Leadership Team

Pierre-François, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, has more than 20 years of innovative procurement, sustainability and entrepreneurial experience. He leads our Customers, Marketing, Solutions and Impact departments and, alongside Frédéric, guides our strategic development and approach to sustainable value creation. Before founding EcoVadis in 2007, Pierre-François spent several years as Director of Managed Services at Ariba and CEO of B2Build, the first B2B marketplace for the European construction industry. Pierre-François holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from CentraleSupélec and an MBA from INSEAD.

Frédéric, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, is a global entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in finance and technology. He leads our People, Finance, Evaluations and Technology departments and, alongside Pierre-François, guides our strategic development and approach to sustainable value creation. Before launching EcoVadis in 2007, Frédéric led MrTed’s (now Cornerstone) Technology & Operations as COO. He has founded four other companies across the global trade, software and human resources industries, all of which remain active today. Frédéric holds a degree in International Business from ICD Business School in Paris.

Chao brings over 20 years of experience in finance, as both a corporate executive and strategic advisor, to his role as Chief Financial Officer. Before joining EcoVadis, he spent more than a decade in investment banking in London and New York, leading the execution of equity and debt offerings, M&A transactions and strategic advisory engagements in the retail and consumer sectors. He served as CFO for both Oscaro and Isabel Marant in Paris, implementing profitable growth plans and spearheading data-driven operational changes. Chao holds an MSc in Finance from HEC Paris.

Emily brings over 25 years of experience in high-tech marketing and consulting to her role as Chief Marketing Officer. She previously spent many years in global marketing and demand management roles with both SAP and Ariba. She has also worked at Ellucian, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, Creative Good and Kearney, managing marketing functions and consulting engagements for clients in technology, banking and energy. Emily holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BA in International Relations from Stanford University.

With more than 20 years of experience in sustainability and ESG solutions, Sylvain oversees our ratings operations and methodology development in his role as Chief Rating Officer. He has been with EcoVadis since its inception, serving as VP of Research from 2007 to 2021. Prior to this, Sylvain was Head of Research and Rating Operations at Vigeo Eiris, a leading ESG ratings and research agency since acquired by Moody’s. He holds an MSc in Industrial Management from Cranfield University and an MBA from INSEAD.

In her role as Chief People Officer, Laurianne builds on more than 15 years of experience in human resources, organizational transformation and HR digitalization. Prior to joining EcoVadis, she spent a decade in the software industry leading regional and global HR functions in her roles as Atos’ HR Director for South America, Linedata’s CPO and Bull’s Global C&B, HRIS and Development Director. Laurianne holds a Master’s degree in Human Resources from Paris V University and a Master in Management from ESSCA School of Management.

With more than 20 years of experience in strategy, finance and management, Orlane serves as Chief Corporate Development Officer and Chief of Staff. Through long-range planning, M&A, governance, transformation and global project management, she supports the leadership team in developing and executing the group’s vision and strategy. Orlane’s previous roles include Chief Strategy Officer at Europe Snacks, Partner at Global PMI Partners and Finance Director at Avnet Technology Solutions. She holds a Master in Management from SKEMA Business School.

As Chief Impact Officer, Valérie leads our efforts around measuring the positive impact of our activities and ensuring alignment with our purpose and values. Since joining EcoVadis in 2007, she has held roles ranging from Sales Director to VP of Customer Success, where she was responsible for more than 500 customers and 80 client success managers. Valérie’s previous experience includes over a decade in development and management roles in the technology and executive search sectors in Europe and the US. She holds an MSc in Management from Toulouse Business School.

As Chief Technology Officer, Frank builds on more than 25 years of international experience in the technology sector. He spent nearly 20 years at Adobe in various leadership roles, including seven years as Senior Director of Software Engineering. Frank developed and managed key parts of the Adobe Content Cloud platform, a world-class and highly scalable foundation for Adobe Creative Cloud and Document Cloud platforms. He holds an engineering degree in Technical Computer Science from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.

As Chief Solutions Officer, Madhur drives EcoVadis portfolio strategy, product management of the EcoVadis Sustainability Suite and launch of new solutions such as Carbon and IQ Plus. Prior to joining EcoVadis, Madhur has spent more than two decades building and scaling solutions for global companies across Europe and North America. At SAP, he was General Manager of SAP Digital Commerce and expanded the marketplace to more than 120 countries. Madhur also previously served as SVP of Product and User Experience at Pluralsight and led Pearson’s digital business. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

As Chief Customer Officer, Richard is responsible for driving an optimized customer lifecycle in concert with the Solutions and Marketing teams to ensure customer success and rated company engagement. Before joining EcoVadis, he served as Global Chief Revenue Officer at Fleet Complete and spent more than a decade as Country Manager of Salesforce Canada, helping grow the organization from a startup to a $500M business with more than 1,400 people. Richard holds a BCom from the University of Toronto.

Pierre-François, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, has more than 20 years of innovative procurement, sustainability and entrepreneurial experience. He leads our Customers, Marketing, Solutions and Impact departments and, alongside Frédéric, guides our strategic development and approach to sustainable value creation. Before founding EcoVadis in 2007, Pierre-François spent several years as Director of Managed Services at Ariba and CEO of B2Build, the first B2B marketplace for the European construction industry. Pierre-François holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from CentraleSupélec and an MBA from INSEAD.

Frédéric, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, is a global entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in finance and technology. He leads our People, Finance, Evaluations and Technology departments and, alongside Pierre-François, guides our strategic development and approach to sustainable value creation. Before launching EcoVadis in 2007, Frédéric led MrTed’s (now Cornerstone) Technology & Operations as COO. He has founded four other companies across the global trade, software and human resources industries, all of which remain active today. Frédéric holds a degree in International Business from ICAD Business School in Paris.

Aaron Dupuis, Partner, joined CVC in 2014, and is a member of the CVC Growth Partners team based in New York.
Prior to joining CVC, he was a principal at Serent Capital, where he led the firm’s business and tech-enabled services efforts.
Aaron received a BA cum laude in economics from Williams College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Sebastian R. Kuenne, Managing Director, joined CVC in 2011, and is a member of the CVC Growth Partners team based in London.
Prior to joining CVC, he spent his career in private equity advisement and management, while serving in multiple Board of Director roles.
Sebastian received a MA (honors) summa cum laude in Business, Finance and Economics from University of Glasgow and a BA from Boston College where he double majored in Finance and Accounting.

Laura is an experienced C-Suite leader and former chief environmental regulator that has led a Fortune 100 company through major business turnarounds while executing growth strategies and ESG capabilities. Laura’s extensive executive experience and insights from the private and public sectors helped shape her unique perspective in understanding opportunities and risks that drive profitability and support company purpose. Laura has managed an annual P&L of $400M and overseen teams of up to 1,000 employees. She has developed and led global functions in China, Mexico and Canada and was responsible for starting and significantly growing numerous functions at Best Buy.

Annette Thomas is a senior advisor to General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, and a non-executive director on the board of the global education company Pearson PLC. She has overseen some of the leading academic publishing, media, and data analytics companies in the world. A trained scientist, Ms. Thomas earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard and a PhD in cell biology and neuroscience from Yale.

Benoit joined Astorg in 2012 and is a member of the Investment Team. Prior to this, Benoit founded Comptabis, a start-up offering offshore accounting services, which he successfully sold in 2012. Previously, he spent 5 years with Cinven, where he was the Principal in charge of the Sebia investment. He started his career as a Consultant with Bain & Cie in Paris and San Francisco, where he spent 3 years including a long term assignment with the team dedicated to strategic due diligence for Private Equity funds. Benoit graduated from HEC.

Ms. de Larderel, Board Member and Co-Founder at the Global Reporting Initiative, has promoted the environment for 30 years in government and international organizations.
Formerly, she was the assistant executive director and director at UN Environment’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, where she was involved in the Sustainable Consumption and Production Programme.
Ms. de Larderel has also held senior positions in the French Environment Ministry. She holds degrees in chemistry and pharmacology along with an MBA from INSEAD.

Currently Director of the l’Académie Durable Internationale and specialist in sustainable development management, Patrick d’Humières has been involved in major national and international initiatives since their inception– including Global Compact, IIRC, and ISO 26000.
A graduate of Sciences-Po, Mr. d’Humières is Director of “Master Class 21,” teaches at Sciences Po and HEC, and leads the Campus Durable de Casablanca and the community of responsible managers (MR21).

Luk Van Wassenhove, Henry Ford Chaired Professor of Manufacturing and Academic Director of the INSEAD Social Innovation, has a unique combination of CSR and supply chain expertise.
His research and teachings are concerned with operational excellence, supply chain management, quality, continual improvement and learning. His recent research focus is on closed-loop supply chains (product take-back and end-of-life issues) and disaster management (humanitarian logistics).
Luk is a graduate of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.

Ms. Hurst, Founder and Director of Impactt Ltd., founded her organization in 1997 with the mission of improving the performance of international supply chains. She has used her experience of the developing world and the corporate and NGO sectors to innovate a wide range of tools, solutions and services to make a positive impact on workers in supply chains.
Ms. Hurst has led many innovations in ethical trade, founding Sedex and the Local Resources Network, pioneering and normalizing the use of participatory techniques in China, and devising and rolling out the Benefits for Business and Workers Programme in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Classic from the University of Cambridge as well as a Master of Science in Development Studies from the University of London.

Farid Yaker, Programme Officer at the United Nations, is in charge of sustainable public procurement at the Economy Division of UN Environment in Paris, where he’s worked since 2008. He is also coordinator of the 10YFP Public Procurement Programme and oversees the execution of two ground projects aimed at assisting 16 countries in the implementation of sustainable public procurement.
Mr. Yaker taught Agricultural economics at the University of Blida, Algeria from 1988 to 1990 and joined ENDA – Environment and Development Action, an international NGO, following the agency’s Rio summit he had attended in 1992.
Mr. Yaker holds an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California.

Dr. Monsou Tantawy is Vice President of Oxfam in France, where she’s in charge of international relations, and President of Unicef Paris.
She previously worked as a director with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and as Vice President of Operational Efficiency for Unilever, following a career with Danone and Nabisco. Dr. Tantawy was EFQM lead assessor and chairman of the EFQM Executive Committee.
Dr. Monsou Tantawy holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Paris-Sud University.

Andrew Winston, Founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and renowned author, is a globally-recognized expert on how companies can navigate and profit from humanity’s biggest challenges.
His views on strategy have been sought after by many of the world’s leading companies, including HP, J&J, Kimberly-Clark, PepsiCo, PwC and Unilever. Mr. Winston’s latest book, “The Big Pivot,” was selected as one of the “Best Business Books” by Strategy+Business Magazine.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Masters in Environmental Management from Yale University, as well as an MBA from Columbia University.

Uwe Schulte, CEO of Prosolvo GmbH and Global Sustainability Centre Leader, spent a large part of his career at Unilever, where he held a number of different roles from product developer, production manager, general supply chain manager to vice president of Global Supply Management.
He led up to 1500 employees, introducing a unified global procurement function. During his time at Unilever, he had postings in Germany, the U.K., Brazil and Switzerland. For two years, he managed the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre as executive director.
He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Philipp University of Marburg.

John Elkington is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Volans Ventures, a change agency which encourages leaders to look beyond incremental change toward systemic challenges.
Mr. Elkington is leading a two-year program in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact focusing on the market opportunities around exponential sustainability, titled Project Breakthrough. He is also honorary chairman of SustainAbility and sits on an A-Z of some 30 boards and advisory boards.
He holds an MPhil in Urban Planning from University College London.