You founded the SPORT'A VIE association 21 years ago, you chair several associations and you manage the TF1 Foundation. Can you tell us about your career?

All the projects I've been involved in have had one thing in common: the integration of young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods. The creation of the SPORT'A VIE association, with a group of teacher friends, is a concrete response to a problem I faced when I was a sports teacher. As soon as we talked to our students about their future or their orientation, it was a total void. "How do you expect me to succeed when I don't have any examples around me?" they would say. The aim of the association is to enable young people to overcome this fatality by becoming active players in their own lives. Taking part in a world sporting event is the icing on the cake, but what interests us is the project built up beforehand, its cultural dimension, language learning... Our first project was the Football World Cup in Korea in 2002. A country so far removed from their culture! At the end, one of them told us: "Now that I've learned Korean, I know I can do anything. This is precisely what the association is aiming for.

For SPORT'A VIE, I learned all the tricks of the trade: project management, fund-raising... I approached TF1 without knowing the codes of the corporate world! I never gave up.

It took me six months to get an appointment with Patrick Le Lay, the chairman at the time, by calling his secretary every day. When he arrived, he told me he had 5 minutes to spare for me. In the end, we talked for 1h30 and, three years later, he hired me for a sales position in the advertising department. I thought a lot about it, because I was thinking about my little kids in the suburbs... So I asked Patrick Le Lay to give me the opportunity to create a foundation for the TF1 Group. He put his trust in me and agreed to let me devote 25% of my time to this project. In my opinion, to have an impact on society, it's not possible to deal with every subject. So, rather than funding community projects as most corporate foundations do, I recommended that we focus our own public-interest initiatives on a single theme, namely a program dedicated to the integration of young people aged 18 to 30 from disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The business community is the key. When a company takes up a subject, it acts as a driving force and, unlike politics, there's a good chance that it will come to fruition. 

Every year, we offer two-year work-study positions to give them the time to train in a good school and gain solid experience in our departments. We look for young people outside schools, as they are not in them. To do this, we work with associations, local authorities, missions locales, Pôle emploi and Préfectures, which have support programs but lack offers from companies. We've also banished the CV and cover letter in favor of the video format. We don't promise them a job at TF1, although we don't let them go when an opportunity arises, of course. In any case, two years in the TF1 group on a CV is red carpet. They're recruited as soon as they leave the Foundation. I often use the image of a toolbox. Our aim is to have a full toolbox by the time they leave, so they don't need anyone else.

"People used to look at my name and address. Today, the TF1 logo erases everything", summed up one of our work-study students. Our mission is to turn things around by playing our part in integrating people into the company. 

What personal resources do you draw on to drive your projects forward and exercise leadership?

I did a lot of endurance, a tough discipline. For me, the values of sport are totally transposable to my professional and personal life.

When you finish^4th, when the podium passes you by, you need to have the mental strength to start training again. It's the same with projects. You never give up.

An employee's confidence in his project is essential. If they believe in it and embody it, they are bound to succeed. There are always managers or employees who say no or are reluctant. The challenge is to convince them. Unfortunately, in large groups, the temptation to control everything is still strong. We're seeing the same thing today with videoconferencing. Managers feel diminished because they no longer have their team under their control. And yet, I can testify that trust multiplies employee commitment.

What message would you like to send to future leaders and entrepreneurs?

To young and old alike, I say, "believe in your abilities and don't give up!" You'll always find an ally who will listen to you and help you succeed. When faced with obstacles, remember that most of the time, your contacts react out of fear of losing control. It's up to you to reassure your N+1 or your colleagues, to bring them on board with you, to give them a role... You're in the best position to know what you're capable of.

What are your current projects and challenges in this difficult context for young people?

The current crisis must not prevent us from working for young people. Every day, young people write to tell me that their company can no longer take them on. Personally, I've never taken on as many work-study students as I did this year! It's all the easier with telecommuting, because we wouldn't have the physical capacity to take them all in at head office. On the other hand, it's up to us to organize ourselves so that everyone can be involved in the projects. The way we work remotely makes the young apprentice all the more responsible, and he's keen to get involved to show that we were right to choose him.

More than ever, companies need to play their part and find solutions to welcome young people on work placements or sandwich courses because, for many of them, the risk of not graduating at the end of the year is real.

It's up to companies to ensure that young people aren't cut off from the world, and to innovate so that this generation isn't "erased" because of the situation.