Laurence Miller

Laurence Miller legal advisor on environmental law at the head office of Veolia Environnement, is a Foundation sponsor and volunteer. It is in the second capacity that she has been providing legal assistance over the past few weeks for the Ares organization with help from the legal and tax departments of Veolia Environnement.

You have been working for Veolia Environnement for 11 years, and after sponsoring a project, you're now a Veoliaforce volunteer. How did you learn about the Veolia Environnement Foundation's work?

Laurence Miller

In 1999, when I started working at Sarp Industries, the company's hazardous waste treatment subsidiary, I found out about the Foundation's program and applied to be a sponsor. Less than two years later, I was asked to sponsor a project in workforce integration through street theater (in the 18th arrondissement of Paris). The experience lasted a year, from preparing the project study to monitoring it.

Now you've gone further with another type of aid because, since the fall, you have been providing legal assistance for the Ares organization. What led up to this partnership?

I had done an internship at Ares when I was at law school. The organization, which has been in existence for 20 years, takes on 350 people a year in its workforce integration program, with 90 permanent employees providing support. Ares was created to help people with serious social problems, mainly the homeless, enter the workforce by offering them an 18-month contract leading to a permanent job in a network of partner companies, of which Veolia Environnement is one.

A few months ago, the organization contacted me for a legal audit of its activities. I was, of course, very happy to be able to help them as much as I could. But besides my personal commitment, I had to find the time and technical resources to give them the best help possible. So I contacted the Veolia Environnement Foundation, which encouraged me to speak to my superior about offering this new type of assistance. The project was favorably, even enthusiastically, received by the head of the Legal Department, Eric Haza, as well as by the VE SA Director of Human Resources, Sylvie Bailly, and the Tax Director, Béatrice Deshayes. So we all got involved together!

This transfer of legal skills is a first for the Veolia Environnement Foundation. Can you explain in concrete terms how legal assistance is provided to an organization like Ares?

Following four years of strong growth in its activities, Ares feels the need to improve its organization, especially when it comes to legal matters. The help they need involves all sorts of questions that are beyond my expertise. The idea is to be able to call in the right person to deal with the question, whether it be about commercial contracts, company law, labor law or tax law. By being the contact person for Ares at Veolia, I take all questions and speak to the most qualified people in order to come up with the answers. By the same token, I deal with just one person at Ares, and that is its administrative and financial director, Audrey Mougenot.

How much time does this assistance take?

According to the timetable we have set up for the rest of the year, it will probably take one day a month. But we don't have very much experience with this type of philanthropy and it could end up being very time- consuming. We'll learn as we go. But, professionally, this kind of work is very rewarding and enriching. Ares deals closely with public authorities and its concerns are not that different from those of a public services provider like Veolia Environnement.