INSEAD Fund 2021

Celebrating the power of collective giving

All gifts to the INSEAD Fund - whatever the size - advance our mission and safeguard the school's future. This report demonstrates the huge impact that you, an INSEAD Fund donor, have made in 2020/2021.

Thank you for being a force for good.

From the Dean & IAF Chair

INSEAD Fund

Change starts here

INSEAD is a joint project, and the INSEAD Fund brings together our global community in the spirit of collective giving. As an INSEAD Fund donor, you are advancing the school's vision of transforming business and society, supporting key priorities to equip future leaders, unleashing breakthrough research and shaping management practice.

Even in the turbulence of these past few months, you have chosen to make INSEAD a priority, demonstrating the strength of this inspiring community of alumni and friends. Thank you for your support.

About the INSEAD Fund

Dean's Fund

Investing Where it Matters Most

The Dean’s Fund is the heart of the INSEAD Fund. Fueled by unrestricted gifts from alumni, students, staff, faculty and friends, it provides flexible resources that are put to work immediately — supporting core priorities, advancing innovative projects and responding to urgent needs as they arise.

INSEAD is deeply grateful for our community’s unwavering support of the Dean’s Fund during 2020/2021. Generous donations enabled the school to award scholarships to students who faced overwhelming financial challenges, to fund timely faculty research and to support innovative projects that helped INSEAD weather difficult times.

Scholarships

Resources to Realise Dreams

INSEAD epitomises diversity of many kinds — countries, cultures, ideas. It also holds a diversity of dreams, many of which could not be realised without your support for scholarships.

In 2020/2021, giving to scholarships had even greater impact than usual. Although the pandemic required significant budget cuts, INSEAD’s commitment to student support remained steadfast. Thanks to your gifts to the INSEAD Fund, the school was able to award vital funds to 183 students in the MBA’21J&D classes, allowing new cohorts to experience our distinctive approach to leadership training.

Many of these students rose above daunting financial challenges. Even now, candidates face great uncertainty, contributing to a 32% increase in scholarship requests in 2021. But the impact of a scholarship is more than financial. Each award affirms a student’s potential — and deepest aspirations.

"Since graduation, volunteering for INSEAD has been an integral part of my life. I genuinely enjoy staying connected with alumni across all generations and supporting this uniquely diverse community remaining vibrant and exciting to be part of. Giving back to INSEAD is a further investment in a brand that means so much to me."

Satoshi Koyama MBA’03D

Member of the IAA ExCo and our Giving Day Volunteer for Japan

“As a second-generation INSEADer, I already felt a strong sense of community when I was admitted. But as a student of the pioneering class of the MIM, like many of my classmates, I wanted to make a difference and help shape this new face of the INSEAD community. As a scholarship recipient myself, the Robin Hood initiative immediately resonated with me.”

Olivia Ozino Caligaris MIM’21

Robin Hood Ambassador

“I support INSEAD because I believe INSEAD supports us. As an IAF fundraiser, I bear witness to that at every event we organise, where you can feel that the INSEAD staff is as invested as alumni are in the success of our campaigns. I also believe that supporting INSEAD is important to ensure that we remain a leading school, since we lack public funding.”

Nourdin Hadj-Larbi MBA’08D

IAF Ambassador France and Class Fundraising Volunteer

“After a tough 2020, I am looking to the future with renewed hope, thanks to an IAF Diversity Scholarship. Through my MBA, I hope to help bridge the divide in our world, be it cultural, religious, political or economic. INSEAD is truly the business school for the world, and I am humbled to be a part of it.”

Christian N’Guessan MBA’21D

Canada, IAF Diversity Scholar

“I give to INSEAD because it has given me a unique perspective, a global network, and amazing friends. I believe strongly that all alumni should contribute so we all stay connected around a powerful mission — working as a global team, moving physical and cultural boundaries. Volunteering allows me to convey this important message to alumni and to be part of a great team of faculty and fellow ambassadors.”

Caroline van Scheltinga MBA’88J

IAF President USA and Class Fundraising Volunteer

“Getting an education loan and entry visas, taken for granted in normal times, were significant hurdles in 2020. Having the strong backing of an INSEAD Diversity Scholarship helped me stay positive and even more focused to embark on the MBA journey. I hope to reciprocate the gesture to future students as an alumnus.”

Ajinkya Rajadhyaksha MBA’21D

India, INSEAD Diversity Scholar

“Receiving an IAF Diversity Scholarship changed my life. When the banks could not guarantee me a loan, this funding enabled me to cover the cost of my MBA. Equally important, the scholarship was powerful feedback that the INSEAD community supports my vision and goals.”

Volodymyr Iurasov MBA’21D

Ukraine, INSEAD Diversity Scholar

Faculty & Research

Shaping Global Business, in Theory and Practice

Conducted across disciplines, leveraged in the classroom, applied around the world — faculty research, carried out with quality and rigour, is essential to the identity, impact and reputation of INSEAD.

Thanks to donor gifts, INSEAD has become an incubator for bold scholarship, conducted by recognised thought leaders. Often these experts choose INSEAD because, here, they find support for scholarly work that contributes innovative thinking to their field and feeds their teaching.

Your investment in resources for research — from datasets to a pool of skilled research assistants to aid in field work and analysis, boosting faculty productivity — enables INSEAD to sustain a vital research ecosystem. In addition to helping INSEAD compete for stellar faculty, unrestricted support for research positions INSEAD to attract the best and brightest students, who come to learn from pioneers whose ideas are reshaping business around the globe.