Mentored by Emmanuelle HAWKINS, chief operating officer at Zaoui & Co.

Kenza is a French student of Algerian descent who grew up in a southern suburb of Paris. In 2015, she joined Sciences Po’s Ambition Campus, which is committed to equal opportunities. In order to promote social mobility and another vision of the suburbs, in 2016 Kenza organized a ceremony rewarding the exemplary paths of people in her hometown.

During her third year at Sciences Po, Kenza completed an internship at a startup in Montreal, specialising in digital strategy. Back in Paris, she joined the finance and strategy master’s degree and obtained an internship at SNCF’s strategy department. In January, she hopes she will join a strategy consulting firm.

Impact of LeadHers’ mentoring program

Kenza attended a dinner organised by LeadHers in 2019 with lead speaker Corinne Vigreux, the co-founder of TomTom and Codam College.

Kenza was inspired by the story of Corinne Vigreux. Corinne emphasised to “believe in yourself and your goals”, and anyone can become a successful entrepreneur regardless of your background or what school you graduated from.

Following Corinne’s inspirational speech, the other accomplished women at the dinner shared their success stories and gave practical advice to Kenza. Alexandra BOLTEN, a participant of the dinner and Marketing Director at L’Oréal, gave Kenza’s interviewing tips and helped her reach out to valuable contacts, which helped Kenza land a six-month internship in the Luxury Division of L’Oréal.