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On 15 April 2021, HL BaSE hosted the fourth Parisian edition of its Catalyst pro bono initiative. HL BaSE Catalyst is a programme for supporting the development of social enterprises and enabling them to grow their social and environmental impact.
"We are very happy to support these social entrepreneurs and help them pursue wonderful initiatives. Each time, we are impressed by the vitality of the social entrepreneurship sector and the dynamism of the stakeholders; it is a great opportunity for our law firm and lawyers to approach this environment and its stakeholders by involving our clients, whom we thank warmly for their commitment!"
Katia Merlini, Partner, Hogan Lovells
In-house counsel from AXA, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Novartis, and 3M joined our lawyers to discuss and address the business and legal challenges of four entrepreneurs selected with the help of our partner networks Entrepreneurs dans la Ville (EDLV), Ashoka France, and Sparknews:
- Marie-Lou Deschamps, communication consultant of the Cercle Vertueux platform, a collective of entrepreneurs serving positive impact projects to support them in their digital and corporate responsibility strategies;
- Louis-Xavier Leca, Ashoka Fellow and manager of the association Les Transmetteurs which brings together retired volunteers whose mission is to support medical and social structures under pressure or in crisis;
- Florian de Lencquesaing, Country Manager France at Change Please, which is an established British social enterprise aiming to set up its French office. Change Please sells coffee and invests the profits from sales to hire, accommodate and train unemployed people to be baristas;
- Sahyeed Ahamada, founder of the collaborative platform HelloColis, which puts potential transporters of goods in touch with senders in a mutual aid and sharing economy approach.
"The quality of advice and the involvement of lawyers and in-house Counsel made this moment extremely interesting but also very pleasant. We had complex legal structuring issues which have been admirably solved. The quality of advice lies in the fact that each volunteer had their own area of expertise, which made it possible, as they spoke, to see a crystal-clear solution emerge."
Florian de Lencquesaing, Change Please