Axelle Lemaire

Axelle Lemaire is the group executive director of sustainability and corporate social responsibility at Sopra Steria, a European consulting, digital services, and software development company.

Lemaire is a dual French-Canadian national who trained in international law and has a degree from Sciences Po Paris and two master’s degrees in law from Paris-Panthéon-Assas University and King’s College London. Throughout her career in the public, private and non-profit sectors, she has built up extensive, in-depth expertise in social, environmental, and ethical issues surrounding technology, in France and elsewhere in Europe.

Formerly, Lemaire was the French Ministry of State for Digital Affairs. She called the position the “portfolio for imagination.”

Born in Canada, she studied political science at Sciences Po in Paris and law at the Sorbonne and King’s College London. She worked as a researcher and international lawyer before entering politics as a parliamentary assistant in the House of Commons.

In 2012, Lemaire was elected in the French National Assembly to represent the French diaspora living in Northern Europe. As the Secretary of the Law Committee and a member of the European Affairs Committee, her main areas of interest were the digital society and digital economy, the protection of human rights and gender equality, and European politics.