The Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives of HEC Montréal is governed by the International Board of Governors. Chaired by Guy Cormier, current President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group, the Board brings together key international influencers in the world of cooperatives, in particular executives of large cooperatives and internationally renowned researchers.

Guy Cormier (Chair)
President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group
Guy Cormier has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group since April 2016. Desjardins is the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and sixth in the world, with assets of over $248 billion. It is one of the 20 largest employers in the country, supported by the skills of its 47,000 employees and the commitment of more than 5,000 elected officers.
Mr. Cormier has been with Desjardins since 1992, and was General Manager of several caisses in the network. He was Vice-President of Cooperative Network Finance from 2009 to 2012, before being appointed Vice-President of Cooperative Network, in 2012, and then Senior Vice-President of Cooperative Network and Personal Services in 2013.
Mr. Cormier has always encouraged audacity, agility and innovation to improve the experience of members and clients. Under his leadership, the organization’s AccèsD Services earned their 11th Customer Operations Performance Center (COPC) certification, making Desjardins the only financial institution in the world to hold the certification that long. It was also under Mr. Cormier that new innovative technology-focused service centres were launched, earning several awards internationally.
In 2014, he was invited to give lectures and take part in roundtables for events organized by the World Health Organization and the International Summit of Cooperatives.
In 2013, the Quebec MBA Association recognized Mr. Cormier as one of 40 Quebecers with a major influence on business in the province.
He was selected as one of 55 leaders for the 2011 G20 Youth Summit to provide valuable input to managers from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Bank.
Mr. Cormier is a graduate of HEC Montréal, where he earned both a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA, as well as teaching finance for eight years. He is actively involved in a number of community organizations including the fundraising campaigns for the Université du Québec à Rimouski, the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation, and the Victor-Gadbois palliative care centre.

Eric Brat
Director of the Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives, HEC Montréal
Eric Brat is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives at HEC Montréal. He is a CFA and member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. During his career, he has worked for Credit Suisse Group, Oliver Wyman and Accenture.

Marco Aurélio Borges de Almada Abreu
President and CEO, Bancoob
Mr. Almada worked with Banco de Crédito Real S.A. (Credireal) between 1982 and 1997, among others as Head of the Budget and Management Department. Towards the end of his mandate, he was also involved with the selling process of the Bank. After the sale, he worked for a year at Banco BCN [BCN Bank] and Bradesco as Manager of Budget and Costs.

Giovanni Ferri
Professor of Economics, LUMSA University
Giovanni Ferri, Ph.D. in Economics from New York University, is a Professor of Economics and Vice-Rector of Teaching and Students’ Rights at LUMSA University. Between 1999 and 2012, he was the Chair of the Department of Economics and Vice-Rector for International Relations at the University of Bari.

Uwe Fröhlich
Co-Chairman of the Board of Management & Co-CEO, DZ Bank
Mr. Uwe Fröhlich has been Co-Chief Executive Officer at DZ BANK AG since January 2019. He has been the Supervisory Board Chairman at DZ PRIVAT BANK SA, since 2018. He serves as the Supervisory Board Chairman at VR-LEASING AG. He is Executive Manager at DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main since November 2018 and is Member of the Board of Managing Directors.
President of the National Association of German Cooperative Banks Inc., President of the Board of Managing Directors at Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e.V., Supervisory Board Member at R+V Versicherung AG, as well as Director of Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e.V.

Cornelius Riese
Co-Chairman of the Board of Management & Co-CEO, DZ Bank
Dr. Riese has been Co-Chief Executive Officer at DZ BANK AG since January 2019 and serves as Member of Board of Managing Directors. He is a Member of the Supervisory Board at TeamBank AG Nürnberg since January 2019 and has also been its Chairman of the Supervisory Board since March, 2019. Dr. Riese serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at R+V Versicherung AG since January 2019.
warded his doctorate (Dr. rer. pol. ) at the Chemnitz University of Technology.

Ghislain Gervais
President and Member of the Executive Committee of Sollio Groupe Coopératif
Ghislain Gervais has been active in numerous organizations over the past 17 years, and was elected President of the Board of Directors of La Coop fédérée’s – now Sollio Groupe Coopératif – in 2016. He brings extensive leadership experience to the organization, along with the ability to clearly articulate and implement a strategic vision that serves members’ interests. His thorough understanding of the environment in which Sollio Groupe Coopératif operates puts him in an excellent position to represent the organization, in cooperation with the CEO.
As President of the Board of Directors, Ghislain Gervais encourages dialogue between consumers and the industry so that everyone has a chance to listen and to be heard.
Mr. Gervais is a graduate of “Institut de technologique agroalimentaire” and works as a poultry and field crop producer. He previously served as president of the board of directors at La Coop Agrilait. He has also held at seat on his regional UPA union, the board of directors of Club Yamasol, and the Saint-Guillaume CLD (local development centre).

Carlos Heller
President and CEO, Banco Credicoop
Mr. Heller has been working in the field of credit cooperatives since 1963. Between 1964 and 1974, he acted as Manager of the Caja de Crédito Villa Maipú. In 1974, he works at the Instituto Movilizador de Fondos Cooperativos (Argentine credit unions’ coordinating body), where he becomes Regional Manager of Buenos Aires.

Dominique Lefebvre
President, Fédération Nationale du Crédit Agricole
Dominique Lefebvre is a cereal farmer and has held numerous positions within professional agricultural organizations. He got involved in Crédit Agricole’s working bodies very early on and, in 1995, was elected Chairman of Crédit Agricole de la Beauce et du Perche, now Crédit Agricole Val de France (1997).

Florence Raineix
Chief Executive Officer, Fédération nationale des Caisses d’Epargne
Florence Raineix has been Chief Executive Officer of the Fédération Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne since 2011. She spent her career at the Réseau des Caisses d’Epargne (RSE), where she gained solid operational experience in RSE’s various sectors.

Caroline Aubé
Professor, Department of Management, HEC Montréal
Caroline Aubé is the director of the Research and Transfer Division and a professor in the Department of Management at HEC Montréal.
In addition to her active involvement in HEC Montréal Executive Education, Caroline Aubé is associated with various research laboratories and is also an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal. In 2017, Ms. Aubé and her colleague Vincent Rousseau of the School of Industrial Relations of the University of Montreal earned a prestigious distinction for a scientific article as part of the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.
Ms. Aubé holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Montreal.

Franco Taisch
Entrepreneur and Professor
Prof. Dr. Franco Taisch is an entrepreneur and member of various boards of directors. He is the President and Founder of Taischconsulting, specializing in the areas of finance, medicine and technology. As a part-time university professor at the University of Lucerne, he focuses on the design of corporate governance models, as well as the entrepreneurial treatment of opportunities and risks.

Pascal Viné
Director of Institutional Relations and Mutualist Orientations – Groupama Assurances Mutuelles
Pascal Viné is an agronomy engineer AgroParisTech and doctor of the national polytechnic institute of Grenoble. He currently holds the position of Director of Institutional Relations and Mutual Orientations at Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.
He began his career as a teacher-researcher at the National School of Rural Engineering, Water and Forests.
In 1998, he joined the departmental directorate of agriculture and forestry of Eure as head of the agricultural economics department.
After leading modernization missions in the ministries of agriculture and state reform, he became, between 2003 and 2007, adviser to the Cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture, then advisor for agriculture and fishing in the Prime Minister’s Office.
In 2007, he was General Director of the Research Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering (IRSTEA), and in 2009, Cabinet Director of the Minister of Agriculture. He heads the National Forest Office from 2010 to 2015.
From 2015 to 2018, he was the General Delegate of the Federation of Coop de France.