Catherine Pgard is consolidating her communications and strengthening her administrative base with two new appointments: Hélène Dalifard, from the Château de Versailles, in charge of press and communications, and Christophe Pacohil, special advisor.
The choice of Hélène Dalifard (49 years old) is due to the eighteen years spent in Versailles and the partnership she formed there with Catherine Pgard. Joining the Palace of Versailles as press officer in 2007, she directed international press and media relations there from 2020, after a stint at Christie’s and the Observatoire agency. Catherine Pgard presided over the Château de Versailles from 2011 to 2024. The two women have known each other and worked together for thirteen years, so her appointment at rue de Valois extends this mode of operation.
With Christophe Pacohil (45 years old), appointed special advisor, Catherine Pgard completes her system with an administrative profile. He also knows Catherine Pgard well, having been in charge of her mission when she was advisor to President Sarkozy. Former chief of staff to François Baroin in the Budget then in Finance in the early 2010s, he then held the same position with Jean-Michel Blanquer in National Education (2017-2021), before joining Terra Academia as deputy general delegate.
Of the fifteen authorized advisors, eleven are now in office, leaving the minister room to complete the architecture of her office. Under Rachida Dati there were notably a deputy chief of staff, an advisor responsible for artistic education, higher education and cultural democracy, as well as an advisor for speeches and transformation, absent at this stage of the organization chart.
