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Julie Walbaum succeeds Gilles Petit as president of the Maisons du Monde Foundation
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After presiding over the Foundation for four years, Gilles Petit is handing over to Julie Walbaum, current MDM CEO. “The Foundation’s purpose is to help preserve forests and wood as a resource by and for humankind. In concrete terms this means supporting NGOs in two fields; forest preservation and wood recycling. As president, I especially strived to strengthen the social aspect and I am proud of supporting a dynamic team brimming with ideas!” Gilles Petit has embodied the vocation of the Maisons du Monde Foundation since 2016. Four years dedicated to the Foundation with 35 projects in the public interest in a dozen countries all over the world.
Gilles Petit first headed up Maisons du Monde in 2015, then moved to President of the Foundation in 2016. Striving to set up tools for dialogue with partners, with an emphasis on innovative reporting methods with impact reviews, Gilles Petit helped bolster the Foundation’s structure to boost this impact.
“I would like to thank Gilles Petit most warmly for his investment alongside us, encouraging the deployment of the CHARITY ROUNDUP in all our stores and bringing his pragmatic vision to the monitoring and reviewing of our financial backers.
He brought enthusiasm to his involvement, visiting projects in the field with Emmaus and the Foyer Notre Dame for the homeless and supported the Trees programme with great conviction, so that we were able to help him aim for achievement.”
Fabienne Morgaut, Director, Maisons du Monde Foundation
These four years have seen the setup of two large-scale projects: the CHARITY ROUNDUP at the cash desk in all Maisons du Monde stores in France, encouraging customers to donate to NGOs, and the launch of the movement Aux Arbres , bringing together stakeholders wishing to preserve the forests and raise public awareness.
Julie Walbaum has been working as CEO of Maisons du Monde since July 2018, and Director of the Foundation since March 4th. She will now be taking over as president as from June 2nd, thus succeeding Gilles Petit. She aims to grow the Foundation’s ambition and projects initiated since 2016 to protect forests and biodiversity.
The Foundation committee also welcomes Julien Vigouroux, Supply Chain Director at group level, who has been overseeing social responsibility and environment projects for several years within the Maisons du Monde Logistics Department. Alongside the other Foundation members, he will provide input for strategic decisions and the selection of projects in line with the Foundation’s purpose, that can have impact on the ground.
Julie Walbaum stated that:
“I am greatly honoured to have a turn contributing to the magnificent work initiated by Foundation staff under Fabienne’s dynamic, innovative supervision.
Corporate success needs also to factor in the firm’s capacity to play a meaningful role in major societal issues. To my mind, the Foundation’s action is essential and we shall strive to implement both ambition and humility in our role.”
