“On 21 March, Sodexo will be replacing Alstom on the Cac 40 index. The move will make its 54-year-old CEO Sophie Bellon, daughter of the company founder Pierre Bellon, the first woman to lead a group listed on the CAC 40 since it was created in 1987."

Jean-Baptiste Duval, HuffingtonPost

Sophie Bellon is Chairwoman of the Board of Directorsof Sodexo, the global leader in Quality of Life
services, present in 80 countries.

Sophie Bellon has been on the Sodexo Board of Directors since 1989. She is also a member of the Bellon SA Management Board. In November 2013, Sophie was nominated to succeed her father, Pierre Bellon, as Chair of the Sodexo Board of Directors in January 2016. Sophie has also been a memberof the L’Oréal Group Board of Directors since April 2015.

Born in Paris in 1961 and graduating in 1983 from EDHEC,one of the top French Business Schools, Sophie opted early on for an international career.
Her entrepreneurial and multidisciplinary background led her to New York where she began her career in 1984 as part of Crédit Lyonnais’ mergers and acquisitions department, then later as anagent representing international fashion brands.

After 10 years in the US, Sophie returned to Franceto join Sodexo in 1994. Since then she has participated in a number of key steps to grow the company.

 In 1994, as project manager in the Finance department, she worked on the acquisition of GardnerMerchant and Marriott Management Services, each of which helped to double Sodexo’s revenue andboost its status as a multinational company.

 In 2001 further to these acquisitions, with a view to standardizing subsidiary reporting, Sophie took charge of Operational Control where she defined and introduced the Group’s operational performance indicators, which are still in force today.

Appointed Group Director of Client Relations in 2005, she piloted the global deployment of an innovative sales approach called “Clients for Life,” which has significantly boosted the client retentionrate while building a strong client-focused culture and contributing to the Group’s rapid growth (Group revenues jumped nearly 50% from 2005 to 2015).

In 2008, Sophie became Managing Director for the Corporate segment in France (8,000 employees, €650 million revenue). She implemented a comprehensive Quality of Life Services offer to clients. Building on her strong commitment to the well being of people, she also mobilized staff in Sodexo’s transformation to become the global leader in Quality of Life services.

Her vision and involvement in multiple innovative sales projects prompted the Board of Directors inJanuary 2013 to entrust her with responsibility forthe Group’s Research, Development and Innovationstrategy. This responsibility prepared her for herfuture role as Chairwoman, with its two focuses:continue the company’s record of innovation-ledprofitable growth while upholding Sodexo’s mission and longstanding values.

Sophie is very committed to boosting diversity and inclusion, as she sees gender balance as a key performance driver. Sodexo is largely recognized for its gender equality policies both in France (no. 1 for gender balance in top Management in 2014 and 2015, according to the French Ministry of Women’s Rights), and internationally (no. 1 for the 2012 Catalyst prize, and top of the 2013 DiversityInc ranking).

 MILESTONES IN SOPHIE BELLON'S LIFE

1961 Born in Marseille (France)
1983 Graduated from EDHEC Business School
1984 Went to the United States
1994 Began work at Sodexo in finance
2005 Appointed Group Director of Client Relations
2008 Appointed Managing Director Corporate segment in France
2013 Appointed Vice Chairwoman of Sodexo’s Board of Directors
January 2016 Appointed Chairwoman of Sodexo’s Board of Directors

SODEXO KEY FIGURES

key figures (as of August 31, 2015)
€19.8 billion in consolidated revenues
420,000 employees
19th largest employer worldwide
80 countries
32,000 sites
75 million consumers served daily
€12.6 billion in market capitalization (as of November 18, 2015)