Circle of Friends No. 4: Solidarity Bankers in the Spotlight

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Launched by the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Crédit Agricole SA in June 2018, Solidarity Banker is a skills-based volunteer program open to all Crédit Agricole Group employees, supporting microfinance institutions and impact businesses supported by the Foundation. To celebrate its first year, the program was highlighted at the Circle of Friends Meeting No. 4, held on July 9 at the Crédit Agricole Campus in Montrouge.

Solidarity Banker: First Year Review

The meeting was rich in exchanges, beginning with the intervention of Jean-Marie Sander, President of the Foundation, and that of Eric Campos, General Delegate of the Foundation and CSR Director of Crédit Agricole SA. Recalling the history of the Foundation and the various challenges it faces, both underlined the importance of providing technical support to the Foundation's partners with mechanisms such as Solidarity Banker.

Carolina Herrera, the Foundation's Director of Communications and Partnerships, then presented the framework for the Solidarity Banker program. Through one- to two-week field missions, Crédit Agricole Group employees support the Foundation's partners in responding to the technical support needs expressed by beneficiary organizations. Since the program began, 12 missions have been launched: a remarkable success that demonstrates the strong commitment of both employees and the Group.

The next Solidarity Bankers

To demonstrate this, Violette Cubier and Celine Hyon-Naudin, investment officers at the Foundation, presented the upcoming missions alongside two Solidarity Bankers. Sarah Belbachir of Crédit Agricole SA and Caman Kamougue of Crédit Agricole CIB are the two Solidarity Bankers who, supported by the Group's entities, will travel this summer to Morocco and Haiti to support Al Karama, a microfinance institution, and Palmis Enèji, a social impact company, respectively. They presented the objectives of the missions and highlighted their desire to contribute to a project with a strong social impact, as well as personal and professional enrichment, as the main motivations for becoming Solidarity Bankers.

The meeting concluded with a presentation of the Foundation's 2019-2022 Strategic Plan by Hélène Keraudren-Baube, Administrative and Financial Director, who outlined our three strategic pillars: strengthening expertise in microfinance, developing the resilience of rural economies and promoting impact finance within the Group.