Adélaïde Chassort (Executive Education Class of 2021): Giving Meaning to Communication in an Era of Transition
With a degree in marketing, Adélaïde built her career within media agencies, where major brand communication strategies are developed. At Zenith (Publicis Groupe), she honed her perspective and gained a broader view of the challenges of transformation and innovation, eventually joining the executive committee as Deputy Managing Director after 12 years with the group. In 2022, she chose to put this expertise to work for social impact by joining AXA France as Head of CSR Communication Coordination.
A shift guided by a central question: how can communication become a true lever for societal transformation? A look back at a career path where personal epiphanies, awareness, and collective action redefine the meaning of the profession.
Career Path & Mindset
In 2020, Adélaïde co-founded Publicis Media’s Positive Media Project, a think tank dedicated to transforming advertising industry practices in response to environmental and societal challenges.
➤ How did your desire to fully commit to CSR come about?
My first turning point came when I returned from maternity leave for the first time; it’s a period that challenges many of your assumptions and is obviously a time for self-reflection. When I returned, I took a step back and asked myself about the meaning of my work: every day we create advertising to sell products or services, but in reality it’s a powerful laboratory for observing societal trends—we had access to the raw data to understand our fears, desires, frustrations, and dreams.
I realized we had a powerful tool to influence consumption patterns and transform society. But above all, I wanted to understand the impact of advertising itself: its carbon footprint, how and whether it was measured—in short, to understand its societal impact.
➤ What did this initiative teach you?
I remember that at the time, one statistic really blew me away: the digital sector’s carbon footprint accounted for between 3% and 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions—comparable to civil aviation!
Based on that figure, my colleagues in strategic planning and I conducted several studies on responsible digital practices, created the “Positive Media Project” Do-Think Tank, and began collaborating with Jean-Marc Jancovici’s The Shift Project in 2020 to find ways not only to measure but also to reduce our carbon footprint.
Training & Transition
That same year, you enrolled in De Vinci Executive Education’s specialized CSR MBA program.
➤ How did this experience specifically accelerate your career transition?
I wanted to get under the hood to better understand all these topics, and I was fortunate that Publicis Media supported me in this desire to gain a deeper understanding—with the ultimate goal of fostering this mindset throughout the entire agency. It was a rich and very ambitious journey, right in the middle of the pandemic and with two young children! But I have no regrets about this journey of over 400 hours, which culminated in a thesis on the role of advertising in the transformation of our society.
➤ Given your background, what advice would you give to an alumnus who wants to transition into impact-driven careers without starting from scratch?
I would say that all career paths lead to sustainable transformation; no one is exempt, and everyone must address the issue. So regardless of your initial training, ESG issues, sustainable development, inclusion, and governance must permeate every aspect of business—it’s necessary and vital, just like digital transformation. Ultimately, this shouldn’t be seen as the icing on the cake but rather as the little tea bag that infuses everything.
Engaging the Collective
Today, you’re putting this dual expertise—in communication and impact—to work at AXA France, where you lead the CSR communications effort. Your role: making complex issues understandable, mobilizing the internal workforce, and fostering a shared culture centered on sustainability.
➤ What do you particularly enjoy about this job?
What I find most rewarding is feeling useful. Thanks to my skills in storytelling, analyzing emerging trends, and editorial content, I highlight the evidence of AXA’s commitment that makes a difference in risk prevention and protection. Understanding and analyzing these risks is not easy and requires the ability to explain their impacts in layman’s terms, as they are becoming increasingly intense, unpredictable, and interconnected (climate & health, cyber & security, etc.).
The more people are engaged with and aware of these issues, the more capable they will be of taking action. And that is precisely the purpose of my mission: to increase our impact so that communication can fully play its role in transforming our society and our habits.
➤ In your opinion, what are the most effective ways to get employees and executives on board for the long term?
In terms of levers, experience is certainly one of the most powerful for any audience: the emotions felt, for example, by the TOP 150 managers during the immersive experience I developed with EY’s Impact Lab (Paris in 2042) revealed everyone’s convictions.
We don’t all agree on how to approach the subject; some want to take a gentle approach, raising awareness step by step and providing support on a case-by-case basis, while others favor rapid awareness-raising and less sugarcoated language. But what really matters is the initial realization that must be shared: science is not an opinion; it is a fact, and we must face it.
The second lever is the power of the collective: I created the AXA France Ambassador Network, comprising 120 people across all of AXA France’s business lines, to map out all departments and thus be able to rely on key ambassadors at the heart of our products and services, facing customers—in short, throughout our entire value chain. And this collective is not just a group on Subteams that serves as a conduit for AXA France’s strategy, but a team motivated by shared goals and committed to moving forward together by sharing best practices and concrete feedback among peers. The leadership and spirit of this collective make me particularly proud because they place people at the heart of the transformation.
An alumna to follow!
📌 Find all the information here about the MBA programs offered by De Vinci Executive Education
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