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.

An Ecole Polytechnique graduate, Nathalie Charles 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 12 years with the Unibail-Rodamco Group (which became URW) and held various positions with banking groups.
Nathalie Charles is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute she was honored with the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Laurence Danon Arnaud enrolled into the École normale supérieure de Paris in 1977. She graduated with a Physical Sciences degree in 1980. After two years of research at CNRS labs, she was accepted into École nationale supérieure des mines in 1981 and graduated with an Ingénieur du Corps des mines degree in 1984. After five years at the Ministry of Industry and the Hydrocarbons Department, Laurence Danon Arnaud joined ELF Group in 1989. From 1989 to 2001 she held various positions in the Chemistry division at Total FINA ELF, including a period between 1996 and 2001 as CEO of Bostik, the world's second-largest adhesives company. In 2001, Laurence Danon Arnaud was appointed Chair & Chief Executive Officer of Printemps and a member of the Executive Board of PPR (KERING). After the repositioning of Printemps and its successful sale in 2007, she joined the world of finance. From 2007 to 2013 she was Chair of the Management Board of Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance, then from 2013 the Chair of the investment bank Leonardo & Co (subsidiary of the Italian group Banca Leonardo). Following the sale of Leonardo & Co to Natixis in 2015, she devoted herself to her Family Office Primerose. Laurence Danon Arnaud has been a Director of Amundi since 2015 and chairs its Strategy Committee. She has also served on the Board of Directors of TF1 since 2010 and chairs its Audit Committee. In addition, she has served on the Boards of Directors of other companies, such as the British company Diageo (2006-2015), PlasticOmnium (2003-2010), Experian Plc (2007-2010), Rhodia (2008-2011), and on the Supervisory Board of BPCE (2009-2013) chairing its Appointments and Compensation Committee. Laurence Danon Arnaud was Commissions President of the French employer federation MEDEF from 2005 to 2013. From 2000 to 2003, she was Chair of the Board of Directors of École des mines de Nantes, and from 2004 to 2006 the President of the École normale supérieure (Paris) Foundation.

After completing her science studies, Dominique Dudan joined the world of real estate. Accepted as a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), she has since become a Fellow. From 1996 to 2005, Dominique Dudan held the position of Development Director at AccorHotels & Resorts Group. She then moved to HSBC Reim as Chief Operating Officer and member of its Management Board, then to BNP Paribas Reim as Deputy CEO and Director of Regulated Real Estate Funds. In 2009, Dominique Dudan set up her own firm, Artio Conseil, and in 2010 was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Arcole Asset Management. From 2011 to 2015, she was President of Union Investment Real Estate France SAS, and then Chief Executive of Warburg-HIH France. Now Senior Adviser at LBO France and a corporate director, Dominique Dudan is also a member of the Observatoire Régional de l’Immobilier d’Île-de-France (ORIE) which monitors real estate activity in the Paris Region, a member of the Commission fiscale du Groupement des Professions de Services du MEDEF (MEDEF service provider-members taxation commission), a member of the Cercle des Femmes de l’Immobilier (Women in Real Estate Roundtable), the Club de l’Immobilier d’Île-de-France (Paris Region real estate club), and a member of the Breizh Immo Association. She is a Knight of the French National Order of Merit.

Ms. 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 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 Ms. Gabrielle Gauthey enables the Board, in particular, to benefit from her expertise in real estate investments, new technologies and innovation, and energy. From February 2015 to March 2018, Ms. 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, 53, is a graduate of Ecole 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 led and developed the CSTB (Scientific and Technical Center for Construction) for six years. She joined Engie in 2015 as Head of Marketing in Building Renovation Solutions and before becoming CEO of the Business Unit France networks.

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. She is co-chair, with Guy Sidos, of the MEDEF Ecological and Economic Transition Commission and to this end, contributes to the MEDEF’s mission of “acting together for responsible growth.”

Based in New York, Ouma Sananikone currently serves as a non-executive board Director of DMC Global, IA Financial Group, and Innergex Renewable Energy. She also sits on the advisory board of BW Group
Ouma Sananikone brings to Gecina’s Board extensive experience in finance, investment management and ESG having spent over 30 years in the industry at both executive and board levels.oup.
She was CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, CEO of the EquitiLink Group in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and UK, as well as founding Managing Director of BNP Investment Management in Australia. Throughout her career, she has held numerous board positions, including Director of Ivanhoé Cambridge in Canada and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).
Beyond her professional achievements, Ouma Sananikone is committed to community service, in arts, education and charitable organizations, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
She holds a BA degree in economics and political sciences from the Australian National University and a Master of Commerce in economics from the University of New South Wales. She is a recipient of the Centenary Medal from the Australian Government for services to the Australian finance industry. 

Jacques Stern has been President & CEO of Global Blue since 2015. He has nearly 30 years of experience in 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. Mr. Stern holds a business degree from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Lille.

Stéphane Villemain is Head of Sustainable investment for Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of the largest institutional fund managers in the world. In this respect, he is responsible for sustainable investment strategy, contributing to the portfolio’s resilience in addition to creating impact on communities. In this capacity, his team drives asset decarbonization strategies and manages risks and opportunities arising from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors for the investments. His mandate also includes the development of social impact and inclusion strategies. 

Before joining Ivanhoé Cambridge in 2020, Stéphane Villemain was Director, Responsible Investment, at PSP Investments, where he helped define and implement ESG strategies for the private investment portfolio. He was previously Senior Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability Services at Ernst and Young from 2012 to 2016. He also held positions in sustainability advisory for Deloitte and its clients from 2007 until 2012. 

Stéphane Villemain graduated (MEng) from 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 Board member of the GRESB Foundation.