« Is it possible to go a collective step further by committing the company itself to community projects? Many Steria employees thought so. This is how the Steria Foundation came into being.»

Jean CARTERON, founder of Steria

IT helping people

The Steria – Institut de France Foundation is part of the community platform of the Steria Group, which aims to bring greater independence to disadvantaged people by giving them access to education, IT or even a job. The Foundation was created following a participative approach of Steria employees in France.  Its objective is to support projects encouraging social and professional inclusion, with the help of IT, in three areas:

• Education and training
• Development of innovative solutions to make everyday life easier
• Support to social entrepreneurs

The Foundation was created in April 2001, following the signature of an agreement between Jean Carteron, founder of Steria and Pierre Messmer, Chairman of the Institut de France, with the purpose to make it possible for employees to share their skills for the benefit of disadvantaged people. Teamwork on community projects is an enabler for professional development and innovation, in the spirit of sharing.

Volunteering, at the heart of the Foundation projects

The Foundation offers Steria employees the opportunity to get involved in community projects, as volunteers. They can contribute to a better world, by participating in selected projects, where IT brings a direct benefit to people in need.

The Foundation provides financial support up to €10,000 for the winners of the students’ challenge « the Foundation award » and €5,000 for the other projects. But it is the engagement of our volunteers which makes a difference.

The Steria Foundation launched the yearly Students’ award to challenge students from engineering, business schools and universities to implement a community project, using IT to help disadvantaged people.  The winners receive an award of up to €10,000 and coaching by a Steria volunteer during the time of the project. Past award winners include student teams from EFREI, ESIEA, SUPELEC, Telecom Sud Paris, ESIGETEL, ESSEC, ISEN Toulon, Sciences Po; etc…

The Board of the Foundation is made of:

• Gabriel de Broglie – Chancellor of the Institut de France, President of the Steria - Institut de France Foundation,
• Yves Rouilly – Honorary President of the  Foundation,
• Serge Abiteboul – Member of the Academy of Sciences,
• François Baccelli – Member of the Academy of Sciences,
• Yves Quéré –  Member of the Academy of Sciences,
• Jean-Bernard Rampini – Delivery and Operations Director, Steria France, Chairman of  Soderi, company representing Steria employee shareholders,
• Jean Salençon –  Member of the Academy of Sciences,
• Nicolas Seguin – Retired Steria manager,
• Sylvie Verstraeten – Director of Human Resources, Steria France

The Foundation’s Steering Committee is in charge of selecting the projects, deciding financial and volunteer support, and  providing  guidance on the  main orientations  of  the Foundation.  The Committee then proposes the projects to the Board, who takes the final decision.

Key figures

Steria – Institut de France Foundation achievements since April 2001 are the following:

• 40 projects coached by Steria volunteers,
• 12 awards given to engineering, business schools and universities for the students’ challenge,
• €5,000 to €10,000 of financial support for a project,
• over 100 volunteers,
• 20 volunteers who participated in community holidays in Asia for the Digital Bridges NGO,
• 75 Cambodian students trained on computer science, representing over 575 people no longer living in poverty.