Founded in 2024 by four students, HEC Inspire organizes weekly dinners bringing students and business leaders together to encourage meaningful conversations and the sharing of experience. On the occasion of its gala held on campus last May, cofounder Zachary Carreau reflects on a project that has quickly gained momentum.

Last week, the School’s Hall of Honor hosted the very first HEC Inspire gala. More than 350 students, alumni, and representatives from the School, the Alumni Association, and the Foundation gathered to celebrate a project born less than two years ago from a frustration shared by four HEC students. “We kept hearing about networking, but most events felt too large and impersonal. You never really had time to get to know the guests,” recalls Zachary Carreau, who cofounded the initiative alongside Qaïs Stili (H.27), Salim Kebe (H.27), and Amine Athamena (H.25). The idea first emerged in Rome during a student football tournament: create small-group dinners bringing students and executives together, with conversation placed back at the center of the experience. A few months later, the first season launched — and the response was immediate.

In just two years, nearly 35 dinners have been organized in Paris restaurants, initially at Helia in the city’s 9th arrondissement before moving to Tchello near the Champs-Élysées. One to three times a week, around ten students spend several hours in conversation with a CEO in a deliberately intimate setting. “We always tell our guests: ‘You come, you speak, you inspire, and then you leave. We’ll take care of all the logistics.’” Among the executives who have taken part are Alexandre de Rothschild, Raoul Salomon, Bruno Despujol, Christophe Aulnette, and Sabrina Herlory. Yet beyond the prestige of its guests, the project embraces a broader social ambition. “We want to democratize these kinds of career paths. People often see dinners like these as inaccessible, when they’re really not,” Zachary insists. To support that mission, the organizers enforce strict gender parity, offer adapted pricing for scholarship students, and rotate participants to ensure as many students as possible can take part. Since its launch, more than 700 students have reportedly participated in the experience.

 

The gala recently held on campus extended this philosophy by recreating, on a larger scale, the spirit of the dinners themselves. Seated around tables of eight mixing students, alumni, and executives, participants rediscovered the direct, personal exchanges that define HEC Inspire. “We wanted to recreate forty mini Inspire dinners over the course of one evening,” explains the student and cofounder. The evening featured a cocktail reception, a gourmet dinner, and a final networking session. Several representatives from the School’s leading institutions also addressed the audience, including Hortense de Roux, highlighting the project’s cross-functional nature at the intersection of the Grande École, the alumni network, and the spirit of giving back. The gala also marked the launch of the Inspire Scholarship, designed to help fund the future studies of scholarship students coming to campus. Envelopes placed on every table invited guests to contribute, regardless of the amount.

“When you see students themselves contributing to the creation of a scholarship fund, the symbolism is incredibly powerful. It’s not about the amount — it’s about the collective momentum,” he says. Now firmly established on campus, the initiative is already expanding internationally. After editions held in London, Singapore, and Shanghai — made possible through the alumni network and a bit of boldness — new dinners are expected soon in New York and San Francisco. Rapid growth, however, has not diluted the founders’ original ambition: to make networking a space for human connection and transmission before it becomes a simple exercise in professional visibility.

Avatar photo

Published by