Vanessa currently serves as Schneider Electric’s Vice President of Global Environment and Climate. In this role, she is responsible for Schneider’s environmental strategy and decarbonization roadmap. With 15 years of experience on climate change mitigation and adaptation in both developed and emerging markets, Vanessa has a deep understanding of energy transitions, and expertise across public and private sectors – from climate policy with the French Ministry of Energy to Microsoft and now Schneider Electric.
Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Vanessa was at Microsoft between 2015 and as Director of Energy Innovation and Impact; her group charted the way for Microsoft to be carbon negative by 2030. She started her career at the French Ministry of Finance, was part of the French climate change negotiation team, and then shifted to private equity finance of green infrastructure acting as Director of Strategy at Centuria Capital, where she developed the green infrastructure portfolio of the global asset manager and advisory company (USD $15B AUM).
Vanessa is an US department International Visitor Leadership Program alumni (2013), holds a master degree from Sciences-Po Paris, MBA from ESCP Paris, and graduated from Ecole nationale d’administration. She is an executive-in-residence at Insead and was an Assistant Professor at Sciences Po from 2010 to 2014. She holds French, American, and Indian nationality and fluent in French, English, and Italian.

American Academy President Laurie Patton to Receive Concordia’s 2026 Leadership Award for Civil Society
The Concordia Leadership Council is proud to announce Dr. Laurie L. Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, as the second of three recipients of the 2026

