Cosmo Vollauschek
Summer Student Story
Conscious communication is vital today, where hyper-potent social media and information flows can amplify voices more than ever.
I was born and raised in London to a French mother and an Austro-Hungarian German-born father, both first-generation. A multicultural and dynamic environment, amplified by an international education, taught me the quintessential nature of multicultural intelligence to communicate past cultural barriers in today's world. This communication becomes especially applicable in the face of poly-crisis, the need for multilateral action and massive societal shifts.
I'm currently an undergraduate student at ESCP Business School, where I'm on several boards covering everything from campus governance to ESG. I also lead a startup called Equity, which aims to make responsible financial literacy more inclusive and accessible through a pedagogical board game.
With the early ambition to learn about communication in leadership positions as much as possible, the High Impact Communication Youth Program at HEC Paris felt like a strong fit. It responds to the demand from high school students for efficient communication while capturing the spirit of responsible leadership. With an array of guest speakers, a rich set of resources and academically stimulating tasks, the High Impact Communication program allowed me to explore the intricacies of communication in much greater detail than I had imagined possible.
I saw the program's online learning format as an opportunity to connect with people who otherwise may not have been able to join a program on-campus, fantastic peers around the world with whom I am still in contact several years on. Despite being online, we connected through group work and social media, in some cases meeting in person following the program, and in any case, forging unique and incredible friendships!
After having had such a successful experience with the High Impact Communication program in 2021, I completed the HEC Business and Climate Change summer certificate program in 2023, an intensive two-week program taught on-campus with the help of world-leading experts, exposing students to dialogue, risks and solutions at the forefront of industry today.
The program was intensively rich in substance and left me feeling highly equipped to tackle the energy transition as best I could in my positions. The Summer School undoubtedly offers its students serious personal, professional and academic opportunities, from immersing them in a thoroughly international melting pot, to bringing industry-leading experts into the classroom, all in only a few weeks. Students leave energized and equipped to bring new knowledge, mission, and spirit into their respective institutions.
Today, I continue to feel the benefits of the two programs I participated in. I feel the constant support of the HEC Paris Summer School community, I weigh the impact of my voice, and I don't shy away from the conversations we urgently need to be having in our institutions to meet Paris Agreement targets. I can confidently say that through these programs I became a more spirited, more reflective, and more impactful leader.