Faithful to its values of commitment to social responsibility and equal opportunity, and aware of the social role that companies are expected to play now more than ever, the Paris office of the firm Simmons & Simmons has broadened its social engagements in 2021.
To coordinate its commitments more widely, the Paris office created several internal committees responsible for steering and monitoring all of its ESG projects (diversity, inclusion, solidarity, ecology, etc.). These multidisciplinary committees are composed in such a way as to include all the members of the firm.
In July 2021, Simmons committed itself to dedicating part of its turnover by donating £2 million from across its network to charities of each office's choice. The Paris office made donations of up to €200,000 to four charities which were selected with input from all of its teams. As a result of the vote, the following four associations (out of the eight that were shortlisted) won the polls and received, in January 2022, Simmons' donation, distributed in proportion to the number of votes received respectively:
- Rêves, which helps to make the dreams of critically ill children come true;
- Les Apprentis d’Auteuil, which supports vulnerable families and young people in difficulty through education, training, integration and welcoming programs;
- Espérance Banlieues, which fights against social and cultural inequalities in disadvantaged neighbourhoods;
- La Fondation Archery, which supports talented young people from working-class neighbourhoods in their transition from high school to professional life.
Last November, Simmons also welcomed the association La Cravate Solidaire to its offices, whose mission is to facilitate access to employment for people in professional integration or reintegration schemes and which collects uniforms and professional attire from businesses and their employees. Simmons’ teams rose to the challenge, managing to collect 72 kilos of donations of professional attire which will be distributed to the association’s beneficiaries.
These commitments are intended to be broadened each year.
Jacques-Antoine Robert, Managing Partner of the Paris office, declared: “Through these actions, Simmons demonstrates its desire to cultivate an ethic of sustainability and responsibility. We are aware that we have a major role to play in addressing these issues and contributing to a fairer society, which is why we are committed to involving all teams in the choices and decisions we make in this respect.”
Pour lire la version française, cliquez ici.
