and is now in charge of the company’s European affairs.

Matthieu Lance is a graduate of the École Centrale de Paris. His career began at CCF in 1994 as a financial engineer in structured finance. In 1998, he joined Banque Lazard where he provided M&A advice to large industrial companies and investment funds. In 2007, he joined BNP Paribas as Managing Director Corporate Finance, and successively led the Chemistry, Aerospace, Defense and Automobile industrial sectors (2007-2012) followed by the M&A France team (2012-2016). In 2016, Mr. Lance joined Crédit Agricole CIB as Managing Director – Deputy Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, and became Global Co-Head of this area at the end of 2019.

Carole Le Gall has been Sustainable & Climate Senior Vice President at TotalEnergies since September 2021. She was previously Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Engie Solutions, a subsidiary of the Engie Group. After an early career in local economic development on behalf of the state and then a local authority, she  joined Ademe to develop the energy efficiency and renewable energy markets. She then directed and developed the Scientific and Technical Building Center (Centre scientifique et technique du bâtiment – CSTB) for six years, before joining Engie in 2015, as Head of Marketing Building Renovation Solutions, and was then CEO of the France Networks Business Unit. Carole Le Gall is a General Engineer of the elite French Corps des Mines, and holds a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.

Based in New York, Ouma Sananikone is currently an independent director on the Boards of DMC Global,
AI Financial Group and Innergex Renewable Energy. She also sits on the Advisory Board of the BW Group.
She has served as Managing Director of Aberdeen Asset Management and EquitiLink Group. She was also
founding Managing Director of BNP Investment Management in Australia. During her career, she has held
numerous directorships, including at Ivanhoé Cambridge in Canada and Caisse de dépôt et placement
du Québec (CDPQ).
Beyond her professional achievement, Ouma Sananikone has been involved in several humanitarian and
social causes, mainly in the areas of art and education, and in charitable organizations, including the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from The Australian National University
and a Master’s in Economics from the University of New South Wales. She was awarded the Centenary
Medal by the Australian government for her services in the area of finance.

Jacques Stern has been President & CEO of Global Blue since 2015. He has nearly 30 years of experience at large international companies. He began his career as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1988 and then joined the Accor group in 1992, where he held various management positions, including Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Between 2010 and 2015, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edenred. Jacques Stern holds a business degree from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Lille.

Stéphane Villemain is Vice President – Sustainable Investment at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a worldwide investment group. In this role, he oversees the integration of sustainability issues into the CDPQ’s investments with a view to protecting and creating portfolio value. From 2020 to 2024, he led the sustainable investment activities of Ivanhoé Cambridge (a real estate subsidiary of CDPQ). Before joining CDPQ, Stéphane Villemain was Chief Director, Responsible Investment at PSP Investments, where he helped define and implement ESG strategies for the private investment portfolio. Previously, he was Senior Director, Climate Change and Sustainability at EY from 2012 to 2016. He also provided sustainability consulting services for Deloitte and its clients between 2007 and 2012. Stéphane Villemain is a graduate of École Polytechnique (Paris) and École Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts (AgroParisTech), and holds a Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from McGill University. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the GRESB Foundation.