Foundations's mission
The Rainbow Bridge foundation, under the auspices of Fondation de France, was established on September 16th, 2005. The founding members are Crédit Agricole Solidarité et Développement, Accor and Franck Dargent.
Created after the tsunami that devasted South-East Asia on December 26th, 2004, the purpose of this foundation is to provide local development assistance to regions struck by natural or flood-related disasters, espacialy towards health, social welfare and education.
The mother and child development,educationand protection projects will be examined as priority ones. The Foundation shall otherwise subsidise medical, sanitary, food or housing emergency aid programs as long as they fall into a sustainable development project.
Furthermore, in order to prevent natural or food disasters, the Foundation shall engage in prevention programs , through equipment purchasing or training courses.
The Founders hereby give a sworn undertaking to select recipient organizations solely on the basis of their humanitarian activities, without consideration for any material and/or financial benefits that the Founders or any persons close to them might expect to derive, directly or through any third party.
Why the name "Rainbow Bridge"?
Because there were seven of us: Gérard, Martine, Muriel, Matthieu, Iris, Raphaël and I, like the seven beams of the rainbow, indissociable... The violet and indigo colors still remain on earth; the others reach towards the sky.
Because in the Greek mythology, Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and, the gods' messenger between Heaven and Earth.
Because man's genius builds works of art that unite men across the seas, across the abyss. Neither earthquake nor tsunami can destroy it. The Ark of the Covenant is everlasting, the bind remains.
Because from my office, I never tired of gazing this Rainbow bridge, arched between sea and sky, above Tokyo Bay and because we, as a family, crossed that bridge a hundred times, to go pick up friends arriving from afar, until our last trip.
And because other families, other friends will continue to take this bridge to meet up with loved ones, in Japan or elsewhere, and those who know this story will keep them alive in their memories and in their hearts, with each crossing.
Franck Dargent
The Selection Committee examines and discusses the projects in progress on the basis of achievements report, which is established by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee may, when necessary, request from the project manager additional information and receipts/invoices of incurred expenditure.
The Selection Committee assesses submitted projects based on their alignment with the foundation's purpose, their sustainability and their estimated impact on the improvement of beneficiaries' living conditions. Key selection criteria also include the credibility of the entity which is in charge of managing the project and its commitment to transparency on project development.
Members of Selection Committee are also the members of Executive Committee. Both committees may hold meetings on the same date. The meeting occurs at least once every six months.
The Steering Committee assists the Executive Committee and ensures that the projects are carried out according to what the site supervisor has agreed and committed to. It steers the projects and ensures the active participation of the foundation through its communication.
Among other aims, the Steering Committee tracks project progress and ensure that the projects supported by the Selection Committee are managed to time and budget, as well as achieve their objectives. It may, where applicable, request additional information. The sterring committee, together with the association involved, creates quantitative and qualitative reports, which are scheduled once in the middle of projects and another on delivery. These reports are submitted to and examined by the Executive Committee.
Maintaining a regular contact with the associations on site, it maintains a good understanding of the project's progress, constraints and achievements, and seeks experts advice, as necessary.
The Steering Committee's members are: Nicolas Boyault and Nicolas Jourdier, who review and supervise the projects.
- Camilo Jose Lim and Elizabeth Cassegrain, who manage the programs progress on site. Edith Brüder, communication manager.
- Olivier Ho-A-Chuk, webmaster.
The Steering Committee meets once every three months.
Crédit Agricole Solidarité et Développement
Crédit Agricole Solidarité et Développement, non profit entity registered under French law as an "association Loi 1901", was founded in 1983 to encourage and extend the Crédit Agricole regional banks' actions in the solidarity field
The association contributes to:
Agricultural and rural development aid for southern coutries and more particularly French-speaking Africa. It concentrates on savings and loans, the craft industry and projects generating a revenue, as well as first necessity programs (access to water, healthcare and education); economical and social insertion of people in need. Since 1997, its scope of action has extended to France, via employment, young people's insertion, education and fight against illiteracy programs.
Since 1983, Crédit Agricole Solidarité et Développement has supported 280 projects and contributed about 4.3 million euros.
Entities wishing to submit a project to CASD should first obtain one of the Crédit Agricole regional banks' support. The latter will forward the project on to CASD for it to be examined.
Fondation de France
Visit the Fondation de France website.
What is a foundation that operates under the auspices of Fondation de France
Groupe Accor
Visit the Groupe Accor website.