BNP Paribas Foundation

The BNP Paribas Foundation in Poland was established 14 years ago to carry out tasks related to the social responsibility of Bank BNP Paribas in 3 areas:

• initiatives related to education: levelling of educational opportunities in vulnerable groups, long-term scholarship programs (including the “Class” scholarship program)
• initiatives to increase access to culture and art: including „Meetings with music” as part of a long-term partnership with the National Philharmonic.
• philanthropic initiatives for social solidarity: support for refugee youth, partnerships with non-governmental organizations, as well as initiatives promoting and strengthening employee volunteering at the Bank

Through pioneer programs and cooperation with expert organizations, the foundation levels educational opportunities, prevents the exclusion of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, supports the construction of social capital and the development of civic organizations in local communities. The chairman of the Foundation Council is the President of the Management Board of Bank BNP Paribas, and members represent key areas of the Bank’s operations from the perspective of the Foundation’s goals.

In 2019, the Foundation continued its strategic, long-term programs and partnerships in the 3 above-mentioned  areas. We place particular emphasis on educational initiatives: the evaluation and development of scholarship and educational projects. We focused on the “Class” scholarship program and its adaptation to new conditions in connection with the educational reform which affected both the beneficiaries of our program (junior high school and elementary school graduates) and key partners: high schools. We also developed two educational programs implemented as part of the international initiatives of the BNP Paribas Group: Dream Up and “Knowledge to the power”.

In addition to strengthening the Foundation’s impact in the area of ​​education, we aimed to increase the social commitment of our employees through an employee philanthropy program “I support all year-long”, as well as initiatives under the employee volunteering program at the Bank. Once again, our volunteers were engaged in the fight against poverty, participating in the nationwide “Noble Gift” campaign. We also raised awareness and strengthened commitment in the area of ecology thanks to the #TrashChallenge eco-volunteering lesson.

 

Initiatives of the BNP Paribas Foundation

• “Class” scholarship program,
• “Agro-talents” scholarship program,
• “Knowledge to the power” program in cooperation with the Ocalenie Foundation,
• Dream Up program in partnership with the Praga Południe Center for Culture Promotion,
• Competition for Social Projects,
• “I support all year-long”, a philanthropic program of the Bank’s employees,
• Social campaigns: “Blood Donation Day” and ”Good Kilometres”,
• ”Meetings with Music” program in partnership with the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Joint initiatives ot the Foundation and Bank BNP Paribas:

• ”You can count on me” – an employee volunteering program at Bank BNP Paribas,
• Bankers for the Financial Education of Youth (BAKCYL),
• #TrashChallenge, an eco-volunteering initiative,
• Employee volunteering as part of the “Noble Gift” campaign,
• Support for the Bank’s Local Ambassadors,
• “Marrow Donor Days” social campaign.

In 2020 the Foundation will maintain its key priorities and strategic goals. It will continue to develop long-term scholarship programs: “Class”, “Agrotalents”, “Knowledge to the power”, the Dream Up education program as well as long-term partnerships with cultural institutions and NGOs. In addition, the Foundation plans to further encourage philanthropy among the Bank’s employees i.a. by continuing its partnership with the Alivia Oncological Foundation wherein employees can volunteer to donate a portion of their salary to a cause of their choosing (the “I support all year-long” initiative)

2020 is the 18th anniversary of the “Class” scholarship program – one of the oldest corporate scholarship programs
in Poland. As part of the celebrations, we will summarize its effects thus far and we intend to implement a new system of ongoing evaluation of the program.

The Foundation will support the #1MillionHours2Help international initiative of the BNP Paribas Group, which will be joined by Bank BNP Paribas. We will continue initiatives which involve the Bank’s employees and strive to jointly achieve the goal of a million volunteering hours within the BNP Paribas Group (i.e. on average half a day’s work for each employee of the Group).

Find out more