It is in a Regional Delegation that Fabienne took up her first position within the Movement as Vice-President in charge of health care establishments, before being called upon to take over as interim President of the Territorial Delegation, and then elected President. She feels it deeply: female leadership is a game-changer, it enables us to question the needs expressed by minorities, particularly gender minorities, and to respond appropriately and effectively.

From the moment she joined the French Red Cross, Fabienne's ambition has been to develop innovative solutions: everything stems from the needs expressed by the people we support. For example, she developed a logistics platform project for the Territorial Delegation to centralize donations in a single storage area and redistribute them according to the needs expressed by the Local Units.

When Fabienne is asked which operation has had the greatest impact on her journey, she doesn't hesitate – the floods in the Pas-de-Calais region at the end of 2023 that plunged hundreds of homes underwater and affected more than 65,000 people. Fabienne was called in to head up the territorial emergency unit, with the aim of coordinating rescue operations, managing press relations and making the most important decisions at the heart of the crisis.

"At times, I felt overwhelmed by an oversized crisis, but we also had some incredible moments. We immediately found a kind of harmony with volunteers from all over France, and it was together that we found solutions''.

One of the main challenges Fabienne identifies is time. Volunteers constantly have to reconcile several lives, and the time they manage to allocate to their commitment is both extremely fragile due to the selfless nature of their actions, but also essential given the immense needs they face. So the time given by volunteers must always be worthwhile and efficient. To avoid exhaustion, Fabienne recommends setting limits very early on and constantly readjusting and reasserting them.

Fabienne is well aware of the challenges posed by being a woman in the humanitarian world. She therefore offers some suggestions for women aspiring to management positions.

Firstly, "we reflect what we think". So, she advocates constantly convincing ourselves that we are legitimate, that we belong where we are and that our work has the same value as that of a man.

Secondly, it's important to show our weaknesses as little as possible: a female manager shouldn't give the impression that she doesn't know, or that the person in front of her is stronger. In case of not knowing an answer, it's better to avoid the immediate decision in order to gather information, get an enlightened opinion and then decide.

Thirdly, Fabienne reminds us that we never get a second chance to make a good first impression. So she advises women to walk into rooms without shame, to show themselves at ease and not to lower their heads. Others only see what you're willing to let them see: "on principle, I tell myself I'm just as valuable as a man". Self-confidence, assertiveness, communication and firmness within one's own limits are essential elements of female leadership in her view.

Fabienne was recently awarded the Prefect's Homeland Security Medal for her work during the Ukraine crisis.