Our governance

Namita Shah, Chairwoman of the corporate foundation

President, People & Social Responsibility, and member of TotalEnergies Executive Committee since 2016.

Namita Shah is a graduate of University of Delhi and New York University School of Law. She began her career as an Associate Attorney at Shearman & Sterling, a New York law firm.
In 2002, she joined TotalEnergies as a legal counsel in Exploration & Production. Namita moved to the New Ventures Department in 2008, where she headed business development in Australia and Malaysia until 2011, when she was appointed General Manager, TotalEnergies E&P Myanmar. On July 1, 2014, she became Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, at Exploration & Production. On September 1, 2016, she was appointed President, People & Social Responsibility and member of TotalEnergies Executive Committee.  

Catherine Bréchignac, Physicist, member of the French Academy of Sciences and the French Academy of Technologies and Ambassador-at-Large for Science, Technology and Innovation

A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and a Physics specialist, Catherine Bréchignac is a specialist in atomic physics and in nanosciences, focusing on the overlap between atomic physics and material sciences. She works as a researcher, director of research and laboratory director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), where she held the position of Director General from 1997 to 2000 and president from 2006 to 2011. Her work has received many distinctions and awards in France and abroad. Catherine Bréchignac has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Palais de la Découverte museum, a director of Renault SA, a member of the Advertising Ethics Council of French industry advertising regulator ARPP, President of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and member of the Council of the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices. She was the secrétaire perpétuel of the French Academy of Sciences. She is currently a member of several scientific bodies, and President of the scientific council of the French national advanced police college (ENSP).

Claire Gibault, Artistic and Musical Director of the Paris Mozart Orchestra, Co-founder and Co-Director of La Maestra  

Claire Gibault started her career at the Opéra National de Lyon before moving on to become the first woman to direct the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker. The Musical Director of the lyrical workshop and children’s choir at the Opéra de Lyon then at the Musica per Roma foundation, she later became Claudio Abbado's assistant at the Scala, the Vienna State Opera, and the London Royal Opera House, before taking part in creating the Orchestra Mozart di Bologna with him in 2004. In 2011, Claire Gibault founded the Paris Mozart Orchestra, with which she recently performed at the Festival Berlioz, the Cultural Center of Bourges, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Bozar in Brussels, and at the Folle Journée in Nantes. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of La Maestra, an international competition and academy for women conductors. The first two editions took place in 2020 and 2022 at the Philharmonie de Paris. In 2023, Claire Gibault featured among the 40 Forbes France women of the year and won the Prize of the First Category of the Chaumet Echo Culture Awards rewarding committed projects spearheaded by women. She is also Officer of the Legion of Honor and Commander of the order of Arts and Literature.

Manoelle Lepoutre, former TotalEnergies executive

Manoelle Lepoutre is a former TotalEnergies executive. She is a director of Eramet and Chairwoman of its CSR and Strategy Committee, as well as holding volunteer positions on the boards of Universciences partenaires and L'Industreet. She is an elected member of the Académie des Technologies, where she is in charge of technology transfer. She also works as a CSR consultant. At TotalEnergies, from 2016 to 2021, she was Senior Vice President of Civil Society Commitment and General delegate of the TotalEnergies corporate Foundation; from 2013 to 2016, Senior Vice President of Executives and Management Teams; and from 2009 to 2013, Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development and Environment. She has steered and strengthened the focus on environmental and social responsibility issues: the Total Ecosolutions, Total Access to Energy and Total Energy Ventures programs are concrete examples. Manoelle Lepoutre began her career with Elf in 1982 in the Exploration & Production branch, holding various positions in R&D and Exploration. She then held Exploration responsibilities in France and the Netherlands. In 1998, she was appointed Vice President Exploration in Norway, then Vice President Geosciences for Total in the United States in 2000, before becoming Vice President Research & Development for the Group's Exploration & Production division in 2004. Manoelle Lepoutre is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie de Nancy (ENSG) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Pétroles et des Moteurs (ENSPM). Manoelle Lepoutre has been awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur.

Isabelle Patrier, Director of TotalEnergies in France

Isabelle Patrier has 25 years of experience working at TotalEnergies. After starting her career at Deloitte, she joined TotalEnergies in 1992 in Colombia in the Exploration & Production Americas Division. She then took on various audit engagements as well as acquisition and reorganization assignments in the Finance Department. She joined the Group's Downstream business segment when the Asia Division was created, joining the development team for this new zone, and then successively held the positions of Chief Administrative Officer of the Aviation Division, Director of Refining and Marketing Communications, Chairman of the CALDEO fuel distribution affiliate and the Elan network, Chief Executive Officer of Aviation operations, and then Director of General Retail affiliates in France, before taking over as Head of Regional Development. She is currently Director of TotalEnergies in France.

Thierry Pfimlin, Former President of Marketing & services branch of TotalEnergies and former member of the Company’s Executive Committee

Graduated from the Institute of Political Studies in Strasbourg and HEC, Thierry Pfimlin joined Total in 1984 and began an international career that took him to Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In 2006, he was appointed Managing Director of Total Asia Pacific in Singapore. In 2012, he returned to the headquarters as Managing Director for France, overseeing the logistical and commercial activities across the French territory, before being named Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs within the Marketing & Services division in 2013. In 2016, he took on the position of Director of the newly established Total Global Services branch, bringing together seven support functions and their activities on a global scale. Then, in 2021, as President, Thierry Pfimlin returned to the Marketing & Services branch and joined the Company’s Executive Committee. Thierry Pfimlin retired in 2024, while remaining actively involved as a member of the Board of Directors of the association Coup de Pouce.

Bertrand Piccard, Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation and ambassador for innovative clean technologies

A trained psychiatrist, Bertrand Piccard made a name for himself by flying around the world, first in a balloon non-stop, and then in a solar plane without fuel in 2016. Through these exploits, he works to promote renewable energies and clean technologies. Among other achievements, he and his team have identified 1,000 efficient and profitable solutions to protect the planet. A United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment since 2015, Bertrand Piccard is today recognized as an opinion leader on the themes of innovation and sustainable development. Founder and President of the humanitarian foundation Winds of Hope, which helps children victims of forgotten or neglected diseases, Bertrand Piccard is also a committed advocate for young people.

Makhtar Sagna, Representing TotalEnergies personnel, appointed on the recommendation of TotalEnergies’ European Works Council

Makhtar Sagna is a Legal advisor and graduated with a Masters in International Economic and Development Law and a Masters in Private Law, specializing in “Legal Careers”, from the Faculty of Economic Law and Management of the Paris-Descartes University (Paris V/Université Sorbonne-Paris-Cité). Senior lecturer in law at the University Paris VII Jussieu, he joined the energy sector in 2009 with Direct Énergie, to lend his contribution to the implementation of a set of measures and strategies to manage customer risks. Since December 2013, he is Manager of Disputes and Collective Proceedings in the Credit Management Service of the Financial Division at TotalEnergies Electricity and Gas, France. On December 12, 2022, he was appointed Representative for the designated Founder personnel based on a proposal from the TotalEnergies European Committee, on the TotalEnergies Foundation Board of Directors.

Michiel Van Raebroeckx, General Manager of the TotalEnergies Grandpuits-Gargenville Platform

With a degree in Biotechnology and Environmental Engineering, Michiel Van Raebroeckx started at TotalEnergies in 1999 on the Olefins site in Antwerp. Within Petrochemicals, he held various project and operations positions at the Lavéra site (France) before joining the Asia/Middle East division in Brussels. When the RC branch was created, he took part in the design of the Amiral project in Saudi Arabia. He then joined the Donges site as HSEQ Manager. In 2016, he joined the Exploration-Production Division as Offshore Installations Manager for the Pazflor FPSO in Angola, before returning to Refining-Chemicals in January 2020 as Plant Manager for the Antwerp refinery. Since September 2021, Michiel has been General Manager of the Grandpuits-Gargenville Platform.

Susanna Zammataro, Director General, International Road Federation (IRF)

Susanna Zammataro is a member of the advisory council to the International Automobile Federation’s High-Level Panel for Road Safety. Since 2012, she co chairs the UN’s Safer Roads and Mobility project group, part of the UN Road Safety Collaboration, a multi-party partnership whose goal is to facilitate international cooperation and to strengthen global and regional coordination. Susanna has been active in the World Bank’s Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) initiative since it was launched. She currently sits on the initiative’s steering committee and is one of the experts participating in working groups on efficiency, safety and gender.