Delphine Mourot (H.03) : “We positioned ourselves as trailblazers”
Delphine Mourot is an emblematic figure of the HEC network in the United Kingdom. Discover the profile of the director of the UK Office.
Commitment. This could be the word to describe Delphine Mourot. In 2000, she got into HEC Paris as a direct admission student. While on campus, Delphine joined an organization called Ouga’ with a few friends. They went to North Eastern Burkina Faso, near the Sahel region, to build a school with the help of sponsors.
During her internships, Delphine headed for London. In 2002, she opted for the tax and law strategy major and simultaneously pursued a postgraduate law degree. After graduating in 2003, she locked herself up in the heat of her Parisian maid’s room to prepare for the Bar exam. She returned to London where she worked on IPOs for an American firm before joining Morgan Stanley, where she served as a capital markets lawyer for 13 years.
Passionate about diversity, she chaired the Family Network in Europe. « We organized events with senior women who talked about how they combined their professional life with their role as mothers. An exception at that time! », she remembers.
Gradually getting involved in the HEC UK community, Delphine attended some themed dinner parties thrown by HEC alumni. Delphine also enjoyed opening the doors of Morgan Stanley to HEC students who came to visit and explore internship and job opportunities. 2019, Brexit.
Weighing the importance of work-life balance, she became the Director of HEC in the UK when Marguerite Gallant, her HEC 2003 classmate, moved to Paris. Settled in a co-working space near Bond Street, Delphine and her team were preparing the HEC gala when the Covid 19 pandemic started. « For us this period was almost a chance. In London, the alumni are young and very international. We positioned ourselves as trailblazers for other HEC offices and Chapters in the world, because all of our content is in English. We organized new types of events about sustainable transition, talks with HEC professors like Alberto Alemanno, and full-online learning expeditions. And in the meantime, we started thinking about what the HEC UK House could be », she says.
From a first visit of the premises in 2019 to the opening in March 2023, the empty concrete shell became the HEC UK House. « It is the house of all alumni, students, entrepreneurs and program participants. A place of conviviality, sharing experience, knowledge and giving back. »
Published by Loane Gilbert