While the Prime Minister was preparing his release on TF1 and France 2, on the evening of December 3, he received an unexpected tribute on the occasion of the Woman of Influence awards ceremony, including Challenges is a partner… at the Musée de l’Homme, in Paris. “Michel Barnier was a member of our jury in 2022,” recalled Patricia Chapelotte, creator of the prize and general director of Hopscotch Décideurs. On November 25, he announced that the possibility of filing a complaint at the hospital for abused women will gradually be generalized to all establishments in France. »
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This decision, which should be implemented regardless of the tenant of Matignon, illustrates the fact that initiatives in favor of women, including the Woman of Influence prize, contribute in the long term to changing mentalities, even those conservative personalities in societal matters. Each in their own way, the winners of this 11e Women of Influence awards demonstrate the commitments and successes to which women can aspire.
“Citizen accommodation” for women victims of violence
“I wanted to contribute to helping women victims of violence,” explained Charlyne Péculier, deputy mayor of Cesson (Seine-et-Marne) and founder of the association “A shelter that changes lives”, receiving the prize for the woman of political influence of which she is co-winner with Rachida Dati, absent that evening due to a presidential trip to Saudi Arabia. Now aged 27, the local elected official continues to run this “citizen accommodation” structure that she founded in 2020, during the Covid crisis: volunteers offer emergency reception in their apartment to people victims of domestic or family violence. “The network now has 870 people, and this figure continues to grow,” explains Charlyne Péculier.
Lyrical singing and space capsule: the field of possibilities
Co-founder of Opera for Peace, a non-profit organization that develops the operatic careers of talents from all continents, Julia Lagahuzère is the winner of the Woman of Cultural Influence award. This Englishwoman living in Paris helped to expand the field of possibilities by highlighting talents who would not have had these opportunities otherwise. This is the case of Axelle Saint-Cirel, the mezzo-soprano who charmed audiences around the world by singing the Marseillaise at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paris Summer Olympic Games.
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Hélène Huby, founder of The Exploration Company in 2021, is the 2024 winner of the Women of Influence prize in the economy category. A rare woman in the space sector, this graduate of ENS, Sciences Po and ENA has developed a modular and reusable orbital space vehicle intended for space cargo. “We are the first to have created a capsule in Europe,” she recalled in a video message, from Germany where she was Tuesday evening. In three years, our workforce increased from 4 to 220 people, we raised 215 million euros and won 800 million contracts. The final vehicle will be operational in 2028.”
Champions of inventiveness
Nurse and doctor of science and engineering, Isabelle Fromantin, winner of the Favorite Woman of Influence award, began her career in humanitarian work before specializing in the treatment of cancer-related wounds. Working at the Institut Curie, and affiliated with the University of Paris-Est Créteil, his research aims to develop new solutions for cancer patients as well as for female patients. She is a member of the executive committee of the Women's Cancer Institute created in 2024 within the Institut Curie. It is to “the 650,000 nurses working in France” that she dedicated her prize, because “they lack recognition. »
Awarded by a jury made up of juniors, the prize in the Hope category was awarded to another inventive champion, Clarisse Merlet, creator and president of FabBRICK. A graduate in architecture and visual arts, she is dedicated to the search for ecological solutions for design and architecture, which led her to create a new material to produce bricks, from used clothing and scraps of fabric, “shredded then agglomerated with a mixture that I designed”, she testifies.
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Finally, the CCI Paris, chaired by Soumia Malinbaum, was invited to highlight a European actress in the economic world. His choice was Diana Schillag, a manager of German nationality, member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee, “to celebrate the 40 years of Franco-German friendship sealed by François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl”. CEO of the health activity, sustainable development and societal programs of this CAC 40 group, she was responsible for the artificial respirator program ordered by the State during the Covid-19 crisis: 10,000 units to be produced in 50 days, a daring challenge that the leader managed to meet within the time limit. Hats off to her and the five winners of the Woman of Influence award.
