Our patrons
Gathering to rebuild Grignon
For many years, the Grignon 2000 association has depended on donations and subscriptions from its members. When, in 2020, it was forced to enter the race to buy the estate, launch legal and economic studies to do so, and recruit employees to carry out the project now known as Grignon Campus, its needs increased significantly.
After an initial recruitment in October 2020, the association employed 3 FTEs in November 2020, rising to 5 the following February and up to 6 when the takeover bid was submitted in March 2021. Now stabilized around four permanent staff, the team continues to work tirelessly on a daily basis to give substance and life to the Grignon Campus project. In addition to salaries and employer contributions, there are the overheads essential to the smooth running of the project (website, software, printing, transport, etc.).
Among the many people who contribute regularly to the association - and whom we must thank once again! - a few generous patrons consistently and enthusiastically support a substantial part of the association's funding. We would like to introduce them to you on this page.
Hervé Lecesne
After returning to Grignon in 1970, Hervé took an executive MBA at HEC and became interested in entrepreneurial issues. He pursued a career in the agri-food industry, acquiring several companies specializing in flavors, which joined forces to form the Nactis group in 1998.
He has long been deeply involved in the influence of the school that trained him, the Institut National Agronomique Paris Grignon, now AgroParisTech, and sits on the board of the AgroParisTech Alumni association, of which he was one of the vice-presidents. As a member of UniAgro, the federation of French public agronomy school alumni associations, he launched the Agroalimentaire and Agroentrepreneurs professional groups, and initiated the AgroFinance conferences in partnership with HEC.
Elected co-chairman of the association in 2018, he is now its leading funder. In 2020, he will vouch for Grignon's success in becoming an international center for the ecological transition of agricultural and food systems, by taking the risk of advancing the resources needed to keep the association running smoothly. On a day-to-day basis, he represents the association and gives it the benefit of his knowledge of the agri-food sector and his network.
At the same time as fighting for Grignon, he reaffirmed his interest in heritage by acquiring the Château de Goulaine (Loire-Atlantique) and the Château de Chissay-en-Touraine (Loir-et-Cher), for which he hoped to revive public reception and hotel activities.
Photo opposite: Hervé Lecesne (left) with Mathieu Baron and Marlène Stickel, respectively managing director and employee of Grignon 2000 in November 2022. Photo © David L.
Nicole Bochet
Director
