Minister of Labor in France (2017-2020), she spearheaded reforms to the labor code and the "Pour la liberté de choisir son avenir professionnel" law (apprenticeship reform, gender equality index, personal training account, insertion par l'activité économique scheme), contributing to a sharp drop in the unemployment rate. At the time of the COVID crisis (2020), it generalized partial activity to protect jobs and skills.
Internationally, she chaired the G7 Social Summit, and negotiated and concluded the first G7 agreement with the world's social partners, aimed at providing universal access to social protection (2019).
She also negotiated on behalf of France the adoption of :
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the OECD, she initiated and negotiated the IPAC program to combat global warming, and worked to strengthen policies on international economic cooperation, ecological transition, gender equality and youth. She was Ambassador Delegate for International Investment, and set up and directed Business France as its Managing Director, where she promoted France's attractiveness for foreign investment, supported French companies in their export activities and developed the Volontariat International en Entreprise (VIE) program.
Officer of the Legion of Honor (France)
Officer of the National Order of Merit (France)
Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star of Sweden
Influential Woman of the Year Award 2018 (FRANCE)
A frequent speaker, Muriel Pénicaud now travels the world sharing her analyses and convictions on the future of work, women's leadership and the future of education.
An independent director and corporate strategic advisor, she is a member of the boards of ManPowerGroup and Galileo Global Education, and a senior advisor at Bain Capital. She has also served on the boards of Orange (Chairwoman of the Governance and CSR Committee), SNCF (Chairwoman of the Freight and Logistics Committee) and Aéroports de Paris.
An international business leader, she was Managing Director of Human Resources for the Danone group, a member of the Executive Committee, and President of the Danone Ecosystem Fund for societal innovation. In particular, she initiated and set up Dan'Cares, the world's first health coverage system for all employees, and the Eve program for women's leadership development.
She was Executive Vice President at Dassault Systèmes, world leader in 3D design software, and a member of the Executive Committee, in charge of organization, HR and sustainable development.
In a voluntary capacity, she is also a member of the Global Summit of Women's Steering Committee, the Sustainable Development Committee of Blue like an Orange Capital and a member of the Clean Energy Labour Council set up by the International Energy Agency. She has chaired the boards of AgroParisTech. She was the first Chairwoman of the tripartite Board of Directors of INTEFP (Institut National du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle). She was Vice-President of the École de droit et de management des Universités de Paris Panthéon-Assas and co-founder and Vice-President of TV DMA, the first digital academic TV for Management and Law.
"Photography is my way of taming the world, sharing my disbelief, distancing violence, conjuring nothingness, transmuting my flabbergasting into enchantment, making wonder blaze. My dream is for the viewer to become the narrator of his or her own story, soaring on the wings of the photograph he or she is looking at. Photography sharpens our gaze. It makes our relationship with the world more intense, denser, more beautiful, more astonishing. We share our dreams, our anxieties, our tales and our imaginations. Photography changes the way we look at things. It is beautiful because it is accessible to all, sober in its gesture, capable of capturing the essence of an instant to transform it into a trace of eternity. Photography modestly invites us, if only for a moment, to let our senses vibrate, and to enter together into the clearing of a more open and profound humanity."
Since childhood, Muriel Pénicaud has always had a passion for photography, long kept private.
She began to open up her world to the public in 2017 with her first photographic exhibitions. Appointed minister and then ambassador, she reluctantly had to put her exhibitions on hold. Today, nourished by her many experiences, she is once again sharing and exhibiting her view of the world.
"My favorite photographs are those that move, disturb, surprise, challenge or fill us with wonder. Those that encourage us to feel, wonder, imagine, interpret and exchange. To exhibit is to expose oneself to the public's gaze and interpretation. These exchanges nourish me."
His photographic exhibitions(Wind under the Wings, Wind into the Soul, Wind into the Roots, Matrice des Monde/Matrix of Worlds) have been held in Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Haute-Marne, Yvelines and Vaucluse. The next ones are planned for Paris, Barcelona and Pondicherry (India).
On October 23, 2024, SKIRA Editions published a first monograph of his photographs, entitled "La Matrice des Mondes / Matrix of the World" .
"Matrice des mondes" (October 2024):
Muriel Pénicaud explores a unique form of visual storytelling, where each image tells a story and captures emotion with remarkable precision. Her sensitive eye embraces both natural landscapes and urban scenes, as well as the human condition, with a particular focus on women. Her photographs capture the poetry of the moment, whether fleeting like the flight of a bird or timeless like the majesty of trees. Through her work, she tackles powerful themes such as freedom, resilience and hope, inviting us to reflect deeply. Muriel Pénicaud develops and presents surprising, intimate and contemplative stories in images, based on a different relationship to the world, at the crossroads of a form of universalism and a poetic quest for origins.
" Photography is my way of taming the world, sharing my incredulity, distancing violence and igniting wonder. My desire is for each viewer to become the narrator of their own story, projecting their dreams, fears and imaginations onto it."
ÉditionSkira
"Engaged" (2023):
How can we meet the formidable challenges of youth employment, gender equality, ecological transition or the future of business? By mobilizing the talents of civil society. Muriel Pénicaud believes that every individual has value and can create his or her own place in society if given the chance. Her method? Consultation, social dialogue, a constant presence on the ground and the involvement of everyone. His proposals? Mobilization for and with young people, a transformation of capitalism to reconcile economic, ecological and social issues, and a renewal of participatory democracy. Free and committed, this woman from civil society offers us her vision and concrete solutions to meet tomorrow's challenges.
Editions Alpha (Humensis)
"Pousser les murs" (2021):
The former French Minister of Labor has a long and varied career in the corporate world, and has worked tirelessly for the government on a number of issues, including reform of the French Labor Code, the Freedom to Choose One's Professional Future Act, which transformed apprenticeship, continuing education with "mon compte formation" and equal pay for men and women, and the introduction of partial activity at the start of the Covid-19 crisis. Free and committed, this woman of the field from civil society proposes concrete solutions to meet tomorrow's major challenges.
Editions de l'Observatoire (Humensis)
She is a regular contributor to collective works ("Dictionnaire amoureux de l'entreprise et des entrepreneurs" - Plon 2022; "Comités exécutifs, voyage au coeur de la dirigeance" - Editions Eyrolles 2007; ...).
Muriel Pénicaud is also a member of the "Art Faber" collective. Art Faber brings together works of art representing work, business and, more broadly, the economic world, and is the subject of numerous publications.
Muriel Pénicaud is founder, patron and president of the Sakura endowment fund (created in 2012), which supports emerging artists committed to societal projects. The SAKURA fund works with artists and artisans of change, committed by their desire to connect human beings to themselves, to others and to nature, at the intersection of art, the living and social ties.
moreThe letter mu (Μ, μ), twelfth in the Greek alphabet, is descended from the Phoenician letter mem. In Greek numeration, it is worth 40 and is used in science for the prefix micro (10-⁶) or to designate the muon in physics. Its capital letter, similar to the Latin M, is rarely used. Mu is also linked to the legendary sunken continent of Mu, proposed in the XIXᵉ century by Augustus Le Plongeon, who located it in the Pacific. For me, it embodies movement and gaze, opening a window on history and the world.
