Committees

Laurence Debroux was born in France in 1969. She holds a Master in Management from HEC Paris.

Mrs. Debroux is a member of the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S and of the Supervisory Board of Randstad N.V., she is also a Non-Executive Director at Kite Insights (The Climate School) and of HEC Paris.

Previously, Mrs. Debroux was CFO and member of the Executive Board of Heineken N.V. from April 2015 until April 2021. Before joining Heineken, she had been Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and a member of the Executive Board of JCDecaux since July 2010. Prior to this, Mrs. Debroux spent 14 years with the global healthcare company SANOFI where she held various executive positions including CFO and Chief Strategic Officer.

Mrs. Debroux began her career in investment banking. She has had Executive responsibility for Global functions such as Strategic Planning & Business Control, Tax & Financial Markets, Business Development, Financial Processes & Internal Control, Accounting & Reporting, Procurement and Information Systems.

Marc Bolland was born in the Netherlands in 1959 and graduated with an MBA from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In November 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York, in the UK.

He began his professional career at Heineken N.V. in 1987 as a management trainee. During his first 14 years he occupied several international management positions. He served as an Executive board member of Heineken N.V. from 2001 to 2006 and as Chief Operating Officer of Heineken N.V. from 2005 to July 2006.

In 2006 he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, where he led the turnaround after the acquisition of Safeway plc until April 2010.

In May 2010 he joined the board of Marks and Spencer plc as Chief Executive Officer until April 2016. He led the transformation of Marks and Spencer to become a Multi-channel, General Merchandise Retailer and developed the Food business with industry leading growth.

In September 2016 he joined the Blackstone Group International Partners LLP as Senior Operating Partner and from 1 January 2022 continued as Chairman Europe. From 1 January 2024 he became Senior Adviser.

He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Coca-Cola company board, Atlanta USA. He is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Collection Trust and the Chairman of the Royal Collection Enterprises. He is Vice President at Unicef UK.

Dr. Sandra Dembeck is CFO of Zalando SE, Europe’s leading online fashion and lifestyle brand based in Berlin. She started her career in 1999 at McKinsey & Company where she spent 6 years first in Europe and later relocated to Hong Kong. In 2005 she joined C&A to start up their retail business in China followed by various CFO roles for C&A in Europe.

She joined Kingfisher Plc in 2014, first as CFO B&Q China before relocating to the UK to become CFO B&Q UK & Ireland. In 2018 she was appointed Deputy Group CFO for Kingfisher Plc. In April 2020, at the start of the Covid pandemic, she joined the world’s largest caterer Compass Group Plc as Group Corporate Finance Director.

Sandra graduated in Business Administration from the University of Passau and holds a doctorate from the University of Konstanz.

Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor at Harvard Business School. He previously served as the school’s tenth dean from 2010-2020. His intellectual interests center on leadership and corporate performance. He is the co-author of 16 books and over 100 articles and cases.

He serves as the Executive Chairman of Thrive Capital (a NYC venture capital firm) and sits on the Board of Directors of Anheuser-Busch InBev, Alsym, Bridgespan, Massachusetts General Brigham, and Rakuten Medical.

Before joining the Harvard Business School faculty, Nohria received his Ph.D. (1988) from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B. Tech. (1984) in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (which honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007).

Marc Bolland was born in the Netherlands in 1959 and graduated with an MBA from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In November 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York, in the UK.

He began his professional career at Heineken N.V. in 1987 as a management trainee. During his first 14 years he occupied several international management positions. He served as an Executive board member of Heineken N.V. from 2001 to 2006 and as Chief Operating Officer of Heineken N.V. from 2005 to July 2006.

In 2006 he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, where he led the turnaround after the acquisition of Safeway plc until April 2010.

In May 2010 he joined the board of Marks and Spencer plc as Chief Executive Officer until April 2016. He led the transformation of Marks and Spencer to become a Multi-channel, General Merchandise Retailer and developed the Food business with industry leading growth.

In September 2016 he joined the Blackstone Group International Partners LLP as Senior Operating Partner and from 1 January 2022 continued as Chairman Europe. From 1 January 2024 he became Senior Adviser.

He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Coca-Cola company board, Atlanta USA. He is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Collection Trust and the Chairman of the Royal Collection Enterprises. He is Vice President at Unicef UK.

Axel Dumas, great grandson of Émile Hermès, represents the sixth generation of the Hermès family. Holding a Master’s in Law and Bachelor of Philosophy, Axel Dumas attended Sciences-Po Paris and is a graduate of Harvard Business School (AMP).

After eight years at Paribas, based in Beijing and New York, he joined Hermès in 2003 as Auditor with the Financial Department of Hermès International and went on to become Retail Director for France.

In 2006 he was named Managing Director of Hermès Bijouterie and, in 2008, was appointed Managing Director Métier Hermès Leather and Saddlery.

From May 2011 to June 2013 he held the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Since June 2013 Axel Dumas has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Hermès International.

Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor at Harvard Business School. He previously served as the school’s tenth dean from 2010-2020. His intellectual interests center on leadership and corporate performance. He is the co-author of 16 books and over 100 articles and cases.

He serves as the Executive Chairman of Thrive Capital (a NYC venture capital firm) and sits on the Board of Directors of Anheuser-Busch InBev, Alsym, Bridgespan, Massachusetts General Brigham, and Rakuten Medical.

Before joining the Harvard Business School faculty, Nohria received his Ph.D. (1988) from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B. Tech. (1984) in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (which honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007).

Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor at Harvard Business School. He previously served as the school’s tenth dean from 2010-2020. His intellectual interests center on leadership and corporate performance. He is the co-author of 16 books and over 100 articles and cases.

He serves as the Executive Chairman of Thrive Capital (a NYC venture capital firm) and sits on the Board of Directors of Anheuser-Busch InBev, Alsym, Bridgespan, Massachusetts General Brigham, and Rakuten Medical.

Before joining the Harvard Business School faculty, Nohria received his Ph.D. (1988) from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B. Tech. (1984) in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (which honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007).

Melissa Bethell is a non-executive director of Diageo plc and Tesco plc.

Ms. Bethell is also a Senior Advisor at Atairos, an investment fund backed by Comcast NBCUniversal, and Chair of Ocean Outdoor, an Atairos investee company. She previously held non-executive director positions at Samsonite, Worldpay and Atento.

Ms. Bethell was previously a Managing Director at Bain Capital for over 18 years and member of the senior leadership team responsible for strategy setting, fundraising and portfolio management. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Ms. Bethell worked in the Capital Markets group at Goldman Sachs & Co., with a focus on media and technology.

Ms. Bethell has a MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and received a BA with honours in Political Science and Economics from Stanford University. Melissa was born in Taiwan, educated in America and is now a British national.

Laurence Debroux was born in France in 1969. She holds a Master in Management from HEC Paris.

Mrs. Debroux is a member of the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S and of the Supervisory Board of Randstad N.V., she is also a Non-Executive Director at Kite Insights (The Climate School) and of HEC Paris.

Previously, Mrs. Debroux was CFO and member of the Executive Board of Heineken N.V. from April 2015 until April 2021. Before joining Heineken, she had been Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and a member of the Executive Board of JCDecaux since July 2010. Prior to this, Mrs. Debroux spent 14 years with the global healthcare company SANOFI where she held various executive positions including CFO and Chief Strategic Officer.

Mrs. Debroux began her career in investment banking. She has had Executive responsibility for Global functions such as Strategic Planning & Business Control, Tax & Financial Markets, Business Development, Financial Processes & Internal Control, Accounting & Reporting, Procurement and Information Systems.