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From the Dean: INSEAD's Response to COVID-19

INSEAD

Dean of INSEAD, Ilian Mihov, writes about the school's response to the current COVID-19 crisis:

Dear alumni,

I would like to update you on the situation at INSEAD regarding COVID-19 and to convey to you that we are continuously thinking about our alumni community during these times of uncertainty and anxiety.

Since January, we have been monitoring closely the COVID-19 situation as it unfolds around the world. Our initial reaction was to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the students, faculty, staff and visitors on our campuses in Fontainebleau, Singapore and Abu Dhabi as well as the new San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation. We set up a Crisis Management Taskforce (CMT), a cross-departmental working group, which has been meeting daily since January to track the situation, decide on appropriate measures, update our community on a regular basis and create detailed business contingency plans. We realise that given the nature of our activities and the mobility of our students, faculty, staff and executive education participants, a case or even a cluster of cases can appear at any moment. We have done everything possible to be prepared for a scenario like this. 

For our alumni community, we know that there are regions and countries that have been hit hard by this epidemic. In its latest issue, The Economist wrote that there are places that need more masks, gloves, thermometers and sanitizers, among other supplies. For us at INSEAD, it was inspiring to see the reaction of some alumni early in the crisis: Chuannong (Channon) Tian, Mengyi (Joy) Qiao, Yiying Zhou, Yiran (Melissa) Gu, Siyuan (Andrew) Chen, Siqin Liu, Ren (Yvonne) Hu and Wei (David) Jiang from the MBA ‘19D promotion set up the Wuhan Relief Initiative to collect medical supplies and help those in need in China. They reached out to the INSEAD Alumni Association (IAA) and the school to promote their initiative. We were not only happy to support them but were also proud to see that “business as a force for good” is a flag carried high by our alumni. In true INSEAD spirit, the initiative has now been renamed Green for Impact because they, like everyone else involved in in this initiative, care not only about their country but the world and our global community. In the latest Green for Impact newsletter, their concern was how to get medical supplies to Iran – a country cut off from the rest of the world (due to sanctions) and experiencing one of the worst hits of COVID-19. Together with the Green for Impact team, we have created a closed Facebook group for the INSEAD community that we encourage you to join and use to share problems (such as “My country lacks the necessary medical supplies”) and possible solutions (“I’m the CEO of a company that can help”) that relate to the COVID-19 crisis.

This is the time to show what we stand for: it is one world, one community. We have an amazing, unparalleled network. We, as The Business School for the World, will work with the INSEAD Alumni Association, the National Alumni Associations and the Green for Impact team to leverage the collective knowledge and power of the alumni network to fight this epidemic, to make a difference in someone’s life. Global challenges need global responses.  

INSEAD is a joint project of the entire community. We know that our alumni are here for us. I want you to know that INSEAD is here for you.

Best regards,

Ilian Mihov
Dean

 

INSEAD COVID-19 updates can be found here.


 

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