Rexel Foundation & Ashoka: IMPACT energy efficiency program awards
The Rexel Foundation for a better energy future, in partnership with Ashoka, has awarded two social entrepreneurs in the Ashoka IMPACT energy efficiency program.
The winner for the “most encouraging project” is SOLENI.
Soleni teaches people who are searching for employment about energy control so that they can advise households in a situation of fuel poverty.
The winner for the “the best progression in the program” is ENERGIE PARTAGEE.
This project offers to provide individuals with a solidarity investment tool allowing them to support the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects by participating in the financing.
Eight social entrepreneurs, operating primarily with an aim to reduce fuel poverty in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy, met at the Rexel Campus in Paris yesterday and presented their initiatives to a panel of industry experts. They have been working on their projects since February 2013 with professional guidance.
“We were impressed by the quality of projects submitted and are proud to support these young social entrepreneurs through our Rexel Foundation. Through their concrete actions to fight against energy poverty, they make a real contribution to energy progress, “said Rudy Provoost, Chairman of Rexel Foundation and CEO of Rexel.
“In order to professionalize the field of social entrepreneurship, it is crucial for project leaders to benefit from the support and expertise of a company like Rexel, in order to increase their local impact” says Arnaud Mourot, co-Director of Ashoka Europe.
About Ashoka
Launched in India in 1981 by Bill Drayton, who popularized the term Social Entrepreneur, Ashoka – nonprofit, secular and apolitical – is the largest existing network of Social Entrepreneurs (3000 in 85 countries). Its objective is to create a world where everyone is able to act quickly and effectively to meet societal challenges. For more information visit www.ashoka.org
About the Ashoka IMPACT program
One of the key initiatives of Ashoka, the IMPACT program aims to develop a generation of more professional social organizations, providing professional management teams to support the development of social entrepreneur initiatives with training seminars and individual coaching spread over six months. This “contest – training” helps develop and support socially innovative projects, to identify and disseminate good practices.
About the Rexel Foundation
The Rexel Foundation for a better energy future was founded in May 2013 by the Rexel Group, under the aegis of the Fondation de France. The Rexel Foundation’s mission is to promote access to energy efficiency for all based on three key pillars: to improve understanding and raise awareness of energy efficiency; to encourage innovation through research and education, and to support community projects both in France and abroad in partnership with NGOs, social entrepreneurs and other key stakeholders. For more information visit: www.rexelfoundation.com