I was especially happy to welcome Marie-Claire Capobianco on May 16, for the last Speaker Dinner @ the Senate before the end of my second mandate as VP Events for PWN Paris.

Marie-Claire Capobianco is, since January 2012, the only woman at the Executive Committee of BNP Paribas and Head of the French Retail Banking. She is also a member of the Executive Committee at Medef and member of the Board of l’Adie.

When asked how she accomplished this and what advice she would give, she said: “It is all about passion, and how, at the beginning, a “pay your bill” type of job became a passion. Right  from the start, I’ve loved the relationship with the clients either individual or professional.” 

With a strong ability to work, along with a clear commitment to the company and a well-balanced life, she was offered to manage a small branch after a few years. Then, it became a matter of pursuing opportunities: “it is important to be open to opportunities and be able to reach them. With determination, create your own luck” - which was the case when at the time of the BNP Paribas merger, she became Head of private banking. “In a way, it is like becoming an “intrapreneur” within the company to grab opportunities and go further and bigger”.

“It is important to be self-confident, sincere, to be yourself but it does not mean there are no doubts. Live intensively, appreciate every moment, dare, be bold. Be engaged, personally and as a manager” she continues. To the question: How is it to be the only woman in the prestigious Executive Committee of a big bank? She replies“it is cordial; most of the other committee members have been colleagues and friends for over thirty years”. 
 
“With entrepreneurs, it was love at first sight very early in my carrier” Marie-Claire Capobianco pursues, “no matter how innovative they were, and whether they were social or women entrepreneurs. For this last category, the figures are astonishing: there are only 30% of women entrepreneurs and only 10% of women with more than 10 employees, while women compose 50% of the total workforce. France is Number 1 in terms of equal access to health and education but number 64 for the contribution of women to economy and growth.
Women entrepreneurs are more eager to control the situation, more operational, but less in the strategy. They need hold back and delegate more. As for their relationship with money, only 7% of fund raisers are women.  they receive mostly the funds they asked for but  the average  amount is smaller. They tend to anticipate less, they do not see the big picture and therefore miss the funds that would allow them to grow. They need to see bigger and further.
 
This needs to change, and this is why last March, on the International Women’s day, BNP Paribas launched #ConnectHers. The purpose is to help women to face the appropriate counterparts, and to meet the right account officer. One hundred employees volunteered to become specialists in women entrepreneurship in the different agencies in France.
The book “Women entrepreneurs, instruction manual” co-written with Martine Liautaud, highlights why and how networks are key players, how networking, mentoring, events and prizes help to show up women entrepreneurs and generate growth. After 8 years, Women Equity for Growth for mid-caps  has moved women up in the ranking.
Women entrepreneurs need to find good partners, such as Women business angels to believe in them, to help them growing through financing and fundraising, with capital risk and capital investment.
Altogether, women need to see bigger and go further, to have a real impact and take their share of the economy growth.
What an exceptional enthusiastic and positive conclusion to a rather intimate but thrilled and convinced audience!
 
Let’s remember the lesson and start practicing!

^{1  INSEE, (2016), « Les créateurs d'entreprises en 2014 : moins de chômeurs et des projets plus modestes qu'en 2010 »} 

^{2  INSEE, (2015), Indépendants et dirigeants salariés d’entreprise :un tiers de femmes}

^{3  INSEE, (2016), « Tableaux de l'Économie Française - Insee Références - Édition 2016 »}

^{4  World Economic Forum, (2016), « The Global Gender Gap Report » : un rapport annuel sur les inégalités femmes-hommes basé sur 4 critères fondamentales : l’accès à la santé, l’accès à l’éducation, la participation économique et l’émancipation politique »}
 

Emmanuelle Scelles
PWN Paris VP Events and Head of CSR at Group Human Resources, BNP Paribas
@emmascelles