Étienne Bodard is Co-Founder and Partner at Blue Star Strategies SAS.
Together with daily business management, Etienne runs HR in France and the EU, dealing with all the challenges that includes, from talents sourcing to professional development.

Creative brainstorming partner and flexible, Etienne is a problem-solver and a go-to person in crisis situations, building successful solutions for clients in Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium. Developing enduring connections with clients is a key driver for him.

With 15 years’ experience in French and EU Public Affairs, Étienne advises corporate clients (from small business enterprises to major corporations and professional federations) to articulate successful institutional strategies achieving their business goals. He has extensive knowledge with French and EU complex decision-making systems and strong experience in high-level stakeholders management, focusing on setting up positive and sustainable frameworks for the development of companies or organizations. He loves working with and supporting new challengers in various sectors, especially energy and transport, showcasing their positive impacts on society and helping them to scale-up.

Previously, he headed the Paris office of a European public affairs firm, worked as public affairs officer at Alstom in France and the EU and with Catherine Trautmann, French Member of the European Parliament and former Minister.

Attracted by the maritime world and its values of solidarity, crew spirit and adventure, he accompanies several clients in this sector and sits on the Board of the international Propeller Club of Paris to promote maritime forces. Etienne also advocates for the social utility of public affairs as an active member of the Ethics Committee of the Association Française des Conseils en Lobbying (AFCL) which he co-chaired for 4 years.

Etienne graduated from Sciences-Po Strasbourg and holds a master’s degree in economic and regulatory law. He’s a huge fan of politics. A former political activist, he spent a year in the US, working on the 2008 Obama presidential campaign in VA, OH, NC, SC, learning about American campaigning methods. He spends his free time debating and watching political debates. This is not enough for his appetite so he also watches political series. His favorite one is definitely Borgen.