Ellen Wasylina is a European Affairs Executive in Strategy, Leadership and Sustainable Governance. She is a respected European Affairs professional with extensive experience leading operations, projects and staff in public, private and non-profit organisations in France and Europe.
Having spent her career in France, she is a former director of Environment of a French city, former President of a Paris-based think tank, International Geostrategic Maritime Observatory (IGMO), former Editor in Chief of their flagship publication, Geostrategic Maritime Review, former Senior Expert to EUROPEAID, former adjunct professor in several Parisian business schools.
Coming back from a short stay in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a consultant in Sustainability, and went on to found her own boutique consulting firm, Transatlantic Global Advisory (TAGA), where she designed and delivered corporate trainings to the George Washington University’s Center of Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL), as well as to many large companies. She was a member of the French-American chamber of Commerce, where she founded the first Green Economy committee, a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, where is has been a mentor since 2015.
She is the author a several books, essays and has been on the international speaking circuit since 2013 and has given commentary and analysis on French and international media outlets from 2008-2020, in English and French.
She started a podcast during the pandemic, entitled “Mediterranean Sustainability Partners” now heard in 76 countries, in English and French.
Ellen, Can you tell us about your journey to founding The Trocadero Forum and what inspired you to focus on European affairs and sustainability?
The journey to founding the Trocadéro Forum Institute is a lifelong journey . This will be my legacy achievement, to give back , to train a new generation in Sustainable Leadership & Diplomacy. Growing up during the Cold War with my Eastern European parents , gave me my life’s work, foresight and the ability to resolve conflict , applying the conflict resolution paradigm to the upcoming conflict between those countries which have the resources, the personnel and the technology to make the green transition.
What does sustainability mean to you personally, and how does it align with the mission of the Trocadero Forum?
As you remember from my answer at the Green Transition Forum last June in Sofia : sustainability means being able to last over time, to use the resources we have in an efficient manner. It is the key to our mission at the Trocadéro Forum Institute : we want to put Sustainability at the heart of our decisions in management and leadership of people and resources, with the least possible impact on our surrounding environment.
As a respected leader in European affairs, what qualities do you think are essential for sustainability leaders today?
The qualities we are looking for is a nurturing, caring, emotionally intelligent person, in tune with their environment, in tune and aware of the people around them and how they can and will create an impact in their immediate and wider circles.
How do you define a ‘sustainability leader,’ and what unique skills or mindsets are required to lead effectively in this area?
That’s a very good question . A sustainability leader has understood the geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape and is aware of the upcoming risks and can anticipate them. Our two year program will teach them and guide them to think differently, to anticipate the upcoming risks, identify the players, the resources, the challenges, with new lenses in geopolitics, geoeconomics, diplomacy, intercultural communication, leadership and foresight, energy management, ESG investment, using technology and innovation to make the necessary changes, through a robust R & D process. Only then can one lead sustainably.
What challenges do you see for emerging sustainability leaders in Europe and globally?
In three short words, as I said in my speech at the Stratcom Summit in Istanbul last November : Security, Stability and Solidarity. First, we must have security to build our economies: energy security, national security, national
sovereignty.
Second, we must have political, economic and social stability: how to make cities where we live more livable, how to make sure we have the resources to run them and maintain competitiveness. Basically, if you look at our program for the French Riviera Retreat in July, we gathered and spoke of these key challenges.
Finally, solidarity, meaning having allies, not only militarily, but politically and economically. The world is dividing itself into different regional blocks, as rising regional powers contest the status quo created after World War II.
You’ve been an educator and mentor throughout your career. How important is education in cultivating the next generation of sustainability leaders?
From my long career, and as a mother, education is the key to training our next generation of leaders. It is up to us to prepare, nurture, inspire them for what will come.
What is Trocadero Forum’s most significant contribution to developing sustainability leaders in Europe?
The Trocadéro Forum is one of the first , if not the first in Europe and certainly in France, to have the goal of training a new generation of sustainable leaders. We want to train everyone, not just in Europe , but anyone in any geography that is interested in training a new generation of leaders, and to anticipate, be prepared for what is coming.
Looking ahead, what trends do you foresee in sustainability leadership, particularly within the European context?
Leadership means being able to lead with new ideas based on science, facts, figures. Being able to create a new alternative sustainable business model that has a triple bottom line, taking the damage to the environment as a cost on a balance sheet, the well-being , the health and mental health of the employees as most important, and using resources efficiently.
What advice would you give to young professionals or students aspiring to become sustainability leaders?
Come and join us and be inspired and take the lead . Its up to you!
