Gisèle Urujeni

ESSEC Business School

“Tenacious. No obstacle is insurmountable. It’s just a matter of strategy and timing.”

Hometown: Kigali, Rwanda

Fun fact about yourself:

I’ve performed solo sets for audiences of 400+ people on a regular basis. It’s the ultimate training for high-pressure client environments. Once you’ve mastered the nerves of a live performance, a boardroom Q&A feels like a natural conversation.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Université de Lille 1, BSc in Civil Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? AXIONE, Lille. Technical Analyst, Fiber Optics

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? I enrolled in the ESSEC Global MBA in fall 2025. The summer was spent preparing for the transition and, honestly, getting my head around the leap I was about to take.

Where will you be working after graduation? After graduation, I’m targeting a role in infrastructure project finance or investment advisory, ideally within a Paris-based firm with an African portfolio. Think Meridiam, or a Big 4 transaction services team with infrastructure mandates. My background in telecoms and infrastructure gives me a technical edge that most finance candidates don’t have, and I want to put that to work on the deal side: financial modeling, due diligence, and project structuring, while building the investment network I need on the continent. Longer term, I’m building a venture around investment and events in Africa, and everything I’m doing right now is deliberately designed to give that the expertise and network it needs to be credible.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: This year, I had the privilege of working alongside people who made every project better. Co-leading the UNCTAD mandate, our team spent three months figuring out how Zambia can leverage its copper trade to fund its renewable energy transition, and presented our recommendations directly to the UN in Geneva in December. It was the kind of project where you’re only as good as the trust you build with your team. The Deloitte Challenge was the same: four of us, a post-merger integration case, and a third-place finish in front of Deloitte UK. Both experiences reinforced something I already believed: the best outcomes come from diverse minds working toward the same goal. Outside the classroom, The Executive Plate, my startup connecting East African entrepreneurs with global investors, got accepted into the ESSEC Student Incubator’s Explorator program. I was also a High Potential Scholarship recipient, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability concentration.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I’m most proud of founding The Executive Plate, an investment club designed to bridge the gap between scaling East African SMEs and global capital. Starting a business is a challenge in any context, but building this during my MBA has been the ultimate stress test. It’s given me a unique opportunity to apply classroom theory to the real world in real-time. It’s challenging me to learn how to translate impact into a sustainable, positive balance sheet.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? It was helping to connect 100,000 homes in rural France to fiber optic internet. On paper, it’s a telecom project. In practice, it was about people in small towns who had been waiting years for the kind of connectivity the rest of the country took for granted.

I collaborated with multiple stakeholders (teams on the ground, clients, and regulators), built frameworks that cut our design timelines by 20%, and had to make real calls balancing cost, quality, and long-term network performance. What stuck with me wasn’t the technical complexity. It was the reminder that infrastructure is never just infrastructure. It’s access. That’s what eventually pushed me toward business school and toward the work I’m building now.

Why did you choose this business school? My decision came down to four main factors. First, it was ESSEC’s strong reputation as one of the leading business schools in Europe, particularly in France. Second, it was the diversity and size of the cohort. With 57 students from 22 nationalities and backgrounds across finance, consulting, human resources and other industries, the class is small enough that everyone contributes, which creates a much more engaging learning environment.

Third, the MBA campus is located in Paris La Défense, the largest business district in Europe. For the roles I am targeting, being close to companies and opportunities from day one is very valuable. Finally, ESSEC’s strong emphasis on sustainability, an area where the school is consistently recognized, was also an important factor in my decision.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was Yann Cramer. What stood out most was his combination of experience as both an entrepreneur and an intrapreneur, which allowed him to connect theory directly to real business situations. His teaching style was very hands on, pushing us to apply concepts rather than just discuss them. He also gave very direct and precise feedback, which made the learning process much more impactful. Beyond his expertise, he brought a sense of calm and wisdom to the classroom that clearly came from years of experience, creating an environment where students felt both challenged and supported.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? I genuinely enjoyed Macroeconomics with Professor Marc-Olivier Strauss-Kahn. What makes him exceptional is his ability to take abstract, complex economic concepts and make the stakes feel real. He doesn’t just explain monetary policy, he communicates what it actually means when those decisions go wrong, or right, at a national or regional level. Growing up in Rwanda, I’ve seen first-hand how exchange rates and inflation shape the livelihoods of entire populations in ways that Western economies rarely feel as directly. Central banking and regional development finance are areas I want to grow into long term, so getting to learn from someone who has operated at that level across major international institutions is a privilege I don’t take lightly.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA event was the orientation weekend at the Château de Hercès. Arriving there with the cohort, most of us were still strangers, but over the course of the weekend the atmosphere naturally encouraged connection. The setting, a historic French estate managed by ESSEC alumni, reflected the school’s strong sense of tradition and community. It was an early moment where many of us began to feel part of something larger than just an academic program.

Later in the term, Lauren Fields organized a Thanksgiving potluck where everyone brought a home-made dish from their culture. Together, these moments reflected what stands out most about ESSEC: a genuinely close knit and international community.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?

In hindsight, I would have invested more time in networking and made fuller use of the ESSEC alumni platform. The school has a strong and supportive alumni community, and engaging with it earlier could have provided broader perspectives on different industries and more opportunities to build meaningful professional connections.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? One of the most impactful case studies I encountered was the Nutriset case in our Sustainability Management class. It examined how a company addressing severe global malnutrition can remain financially viable while pursuing a strong social mission. The discussion challenged the assumption that businesses must choose between profitability and public good. The key lesson was that, with the right strategy and business model, it is possible to align economic sustainability with meaningful social impact.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I loved most about Paris was its unique combination of culture, food, and historical heritage. The city offers an incredible cultural richness, from museums and exhibitions to its vibrant intellectual life. At the same time, the food scene is exceptional, with everything from traditional bistros to diverse international cuisine. Paris’s historical patrimoine also gives the city a distinctive atmosphere, where centuries of history are visible in its architecture, monuments, and neighborhoods.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is Christine Lagarde. She is a trailblazer known for her determination and ability to build consensus even in high-stakes situations. She has earned a reputation as a calm and steady leader to turn to in times of crisis. Her diplomacy, combined with the courage to walk away from negotiations when necessary, demonstrates a leadership style that balances influence with principle. In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, her approach to leadership is one I aspire to emulate.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? ESSEC has woven AI tools into coursework and case methodology, not as a novelty but as a working assumption. The real insight for me wasn’t about any particular tool. It was realizing that AI compresses the diagnostic phase but can’t replace the judgment phase. Knowing what question to ask, whose perspective is missing, and how to communicate a recommendation to someone who doesn’t share your framework – that’s still entirely human work. And frankly, it’s where most of the value in consulting lives.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? My classmates are accomplished professionals, and I have learned a lot from them and about myself this year. The classmate I most admire is Youlun Zhao. She brings experience in marketing within FMCG in Asia and is now transitioning into the luxury sector. She is a quiet force smart, hardworking, driven, yet genuinely humble. What inspires me most is her genuine curiosity about others. She seeks to deeply understand the people she works with, whether that means reading a thousand pages about India or learning Swahili. Her humility, openness, and willingness to serve are qualities I have greatly appreciated and learned from.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The first item on my professional bucket list is landing an analyst or consultant role in infrastructure project finance, where my telecoms and infrastructure background is directly useful. I know how these assets work from the inside, and I want to be on the side that structures and finances them. The second is closing the first deal for Executive Plate, the events and investment platform I have been building. A signed deal that validates the model and sets the direction for what comes next.

What made Gisèle such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Gisèle brings a great addition to the 2026 MBA cohort, recognized for her maturity, balanced perspective, and consistently positive and constructive mindset. Throughout the fast-paced year at ESSEC, she has demonstrated strong resilience and an ability to adapt easily to our highly diverse environment. After graduation, Gisèle aims to pursue a role in infrastructure project finance or investment advisory, ideally within a Paris-based firm working on African portfolios. Gisèle stands out as an inspiring talent who is thoughtfully navigating between a corporate career and a strong entrepreneurial mindset. She has the ability to fully leverage the program to seize all the opportunities to make the most of the MBA experience!”

Daphné Mathieu, Global MBA Talent Center Manager

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