The founders of Hydroconseil: Christine Lagarde and Bernard Collignon
Bernard Collignon was born in 1951 and spent the first part of his life in Belgium. After graduating from the University of Brussels in 1975 with a degree in physical sciences, he travelled extensively and worked abroad for the first time as a volunteer in the Republic of Congo when it was under a communist regime. As an experienced caver and diver, he explored hundreds of caves and achieved expedition firsts in China, Algeria, Laos, Congo and Spain.
With a view to working on more useful development activities, he later moved to Algeria where, from 1980 to 1987, he helped develop underground water resources. At the same time, he resumed his studies and, in 1986, he obtained his PhD in hydrogeology from the University of Montpellier with a thesis on the karstic aquifers of the Monts de Tlemcen. Following this, he worked as a freelance hydrogeo²logist in France, then as a water and sanitation specialist at the headquarters of the French Association of Volunteers for Progress (now France Volontaires).
Bernard co-founded Hydroconseil in February 1995 with his wife, Christine Lagarde. He managed and then chaired the company until January 2017. In 2006, he also helped set up Urbaconsulting, which he managed until 2018. Intent from the outset on ensuring the sustainability of the company and of the group in general, he opened up Hydroconseil’s share capital in 2003, allowing the company’s employees and representatives to progressively undertake a management buy-out, a process that was completed in 2020.
During his career at Hydroconseil, Bernard has worked in some fifty countries in the global South and on a wide range of issues related to water resources, essential public services and urban development. In particular, he has played a key role in highlighting issues that have fallen under the water sector’s radar, such as the role of informal operators or the search for innovative technical and social solutions to improve access to water and sanitation in the slums of large cities in the global South. More recently, he has focused on public service development in fragile states (or where there is no state). In total, he has carried out more than 300 assignments in 60 countries, mostly as a lead expert or team leader.
In addition to being a manager and consultant, Bernard has also worked as a trainer, lecturer and teacher, and has published several dozen books and articles that are considered reference texts in the water sector.
Since leaving the Hydroconseil management team in 2017, Bernard Collignon has continued to work as a consultant and researcher. He regularly publishes the results of his research, which are available on the ResearchGate portal.
Christine Collignon was born in 1958 in Clermont-Ferrand. She graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Clermont-Ferrand in 1981 and began her career as a teacher. She later worked as an executive at the Banque de France, first in Paris and then in Avignon. She co-founded Hydroconseil in Paris in 1995 with Bernard Collignon, her husband, and helped set up Urbaconsulting in 2006. She left the Banque de France in 2006 and took on the dual role of managing director of Hydroconseil and co-manager of Urbaconsulting. Over the years, Hydroconseil and all the companies in the group have benefited from Christine’s extensive financial, banking, social and legal knowledge due to her role as the group's administrative and financial director and managing director and her work to secure the growth of the group's companies.
Highly involved in local and community life, Christine was elected to the Chateauneuf de Gadagne town council and to the Community Council in 2008, where she is in charge of the youth, social, economic development and finance components. She has contributed enormously to the life of the companies, as well as to their integration into business and export support mechanisms, particularly by managing most of the companies’ relationships with local and national institutions, such as BPI, the Bank of France, Business France, the Southern Region, the Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Eager to ensure the sustainability of the group of companies she helped create and develop, she was also involved in transferring the company shares to the employees, a process initiated in 2003. From 2010 onwards, she played a central role in setting up the employee holding company - Global Development - which organised the management transfer of the group's companies - including Hydroconseil - to the employees.
More recently, starting in 2018, Christine worked on developing the group’s corporate social and environmental responsibility commitments, which resulted in Hydroconseil joining the regional CEDRE job creation scheme and translating these commitments into an action plan.
Christine retired from her positions as Managing Director of Hydroconseil and co-manager of Urbaconsulting at the end of 2020. She is enjoying an active and happy retirement filled with numerous social and non-profit engagements, and remains close to Hydroconseil and its management team.
Les fondateurs de Hydroconseil : Christine Lagarde et Bernard Collignon
Bernard Collignon est né en 1951 et a passé la première partie de sa vie en Belgique. Diplômé en sciences physiques de l’Université de Bruxelles en 1975, il voyage beaucoup et réalise une première expatriation comme volontaire en République du Congo où flottait le drapeau rouge. Spéléologue et plongeur émérite, il a exploré plusieurs centaines de cavités et réalisé des premières lors d’expéditions en Chine, en Algérie, au Laos, au Congo et en Espagne.
Pour passer à des activités de développement plus utiles, il migre en Algérie où il participe à la mise en valeur des ressources en eau souterraines, de 1980 à 1987. Il reprend en parallèle des études et soutient son doctorat en hydrogéologie à l’Université de Montpellier en 1986, avec comme sujet de thèse les aquifères karstiques des Monts de Tlemcen. Il travaille ensuite comme hydrogéologue indépendant en France, puis comme spécialiste eau et assainissement au siège de l’Association Française des Volontaires du Progrès (devenue France Volontaires).
Bernard co-fonde Hydroconseil en février 1995 avec son épouse, Christine Lagarde. Il assurera la direction puis la présidence de la société jusqu’en janvier 2017. Il participe également à la création de la société Urbaconsulting en 2006 dont il assurera la direction jusqu’en 2018. Très tôt soucieux de la pérennité de la société et du groupe en général, il a ouvert le capital de Hydroconseil dès 2003, permettant le rachat progressif de la société par ses salarié(e)s et mandataires, rachat qui s’est achevé en 2020.
Au cours de sa carrière à Hydroconseil, Bernard a travaillé sur de très nombreux sujets en lien avec les ressources en eau, les services publics essentiels et le développement urbain, dans une cinquantaine de pays du Sud. Il a notamment joué un rôle clé dans le défrichage de nouveaux sujets passés sous les radars du secteur de l’eau, tels que le rôle des opérateurs informels ou encore la recherche de solutions techniques et sociales innovantes pour améliorer l’accès à l’eau et l’assainissement dans les bidonvilles dans les grandes villes du Sud. Plus récemment, il s’est intéressé au développement des services publics dans le contexte des états fragiles (ou de l’absence d’état). Il a réalisé au total plus de 300 prestations dans 60 pays, le plus souvent en tant qu’expert principal ou chef d’équipe.
En parallèle à son activité de dirigeant et de consultant, Bernard a également poursuivi une activité de formateur, de conférencier et d’enseignant et a publié plusieurs dizaines d’ouvrages et d’articles qui font référence dans le secteur de l’eau.
Depuis qu’il a quitté la direction de Hydroconseil en 2017, Bernard Collignon poursuit une activité de consultant et de chercheur. Il publie régulièrement les résultats de ses recherches qui peuvent être consultés sur le portail ResearchGate.
Christine Collignon est née en 1958 à Clermont-Ferrand. Diplômée de l’Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Clermont-Ferrand en 1981, elle commence sa carrière comme professeur puis comme cadre à la Banque de France, à Paris puis en Avignon. Elle co-fonde Hydroconseil à Paris en 1995 avec Bernard Collignon, son époux, et participe à la création d’Urbaconsulting en 2006. Elle quitte la Banque de France en 2006 et assure alors la double fonction de directrice générale de Hydroconseil et de co-gérante d’Urbaconsulting. Christine a mis au service de Hydroconseil, puis de l’ensemble des sociétés du groupe, ses connaissances très étendues des aspects financiers, bancaires, juridiques et sociaux, assurant la fonction de directrice administrative et financière du groupe et de directrice générale et sécurisant la croissance des sociétés du groupe.
Très impliquée dans la vie associative et locale, elle a été élue au conseil municipal de Chateauneuf de Gadagne et au Conseil Communautaire en 2008, en charge de la jeunesse, du social, du développement économique et des finances. Elle a énormément contribué à la vie des sociétés mais également à leur insertion dans les dispositifs de soutien à l’activité économique et à l’export, gérant notamment la plupart des relations avec les institutions locales et nationales, comme BPI, la Banque de France, Business France, la région Sud, la Chambre de Commerce, etc.
Soucieuse de la pérennité du groupe d’ingénierie qu’elle a contribué à créer et à développer, elle a aussi apporté son expertise au processus de transmission de l’entreprise aux salarié(e)s, initié dès 2003. Elle a joué un rôle central dans la création de la holding de salarié(e)s – Global Development – qui a organisé la transmission des sociétés du groupe – dont Hydroconseil – aux salarié(e)s à partir de sa création en 2010.
Plus récemment, à partir de 2018, Christine a impulsé une réflexion sur la responsabilité sociale et environnementale des sociétés du groupe, qui a permis à Hydroconseil de rejoindre le dispositif régional CEDRE et de traduire ces engagements en plan d’actions.
Christine a fait valoir ses droits à la retraite fin 2020, mettant un terme à ses mandats de directrice générale de Hydroconseil et de co-gérante d'Urbaconsulting. Elle coule une retraite active et heureuse, toujours proche de Hydroconseil et de son équipe dirigeante, retraite bien remplie par de nombreux engagements sociétaux et associatifs.
We work in more than 80 countries. We regularly carry out assignments in about 40 of these and have resident experts in another dozen countries working closely on projects with our clients. This geographical coverage makes us particularly adept at implementing complex and multi-country assignments.
Our network of over 200 local partner offices enables us to provide our clients with a wide range of expertise that is adapted to the needs and social, linguistic and cultural contexts of each country.
Marie MorelEconomist / Development Project Analyst specialising is public service development
6 years of experience |
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A graduate of CERDI (International Development Research Centre) in Clermont-Ferrand (France), Marie specializes in development economics and project analysis. This selective master's degree provided her with the skills required to apply project management and analysis tools and applied research methodologies to development economics-related issues. Marie began her career working in a Colombian NGO, which enabled her to quickly familiarize herself with the Latin American context. She subsequently joined Hydroconseil, where she has been applying her socio-economic, institutional and statistical expertise to water and sanitation access improvement projects since 2019. Marie also specializes in conducting international-level evaluations of water, sanitation and hygiene projects/programmes. Having worked on evaluations for NGOs, as well as for large development agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, AFD), she has experience of using a range of evaluation approaches, methodologies and tools, which she is able to adapt to a wide range of fields of study and contexts.Since July 2021, Marie has been based in Colombia, where she is working with Nexsom, notably providing technical assistance to AFD on water and risk management as part of the Euroclima+ programme being implemented across Latin America and the Caribbean. This is enabling her to build in-depth knowledge of the water and sanitation sector in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. |
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Antoine Guerry-GrivaudJunior Water, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineer
6 years of experience |
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Antoine Guerry-Grivaud is a water engineer who has five years’ experience of working for consulting firms. He has notably worked on producing environmental studies for land use planning and risk management, and on aquatic environment management and ambient air quality monitoring projects.A multidisciplinary engineer, Antoine has regularly conducted fieldwork as both assignment supervisor and technical expert. He has worked for public and private operators, notably in Vietnam and Réunion Island.Antoine is currently carrying out studies to produce water supply master plans for thirteen provincial centres in Togo. |
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Lise-Ella LlansoSocio-Economist specialising in solid waste management and WASH
5 years of experience |
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After graduating with a degree in political science, Lise-Ella continued her studies at Sciences Po Rennes - ENS Rennes, completing a Master's degree in Urban Services Engineering in Networks (ISUR), specialising in improving access to essential services in developing countries. Lise-Ella has been working as a water, sanitation and solid waste specialist and project manager since 2019. She has worked on a range of socio-economic studies, not only developing tools and methodologies, but also delivering training and analysing the qualitative and quantitative data collected. She has acquired an in-depth knowledge of participatory social engineering methods and is used to working with communities and informal sectors to develop access to essential services. Using her knowledge of public policies, she also conducts institutional and organisational assessments for local institutions (ministries, cities, operators, etc.). Finally, Lise-Ella adopts an inclusive and resilient development approach to each of the projects in which she is involved.Her project experience has led her to specialise in the solid waste sector, conducting waste characterisation studies (Caribbean and West Africa), supporting the creation or extension of pre-collection services in urban areas (Central Africa) and sharing lessons learned on women's practices in waste prevention, management and recovery (Maghreb). | |
Lola BonillaEconomist and Junior Urban Networks Expert, specialising in Energy
2 years of experience |
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With a dual Master's degree in Economics and Networked Urban Services Engineering (from IEP Rennes), Lola specialises in essential urban networks, project and business management. Lola graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Management from the Rennes 1 University’s Economic Sciences Faculty, where she acquired robust statistics, econometrics and survey analysis skills. As part of her Master's degree in project management, she was subsequently able to assist companies and projects using economic analysis tools and methods. For her second master's degree at the IEP in Rennes, she specialised in access to housing and essential services such as energy, water, sanitation, waste and mobility in developing countries. During this year of study, she prepared an expert report on drinking water, rainwater and sanitation in Conakry (Guinea).Within Hydroconseil, she is working as a junior energy expert. She has been involved in various projects, and has worked on preparing calls for tender and launching the group's new energy brand. Lola has also helped develop the report on rural and semi-urban households’ willingness-to-pay for the electricity service in Haiti. |
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Garance BergerJunior Economist and Institutional Expert1 year of experience |
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With a Master's degree in development economics from the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International (CERDI), Garance specialises in project analysis and management in official development assistance. Garance's course enables her to work in the socio-economic development sector in developing countries. Garance is developing her skills in project management and analysis, and enriching her in-depth knowledge of the economic, social, political and environmental issues involved in development. She combines these skills with a mastery of quantitative and qualitative analysis tools and surveys. Her experience as a WO.MEN.STRUATION project manager in the Afric'Avenir association made her aware of the difficulties of access to water and hygiene infrastructures in developing countries. She joined Hydroconseil in 2023, where she made an effective contribution to setting up and managing projects to provide access to essential public services, as well as providing expertise in economic and institutional analysis. She took part in the institutional diagnosis of the NSWMA in Jamaica and developed a comparative institutional analysis of the different ways in which public water and sanitation services are structured in the countries of the Sahel region. |
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The sales and communication team |
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Justine SegretainSales and Communication Manager |
Justine Mounet Segretain is an international communication and social project development specialist. A graduate of Sciences Po Lyon, where she studied Communication and Culture, and of the Aix-Marseille Institute of International Humanitarian Studies (NOHA network), where she studied Crisis Management and Human Development, Justine has spent the last fifteen years working in the public sector (European development cooperation, United Nations), and for non-governmental organisations and ethical companies all over the world. After having spent several years in UNICEF's communication teams, Justine created and managed Sango, the first 100% ethical communication agency in Madagascar, which now has around thirty employees and branches in more than 10 countries. Justine thus spearheaded the development of responsible communication on sectors that included water, hygiene and sanitation, health and nutrition, education, societal transition, urban planning, housing and waste management, access to energy and socio-economic development. With professional experience gained working in 6 countries on 3 continents for more than 70 organisations and programmes, Justine joined the Global Development team in 2023 as Head of Sales and Communication. Justine is utilizing both her business development and communication skills to further the development objectives of a group that is rapidly expanding, both thematically and geographically. | |
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Carine Langlade-PhilippeAssistant to the Innovation, Research and Knowledge Department and the Commercial and Communication Department |
Carine is an agricultural engineer, who specialises in rural engineering and has a degree in agricultural hydraulics and climatology. Carine has worked in both France and Haiti. She has more than 25 years’ experience of managing and leading projects on rural development, support for agricultural organisations and associations, urban and rural infrastructure construction, including flood risk prevention projects, and support for local authorities. After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, through her position as Team Leader, she contributed to the strategic orientation of an NGO by financing and accompanying some thirty recovery and reconstruction projects led by local stakeholders. For 6 years, Carine oversaw the technical management of Canadian and Haitian consulting firms, covering all areas of engineering, as well as environmental and social impact assessments. She worked on a range of assignments providing technical assistance to contracting authorities during the public contract procurement, monitoring and auditing phases of infrastructure projects. Between 2019 and 2021, Carine worked within a consortium of 5 partners as the national coordinator of a programme to strengthen decentralisation in Haiti, where she developed a robust set of cross-cutting project management skills in various disciplines. In 2022, Carine joined the Global Development group to help coordinate the Innovation, Research and Knowledge Department and share her experience with the project managers working in the Commercial and Communication Department. |
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Nicolas KrasserSales Assistant |
Originally from Argentina, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Mar del Plata, Nicolas holds a Master’s degree in International Trade & Intercultural Management from the University of Avignon. He has several years of professional experience gained working in various sectors (insurance, chamber of commerce, international logistics, etc.), which have enabled him to develop various skills, including adaptability, versatility and autonomy. As a result of his time spent studying in Europe (France and Germany), Nicolas has also been able to perfect his intercultural and linguistic skills and is fluent in Spanish, French, English, German and Italian. In order to further progress in international trade and development, he joined Hydroconseil’s business development department at the beginning of 2020 as part of an internship for his study programme (Masters 2). His role within the team is twofold: to enhance the strategic development of the company in Latin America and to help develop internal tools to support Hydroconseil’s business development activities. |
The administrative team |
Christine BernadetAdministrative and Financial Manager
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Christine Bernadet holds a DECF (Diploma of Accounting and Finance). After several years working in Paris as the head of Accounts in the press sector, she joined KPMG to work on auditing and accounting assignments. Her varied experience, and particularly the experience she gained in her last job working in a company specializing in the water and sanitation sector, enables her to effectively manage human resources, accounting, financial, fiscal and legal issues. Christine joined Hydroconseil in 2015 to manage the administrative and financial team. |
Christelle Marchand
Accountant |
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Christelle Marchand joined our team in February, 2024 in order to support the accounting department. |
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Marion Moscatello
Administrative and commercial assistant |
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Marion holds a degree in accounting and management. Her experience in an accounting firm for 4 years allowed her to join the team in 2019 for a replacement in the position of accountant. Warm-hearted and versatile, she joined Hydroconseil in 2020 as an administrative and commercial assistant.
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Hydroconseil is a French consulting firm created in 1995 that specializes in improving essential public services for low-income populations in emerging and developing countries.
Hydroconseil is a people-oriented company whose experts are committed to taking tangible action to support vulnerable populations. Multidisciplinary and independent, our team of 25 full-time experts provides our international clients with recognized expertise on implementing development projects.
Ref. 422 – Ref Worldwide - Services to conduct an evaluation of the WASH Sector Strategy “Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS)”
Dates : 01/2013-07/2013
Service value: 250‚000 €
Client: UNICEF
Financing: UNICEF
Ref. 194 – Ref Worldwide - Technical assistance to the International Steering Committee of the Blue Book
Dates : 01/2006- 08/2007
Service value: 12‚000 €
Client: International Secretariat for Water (ISW)
Financing: SIE, French Development Agency (AFD) and French Aid
All of Hydroconseil's shares are owned by our staff, thus ensuring our independence, the commitment of our experts and the cohesion of our team.
The staff shares are held in a holding company called Global Development that also holds the shares of our sister company Urbaconsulting, which was founded in 2006 and specializes in urban and municipal development. The two firms often work closely together on urban public service projects.
The strategic management of both Hydroconseil and Urbaconsulting is overseen by a six-member management committee. We are committed to promoting internal democracy and all key decisions relating to the two companies are taken after consultation with all employees.