BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy strengthens its commitment to promoting equal opportunity
Led by Isabelle Giordano, BNP Paribas Group Corporate Philanthropy supports third-places: l’Ascenseur in Paris and l’Épopée in Marseille will now be joined by a new space in Lyon. The ‘Apprendre & Devenir’ (Learn & Become) centre, run by the ‘Maison de l’Apprendre’ non-profit organisation, is a third-place focused on youth, educational innovation and equal opportunities. To mark International Education Day, Anne Pointet, Head of Company Engagement for the BNP Paribas Group, and Pascal Fèvre, BNPP Commercial & Personal Banking in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Director, attended the inauguration of the centre.
Study and transformation
This third-place project supported by Métropole de Lyon (Greater Lyon) aims to create a community space that serves the whole population and stakeholders in the social and solidarity economy (SSE). Acting as a hub for youth education, the centre will also offer support programmes for cooperative ventures, and a place for experimentation for individuals, non-profit groups, schools, higher education establishments, businesses, local authorities and public institutions.
The home of this centre is the ‘U’, an atypical building located at the foot of the emblematic Panoramic Tower in the La Duchère district of Lyon, which has been given a complete facelift by the city to welcome SSE organisations.
‘Third places’: public spaces where people can connect outside the home or workplace and that are essential in building strong communities.
Education and civic engagement
To bring this project to life, the Métropole and the city of Lyon have entrusted the management and operation of the building to the Maison de l’Apprendre, which coordinates a network of more than 200 organisations working for educational transformation in the area.
This new ‘Apprendre & Devenir’ centre will promote economic cooperation with and for stakeholders in the field of education in the broadest sense of the term. It will support the emergence of new experimental programmes in response to the needs of the region, acting as a hub of skills and spaces for SSE organisations and businesses that complement public services working for the education and empowerment of young people.
Because young people are the citizens of tomorrow and education plays a vital role in their future, the BNP Paribas Group firmly believes in the importance of joining forces in a coalition of private, public and non-profit stakeholders to build innovative initiatives for the next generation.
Philanthropy and coalitions: BNP Paribas continues
its commitment
The creation of ‘Apprendre & Devenir’ is supported by the Métropole and the city of Lyon, as well as a collective of non-profit organisations including the Maison de l’Apprendre, AFEV, Article 1, Enactus, Institut Télémaque, Mozaïk RH, Rêv’elles and Unicités.
There are 18 non-profits working in the field of educational and social innovation permanently housed in this third-place. Several are supported by BNP Paribas Group Corporate Philanthropy programmes, including the BNP Paribas Foundation: AFEV, Job IRL, Maison de l’Apprendre and Apprentis d’Auteuil.
The inauguration of this new space follows the launch of a third place in Paris in 2019: L’Ascenseur is a space bringing together around 20 non-profit organisations in the capital. This was made possible through the financial support and skills sponsorship of the BNP Paribas Group, whose objective is to increase the social impact of organisations working to promote inclusion and equal opportunity.
This commitment of the Group led to the inauguration in 2022 of another SSE space in Marseille: l’Épopée (a hybrid third place), which aims to increase support for the local SSE ecosystem that BNP Paribas has been providing for some years.
In the words of Anne Pointet, Head of Company Engagement for the BNP Paribas Group:
“Collective philanthropy, social innovation, local roots and promoting civic values” are what drive the multidimensional support that BNP Paribas and our Foundation are providing to this project.
Through this new support, BNP Paribas reaffirms its commitment to local social economy stakeholders, enabling non-profit organisations to benefit from a space where they can develop their projects.
