Laurence Parisot was born in 1959. Following the completion of her Master in Public Law from Nancy University she graduated from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and received a master in Political Science.
From 1983 to 1985, she served as the assistant to the President of the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po.
She joined Louis Harris and Associates in 1985 and was appointed General Manager of the French entity in 1986.
She moved to Ifop, a leading marketing research and polling company, in 1990 as Chairman and CEO. She acquired shares of the company and progressively became the major shareholder of Ifop. Since then Ifop opened subsidiaries in Toronto, Shangaï and Buenos-Aires.
She was elected President of Medef (French Business Confederation) in 2005 for the first time and reelected in 2010.
She is non-executive director of BNP Paribas, Michelin and Coface.
Laurence Parisot is Officer of the National Order of Merit (“Ordre National du Merite”), and Knight of the Legion of Honour (“Legion d’Honneur”), two French National Orders. She is also “Commandeur” of the Moroccan “Ordre du Ouissam Al Alaoui”.
