Each year, the Cultural Center of the Lycée Français de New York is proud to organize three “21st Century Citizenship Panel Discussions.” These evening events are intended for Lycee Francais de New York students and other members of the school community, but are also open to the public at large. After very interesting panel discussions on “Tomorrow’s Cities: Paris New York” and “Climate Change: What Can We Do”, our third and final panel discussion for 2013-14 is entitled, “Social Entrepreneurship: How to Change the World”, in keeping with the mission of the Lycée Français de New York to educate global citizens, equipped to face the challenges of our times and to play an active role in making the world a better place.
To prepare for Thursday’s panel discussion, Pascale Richard, Director of the Cultural Center, spoke with the event’s moderator, Sean Lynch, Head of School, about why social entrepreneurship is something we should teach young people today.
“We educate our students to put themselves in the service of others.”
Among the participants is David Jones (below, right), a world-renowned business leader, former CEO of Havas, advisor to many firms at the cutting edge of today’s global economy, social entrepreneur and co-founder of the world youth forum One Young World. His best-selling book “Who Cares Wins” is hailed as a path-breaking call to socially minded business. Earlier this year, he spoke to Lycée Français de New York students about social entrepreneurship (read more here).
A second panelist is Stephanie Potter, Director of University and Corporate Partnerships at Ashoka, the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, including 3000 Ashoka Fellows in 70 countries around the globe. Ms. Potter has great experience in cultivating social entrepreneurship in young people from an early age. Joining the panel as well is Casper Sonesson, Team Manager, Private Sector, United Nations Development Programme. Mr. Sonesson will share his expertise in addressing the most pressing issues of worldwide concern today.
Our panel also has the privilege of welcoming Brigitte Jaumel and Richard Im, two trustees from the French NGO, Aide Dentaire Viet Nâm (ADV), which for more than 20 years has been pioneering a range of health-related service projects in Southeast Asia and which is the partner of the Lycée Français de New York in a student-led initiative the school has launched in Danang, Vietnam. Ms. Jaumel and Mr. Im will be talking about their remarkable experience on the ground, along with the eight students and two teachers from the Lycee Francais de New York who joined them in Vietnam this past November.
In honor of the partnership between ADV and the Lycée Français de New York, the panel discussion will be preceded at 5:30 PM by the viewing of an exhibition featuring photographs taken in Vietnam during our school team’s recent trip there, accompanied by a reception including Vietnamese cuisine. The panel discussion itself will begin at 6:30 PM.
Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 6:30pm.
Lycée Français de New York – 505 E75th Street at York Avenue
Panel in English – free and open to all.
-Post written by Pascale Richard, Director, LFNY Cultural Center
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.