Céline Soubranne : “Strengthening the company to face tomorrow’s challenges.”

Céline Soubranne has been the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at the AXA Group since July 2018. She spearheaded the first ESG integration program in insurance products in France, leading to the creation of the “Assurance Citoyenne” label. In December 2014, she received the Trophy of the Citizen Woman at the Women in Insurance Trophies.

What personally do you take away from this somewhat crazy year ?

The collective ability to adapt to constraints and the unexpected stands out to me: companies redirecting their production to make masks and hand sanitizer, retailers implementing “click and collect,” corporate seminars and events becoming 100% digital… I believe we don’t emphasize enough, in this crisis, the remarkable capacities for reinvention and resilience that we have all demonstrated, collectively and individually!

What will this year of pandemic change ?

My conviction is that profound changes were already underway when the health crisis erupted…, exacerbating tensions, accelerating transformations, polarizing positions… But it’s still difficult to discern the trends that will endure.

What are you most proud of professionally this year ?

Faced with such upheaval, the temptation to withdraw is strong, and lockdown complicates interactions… It hasn’t been easy, but in the end, our conviction of AXA’s role in society and our corporate project emerged stronger. We launched our purpose in June last year, and in December, we announced, for the first time at AXA, a strategic plan “Driving Progress 2023” integrating both financial and extra-financial objectives, particularly around Climate and Inclusion issues.

What news concerns you and gives you hope for the future ?

Now that the new strategic plan is launched, the focus is on successful execution in a still very uncertain world. The only certainty is that our innovation and resilience will once again be heavily relied upon in 2021. In this context, the CSR/Sustainable Development function will continue its transformation towards greater ESG expertise, change management, and becoming a catalyst and multiplier of social and environmental transformations, at the heart of the company’s business. Exciting challenges lie ahead!