The Drawdown Award Winners: Flavie Jean and Maria Stasse

Flavie Jean and Maria Stasse, co-heads of HR at Ardian, were named HR & Talent Professional of the Year at The Drawdown Awards 2023.

Flavie Jean and Maria Stasse have been recognised in this category for their work leading an ambitious diversity and inclusion programme within a large and fast-growing firm.

As co-heads of HR at Ardian, they oversaw the recruitment of more than 200 new employees during 2022, an increase of 22% on Ardian’s overall headcount the previous year. At the same time, Ardian increased its number of women in investment functions by 23%, with females accounting for 42% of recruits in investment functions during the year.

During the judging period, Jean’s and Stasse’s team set up Ardian’s Inclusion and Diversity Barometer, the first anonymous method of measuring diversity and feelings of inclusion within a French private equity firm. Following the lead of the Ardian team, France Invest subsequently launched a sector-wide diversity barometer.

Jean and Stasse also launched a series of internal workshops on inclusion and diversity, plus sustainability, during the period. Their HR team has also been working on a new firm- wide competency framework, formalising expectations on skills and experience for each level of employee to increase transparency.

The judges said Jean and Stasse had clearly had an amazing 12 months, driving Ardian's talent programme with tangible results.