EPSA Foundation: a commitment to general interest and solidarity

Our ambition: to support vulnerable groups

• Article 1

  Since 2019, we have launched, via EPSA Foundation, our first partnership for the integration of young people from working-class backgrounds with the association Article 1.

  Article 1 supports high school and university students (85% of whom receive scholarships), with the conviction that it is essential to nurture all talents in France to renew the faces and vision of success, regardless of social, economic, territorial or cultural background.

  Today, more than 50 of our volunteers, based in Paris, Lisses, Lyon, Toulouse and Sophia-Antipolis, are involved in skills volunteering in two formats:

  Mentoring: We guide students (Bac+1 to Bac+5) towards academic success and professional integration, with 2 to 3 hours a month for a year. We support them, share our professional experience and open doors for them.

  Group workshops: For 2 hours, we run workshops in high schools (Première, Terminale, Prépa, BTS and DUT classes) on relevant topics. These activities help them overcome their self-censorship and prepare them for a successful academic career and professional integration.

  Discover Article 1

• Engagés

  Engagés is an Entreprise de Travail à Temps Partagé (ETTP) that is part of the Territoires Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée experiment.

  The Territoire Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée project was launched in 2016 in the form of an experimental law. Villeurbanne’s Saint-Jean district was selected along with a dozen other territories in France with the aim of eradicating long-term unemployment with an innovative approach.

  The principle is to redirect the costs of job deprivation to finance new jobs that meet needs not covered in the area, for the benefit of the long-term unemployed, who thus become full-fledged employees of an “Entreprise à But d’Emploi” (EBE).

  “When the idea of creating an Entreprise à But d’Emploi (EBE) dedicated to the provision of work emerged over two years ago, EPSA Foundation immediately responded by offering to finance part of the feasibility study launched in January 2021. Taking a stake in the newly-created structure is therefore the logical continuation of this long-established partnership, as well as the mark of a genuine commitment to helping vulnerable groups back into employment”.

  Baptiste Costantini, Director Engagés

   

  EPSA, more than ever a creator and producer of sustainable performance

  “Launched in October 2019, EPSA Foundation acts to support vulnerable groups in accessing or remaining in employment. This unique partnership demonstrates the depth of our convictions on this social issue. The EPSA Group is proud to affirm its role and contribution as a responsible company, well beyond our sponsorship policy. This is a social innovation that is virtually unique in France, since it is an endowment fund (EPSA Foundation) that is acquiring a stake in a for-profit company! Our commitment alongside other companies in the Lyon area, and within the framework of a unique national experiment, enables us to continue proving that sustainable performance is possible”.

  Cédric Laroyenne, Director of Commitment and Managing Director of EPSA Foundation

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• La Cravate Solidaire

  EPSA Foundation and La Cravate Solidaire are partnering to support professional integration, and together are creating a link with the other associations we support in this cause.

  La Cravate Solidaire fights against social and appearance-related discrimination in job interviews for people entering or re-entering the workforce. The association is open to all, and offers support to anyone actively seeking employment. Placed at the end of the insertion chain, La Cravate Solidaire works in synergy with insertion structures such as Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée or equal opportunity programs such as Article 1.

  Over 3,000 beneficiaries are accompanied each year, with a 70% success rate at interview.

  EPSA Foundation contributes, notably through clothing collection campaigns, to providing the association’s beneficiaries with appropriate outfits for job interviews. Our employees also take part in “Coup de pouce” individual support workshops.

  Discover La Cravate Solidaire

• 100 000 entrepreneurs

  Because the EPSA group has above all been an entrepreneurial adventure for over 20 years, EPSA Foundation is a partner of 100,000 Entrepreneurs. This alliance, initiated several years ago within the framework of the PAQTE program, forms with the other associations a complete chain in favor of equal opportunity.

  100,000 Entrepreneurs, which has an agreement with the French Ministry of Education, has a clear mission: to pass on the culture and desire for entrepreneurship to young people aged 13 to 25 in mainland France and its overseas territories, thanks to testimonials from entrepreneurs/intrapreneurs (company directors, project leaders within a group) in schools and out-of-school establishments (2nd chance schools, local missions, etc.).

  Since 2007, more than 600,000 young people have been made aware of the program, and EPSA participates by hiring some twenty associate-employees throughout France and throughout the year (Mois des Quartiers, entrepreneurship for women, etc.). This commitment reflects our determination to pass on the common denominator of corporate leadership: entrepreneurship.

  Discover 100 000 entrepreneurs