Hélène DHAUSSY

Interview with the Director of the Maison des industries agricoles et alimentaires

Tell us about your background and your arrival at the Cité internationale.

After about 10 years in the private and social sector, I joined the civil service via the Ministry of Agriculture in 2001. For 13 years I managed an apprentice training centre in the Yvelines then I managed the Dunkirk site before becoming the Secretary General of the Breton campus in Seine and Marne. I was thrilled by the welcome that I received from my 40 director colleagues when I arrived at the Cité internationale in January 2021. This bode well for the climate of kindness that can be felt in the campus buildings.

What do you think makes the Cité internationale a unique campus in the world?

The Cité internationale was created in 1925 around strong values on living together. What is advocated on a national level can be found in what the students make possible daily. It is a great lesson in inclusion.

How does living in your house allow residents to have a different outlook on the world and how is it a spring board for their futures?

The house is both a cocoon that protects and teaches about communal life with neighbours with different curriculums, languages, backgrounds and projects. The residents will have experienced diversity which will be an asset in their future professional and personal lives.

If you had to sum up the Cité internationale in one word, what would it be and why?

Openness.

To the world, others, differences and sharing.

Hélène DE COMARMOND, President of the Management Board

Graduated with a master’s degree in scientific information and communication and an Executive Master’s degree in public policy management from Sciences Po Paris, Hélène de Comarmond has always worked for public service and the general interest. Deputy director at FranceAgriMer then Deputy Director of the DRIAAF Île-de-France, she was appointed in 2012 Adviser in charge of agricultural education, research, employment, social relations and agricultural land in the cabinet of Minister Stéphane Le Foll. In 2013, she was appointed General Inspector of agriculture and joined the general council for food, agriculture and rural areas in 2014. Hélène de Comarmond has been elected Mayor of Cachan since 2018.