Right at the start of lockdown in France, Groupe BPCE companies including Natixis donated all surgical masks in the country to French local health authorities to be given to carers as a priority. This initiative was very soon followed by several other teams outside France, with teams in London, New York, Boston, Madrid and Porto also donating their masks directly to the nearest hospitals or local health authorities. In Shanghai, Natixis also donated masks as part of the “Opération 2 Millions” initiative organized by the French Embassy in China and French Foreign Trade Advisors with the French business community in China to support Santé Publique France, the French national health agency. 

Individual staff efforts supported by Natixis

Several of our employees worked to provide support and take action on their own time to tackle this worldwide health crisis, and so to encourage and further drive this showing of solidarity, Natixis has supported these initiatives in several ways. Staff’s donations in France to three charities are matched by the company over a certain time period i.e. the Tous unis contre le virus group (which brings together the Fondation de France, the AP-HP Paris hospital group and the Pasteur Institute), the Paris Samu social emergency medical service for the homeless and the NGO Action contre la Faim. Natixis Investment Managers has also set up a scheme to match donations from all its staff worldwide

Some Natixis entities also enable staff who are personally involved in local charities to obtain financial support from their management. Natixis Investment Managers and Mirova (Natixis Investment Managers’ investment management affiliate) have made donations to around fifty charities put forward by their staff. These donations have been allocated to targeted initiatives, such as the production of protective face visors for a charity for the disabled, and the purchase of personal protective equipment (masks, gloves and gel) for a care home in the north of France.

Meanwhile, other entities such as Natixis in Dubai and Natixis Assurances have also developed challenges from mobile apps to help their staff get involved and take solidarity initiatives. Each initiative (quiz, photos, sporting initiatives, etc.) led to donations and helped increase the amount of contributions from each entity to the charities selected that are working actively to fight Covid-19.

Some teams also provided direct help to local hospital staff via simple support measures. For example in Dubai, around a hundred breakfast baskets were delivered to nurses in a hospital on international nurses day, while in Porto, weekly fruit basket distribution was organized to support staff and patients in a field hospital in the town center.

Emergency response solutions

Natixis’ efforts also focused on finding solutions to address the health emergency situation. Teams in Milan thus made their contribution via financial donations from both the company and staff to support the development of an emergency hospital. This center was completed in the space of 10 days and created more than 200 new intensive care beds. Similarly in Algeria, donations from the subsidiary and its staff enabled Natixis Algérie to buy medical equipments for hospitals in Algiers. In France, Natixis Wealth Management and VEGA Investment Managers made a donation to the Paris Samu Social emergency medical service for the homeless to buy essentials to help the homeless as they went through lockdown in locations that were not suited for this.

Long-term commitments

Meanwhile, some entities at Natixis decided to further extend support they had already provided for several years to charities that work with the most vulnerable, who are particularly affected by the current health crisis. This support involves donations from staff and/or targeted initiatives to address specific needs of these charities they already support. The teams present in Boston, London and San Francisco have thus donated financially and/or equipment (essential items for babies, computers, hygiene packs for the homeless, etc.) with a particular focus on assisting our charitable partner organizations. Meanwhile in Madrid, a charity store that Natixis has supported for several years received both financial and equipment donations from Natixis and its staff to help the most disadvantaged families, who were particularly affected by the closure of the store during lockdown.

Fresh long-term pledges have also been taken, such as at Ostrum AM (Natixis Investment Managers) which has decided to back the Fondation AP-HP (Public Assistance – Paris Hospitals) for three years in order to provide practical support for medical research projects. Alongside this sponsorship, a staff collection was also set up so that each employee could individually contribute to this initiative if they wish.

Throughout this crisis that has affected us all, many of our employees have demonstrated their support, getting personally involved, and sometimes on an anonymous basis. Natixis is proud to help amplify the impact of their initiatives, which reflect the spirit of responsibility and the generosity of our staff.

#TousenBlanc : the sporting world also offers massive support

Another personal initiative came from the two co-founders of Natixis Payments’ fintech E-Cotiz (became Joinly), Aurélie Hoefs and Jauffray Dunyach, former competitive athletes, who drummed up support in their teams and across French sport as a whole to launch a citizen movement to support carers on the front line in the fight against the pandemic.

Their goal was to rally French sport around the #TousenBlanc or all in white hashtag, encouraging participants to share photos or videos of themselves in a white T-shirt on social media and encourage donations to the Fondation de France.

To find out more and get involved: www.TousenBlanc.org