Bénédicte Potdevin (EDHEC 1985) and Entourage for the EDHEC Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year award

Candidate for the EDHEC Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year award 

“For as long as I can remember, I have always held the belief that the true heroes are those who are worn down by life, those who despite all their suffering have the courage to get up in the morning and live through their day with humility. It was only a small step from there to the creation of Entourage. 

After working in sales and then training for a while, followed by some to-ing and fro-ing between France and the US, it was when I returned to Paris 4 years ago, taken aback by the increasing numbers of people living on the city’s pavements, that I decided to co-found Entourage. We are all aware that the people we pass by on the street every day are in need of a sandwich or a couple of euros. Yet what they share with us is that their greatest impoverishment is their solitude. And we can all address that on a daily basis; it’s just that it’s hard to do it alone and we don’t feel adequately equipped. That’s why we created Entourage, the first truly social network that brings together benevolent neighbours, with or without a roof over their heads, and associations who combat exclusion. 

Entourage represents an entire community mobilised through small but tangible actions of solidarity so we can have a little more human warmth in our streets.

Entourage gives everyone the possibility to act in a way that reduces the relational exclusion facing those living on the streets. Each person helps out depending on who they are and where they are, for we are convinced that it is the sum of all the individual micro-contributions that will change the world. In just 18 months, Entourage attracted more than 40,000 people to the network and generated more than 3,000 actions of solidarity.

And the good news is that these interactions transform us all and are mutually enriching!

My job at Entourage is to communicate with companies. What if CSR were about companies reaching out to the residents of the pavements around them?" Bénédicte Potdevin

To find out more: www.entourage.social