On 27 January, ESSEC Business School in Paris, France launched a new Chair in Philanthropy, backed by its strategic partner BNP Paribas Wealth Management and its associate partners: Fondation de France, KPMG and Fondation Caritas France. More than 200 professionals from the emerging French philanthropic field attended the event at BNP Paribas’s premises. Professor Anne-Claire Pache (pictured), who holds the chair, presented its genesis, objectives, organization and upcoming projects in front of an attentive audience.

This is the first research unit among French business schools that is dedicated to the study of philanthropic initiatives, which have surged in recent years. As most knowledge on this topic currently comes from the US, little is known about philanthropy in Europe, especially from an academic perspective. Upcoming research projects include an overview of philanthropic practices across Europe and a typology of grantmaking strategies as well as several case studies.

Benefiting from initial funding from Fondation de France, the chair was created as ESSEC teamed up with BNP Paribas Wealth Management and three individual co-founders (Jérôme Kohler, Jean-Pierre Scotti and Antoine Vaccaro), soon joined by KPMG and Fondation Caritas France.

Set up within ESSEC’s Institut de l’Innovation et de l’Entrepreneuriat Social (Institute of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, IIES), the Chair in Philanthropy’s mission is to study, enhance and promote knowledge on philanthropy and its role within society. The chair will focus on the challenges associated with the creation, strategic development and management of philanthropic initiatives in order to strengthen the competencies of the sector’s key players. Capitalizing on the efforts of the IIES, the Chair in Philanthropy will work in coordination with other academic and expert institutions on these issues, in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

For more information
Contact Arthur Gautier, Chair in Philanthropy – Research Fellow, at gautierart@essec.edu