In 2020, Altavia decided to take its corporate philanthropy policy even further by committing to a meaningful philanthropic project. This is how the Altavia Foundation was born, with the aim of inspiring, accompanying and supporting micro-commerce players so as to advance social progress.

Because micro-business (retail, crafts, service provision) represents a tremendous opportunity for people in vulnerable situations to make a new professional start. Micro-commerce is also an essential part of local life, as it helps to create social bonds and revitalise territories.

With this in mind, Altavia Foundation works daily to identify inspiring micro-commerce models ready to be replicated, whether it’s mobile grocery stores, home computing services or food trucks. This approach will enable it to contribute to a catalogue of ideas dedicated to the micro-entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow. A platform that will promote mutual aid and the sharing of know-how between these traders who are too often isolated and lacking in resources.

Altavia Foundation is also committed to assisting associations working in the field to set up inclusive and innovative projects, thereby enabling those with a project to return to work through micro-commerce.

Altavia Foundation will be a participatory initiative rapidly deployed around the world. Ambassadors from each Business Unit will be trained to implement the scheme in their own countries, for example, by identifying projects and associations to support. Employees will also be able to take part in skills sponsorship projects.

Micro-commerce is above all a human adventure. The adventure of individuals who have made the choice to take charge of their own professional lives. But this adventure is not for everyone. Launching a micro-business takes time, resources and financial investment. The Altavia Foundation was born to offer everyone the chance to achieve this ambition. Its aim is to enable the most disadvantaged to take up entrepreneurship, whether they are citizens in a precarious situation, young adults without qualifications, the long-term unemployed, refugees or people with disabilities.

Today, 7 million people suffer from isolation¹ in France. What accounts for this? Rural flight, digital divide, economic crises, growing unemployment, etc. Global phenomena that threaten to weaken and fracture our social bonds, making us more vulnerable psychologically and economically. In this context, micro-business can be a powerful way of recreating social bonds and reconnecting individuals with each other. Altavia Foundation encourages the creation of these lively places where people share in a spirit of conviviality and which allow individuals to forge ties with the inhabitants of their neighbourhood or town.

According to INSEE (the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), 59% of rural communes no longer have any local shops². But these businesses are essential to the population, since they provide a variety of goods and services to meet their needs and thus contribute to the quality of their daily lives. The objective of the Altavia Foundation is therefore to revitalise these deserted territories through the development of micro-businesses, by supporting new activities useful to all citizens: multi-service counters, itinerant bakery, DIY or gardening assistance service, etc.

(1) According to the study carried out in 2019 by the Philanthropy Observatory of the Fondation de France 

(2) See “Commerce and regional inequalities”, in Enterprises in France, Edition 2017, coll. “Insee Références (in French)”