Paris, Île-de-France, France
Thomas Friang is the Executive Director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business, fostering research, graduate, and executive education programs at ESSEC Business School exploring how companies can anticipate and adapt to geopolitical disruptions in the post-globalization era. Before joining ESSEC Business School, he served as Advisor to the French Minister for Development and International Partnerships, contributing to France’s international cooperation agenda. Thomas is also the Founder & CEO of the Open Diplomacy Institute, a non-partisan think tank dedicated to developing policy and leadership solutions to the polycrisis that hinders progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He launched and chaired the Y20 Summit in 2011 and the Y7 Summit in 2019, creating global youth engagement platforms, embedded in the G20 and G7 diplomatic processes. His leadership in multilateral diplomacy and sustainable development has been recognized internationally: he was awarded with the Engagement Medal of the French Republic (2021), appointed Laureate of the Giverny Award for Leadership in Sustainability (2022), named as an SDG Goalkeeper by the Gates Foundation (2023) and as an Aspen Young Leader (2024).
Created in 2024 by ESSEC, the Institute for Geopolitics & Business examines how geopolitical shocks reshape companies’ economic models. Based across ESSEC Business School’s campuses in France, Morocco, and Singapore, it brings a tri-continental perspective to what drives corporate competitiveness in the post-globalization era: vigilance, resilience, independence. It feeds into ESSEC’s degree programs, executive education, and research to foster a new generation of geopolitics-proof business leaders capable of steering and growing companies amid an increasingly brutalized world. Rooted in ESSEC’s academic excellence, the Institute draws on 4 flagship centers: - the IRENE Center for Negotiation & Mediation, - the Center for Geopolitics, Defense & Leadership, - the Center for European Law & Economics, and - the Chair Business & Industry in Africa.
As the Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriter to Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, French Minister of State for Development and International Partnerships: ➜ Key achievements: - I developed strategic narratives on the transformation of the "development policy" into the "partnership policy". - I developed strategic planning to emphasize the importance of "partnership policy" through events at the national level (Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Forum Investir en Afrique, Hivernales AFD, VIVATech, CNDSI), the international level (UNFCCC COP, IMF/WB Annual or Spring Meetings, UN SIDS Conference) as well as in all bilateral visits (Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, DRC, Tanzania, Mauritius...). - I pushed these strategic narratives through national press (Les Echos, Le Figaro, Challenges, La Tribune Dimanche, La Croix...) and international media outlets (Bloomberg TV, Project Syndicate, Reuters, The Zambia Daily, The Nation, The Sunday Standard, The Mauritian...). - I led crisis communications operations facing important ODA budget cuts. - I steered institutional communications flows at the Ministry's Communication Directorate and French Embassies to further roll out the plan through their web and social communication assets. - I built and developed relations with civil society organizations and think tanks to further advocate for the "partnership policy". ➜ Main Responsibilities: - I ensured daily coordination with the international communications advisors of the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. - I provided political advice and diplomatic briefings to the Minister. - I carried out strategic monitoring and intelligence for the Minister and her Office. - I managed crisis communications for the Minister and the Ministry. - I ensured bilingual speechwriting for any ministerial public engagement of the Minister. - I managed media relations for the Minister. - I ran bilingual digital communications for the Minister.
From 2019 to 2023, I acted as the CEO of the Open Diplomacy Institute, the think tank I founded in 2010. The Open Diplomacy Institute crafts ideas and empowers emerging leaders to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals through tough geopolitical context. ➜ Key Achievements: - I developed, sustained and enhanced our young leaders program, fostering a strong French advocacy for the UN-SDGs at the G20 and G7, through the Y20 and the Y7. - I created and chaired another global network to further advocate for the UN-SDGs: the transnational and transpartisan group of the « Parliamentarians for Peace », gathering 25 senior MPs from across the globe, from Brazil to India, from South Africa to the UK. - I developed a flagship event to advance the UN-SDGs in France: the « Rencontres du Développement Durable » were launched under the high-patronage of the President of the Republic. Operated with 60+ partners from 2020 to 2024, the RDD created 370+ hours of debate involving 900+ high-level speakers. - I authored the report « Engineering the Ecological Planning with the SDGs » presented to the Government. - I chaired the 2030 Commission, channeling civil society contributions to the French National Voluntary Review of the SDGs, presented at the UN High Level Political Forum. - I authored the report « Towards an SDG Stimulus », presented to the President of the Republic at the Summit for a Global New Financing Pact. - I wrote the Chapter « SDGs: in such a polarized world, where does the UN compass point to? » published in the 2022 Blue Book of the French Association for the United Nations. ➜ Main Responsibilities: - I designed the strategy, led the governance, prepared board decisions. - I raised up to 1M€/y, managed the strategic planning and annuel budget. - I developed 70+ partnerships, including 25+ strategic partnerships: corporate sponsorships, government grants and media partnerships. - I led a team of up to 12 permanent staff, and 130+ Fellows.
➜ Missions: - Represent the Advocacy Department at the Executive Committee - Develop and ensure implementation of the Global Advocacy Roadmap as per RSF's strategy - Manage 5 advocacy officers and oversight advocacy actions across RSF's international officers - Represent RSF in all diplomatic settings: bilateral and multilateral frameworks as well as regional bodies - Advise RSF Director-General for high-level meetings with Heads of State and Government - Coordinate RSF advocacy operations with support to journalist teams and with communications teams - Act as RSF Spokesperson in the media ➜ Main Achievement: Led the international advocacy campaign to design and promote the Partnership for Information & Democracy supported by the G7 and adopted by 35+ States at the 2019 UN General Assembly
Led the editorial design of the 2018 Paris Peace Forum, involving 120+ Heads of State and Government and 250+ VVIP Speakers for a 3-Day Summit