The Kering Foundation
Since 2008, the Kering Foundation combats violence against women. To effect meaningful change, the Foundation implements a three-pronged approach: improving services for women survivors, changing behaviors in younger generations and mobilizing other players to take action. The Foundation works with a limited number of partners in six countries: Mexico, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Korea.
The Kering Foundation’s close working relationship with its partners is central to its approach. By adapting quickly and efficiently to the needs of the organizations it supports and opening up its networks, the Foundation delivers positive impact, to put an end to all types of gender-based violence.
The Kering Foundation is a leading philanthropic player in combating violence against women. Partnering with local and national NGOs that put women survivors of violence at the center of their actions, the Foundation provides them withtailored support to strengthen their programs.
In its six countries of operation, the Kering Foundation works with innovative pilot initiatives by non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs who cover unmet needs and to help them scale-up, once their effectiveness has been proven. In an effort to strengthen grassroots organizations, the Foundation also works alongside Women’s Funds with the aim of developing community level capacities.
Supporting national specialist organizations on domestic violence
The Kering Foundation works hand in hand with organizations in the United States (National Network to End Domestic Violence), France (Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes), Italy (Donne in Rete contro la violenza), the United Kingdom (Women’s Aid) and Mexico (Red Nacional de Refugios) to provide comprehensive support for women survivors of violence with resources tailored to their personal situation.
Championing innovative pilot initiatives
The Kering Foundation has supported La Maison des femmes de Saint-Denis since its inception in 2016. This women’s center offers unique and holistic services including medical assistance, as well as psychological, emotional, mental and physical support. It gathers 60 professionals from diverse backgrounds, including gynecologists, psychologists, police offices and lawyers. Together, they listen and care for survivors, providing help and guidance. During the Generation Equality Forum held in June 2021 and jointly organized by UN Women, Mexico and France, François-Henri Pinault announced that through its Foundation, Kering will provide €5 million over five years to help finance, alongside the French government, the opening of 15 centers in France based on the model of La Maison des femmes de Saint-Denis.
Enabling a community of social entrepreneurs
The Kering Foundation believes that social enterprises have an important role to play in empowering women. It works with a community of social entrepreneurs who provide support and professional trainings to women survivors. Each member of the community takes part in an incubation program while benefiting from the Foundation’s network and one-to-one mentoring. In addition, the social enterprises participate in group workshops aimed at developing forward-thinking business models to better serve women. The community is made up of 9 members including Colori Vivi in Italy, Chayn in the United Kingdom, Gendes and Las Panas in Mexico and du Pain & des Roses in France.
Strengthening grassroots organizations
Social change starts within communities. This is why the Kering Foundation finances five Women’s Funds, which identify local, grassroots organizations striving to combat violence against women. One notable example is Rosa UK. Through this fund, the Foundation supports three organizations including the Glasgow & Clyde Rape Crisis, the United Kingdom’s longest operational rape crisis center. In order to work closely with local communities in the remaining 5 countries of operation, the Kering Foundation collaborates with the Mediterranean Women’s Fund in France and Italy, HER Fund in Hong Kong, Fondo Semillas in Mexico and the Women Foundation of California in the United States.
Episode 10: working with men to break the inter-generational cycle of violence and ultimately support survivors
Since 2018, the Kering Foundation is proud to partner with Gendes, a Mexican non-profit organization that organizes group sessions with men to help them question their role in a gender-based social system and explore alternative ways of solving conflict.
Episode 1: Hadassah and Diarryatou, La Maison des femmes
In this first video, Hadassah and Diarryatou give us a poignant testimony about their journey and their reconstruction thanks to the Maison des Femmes. A message of hope that highlights the work and the fundamental role of the Kering Foundation's partners.
Episode 2: Jacqui Kilburn, Women's Aid trainer
In the second episode, Jacqui, who has been working in the domestic abuse sector for 30 years, shares her experiences and highlights the importance of understanding the impact of domestic violence on the workplace and training teams on how to respond effectively and with compassion.
Episode 3: Jessica, a survivor supported by Les Corner
In the third episode, Jessica, a victim of domestic violence in a same-sex relationship, shares her journey to leave her abusive partner and rebuild her life.
Episode 4: Natalie, survivor supported by Women’s Aid
In the fourth episode, Natalie shares her experience in an abusive relationship and how, with the support of Women’s Aid, she escaped the coercive control of her perpetrator.
Episode 5: Solidarité Femmes helpline counselor
In the fifth episode, a trained counselor shares her experience responding to calls, to encourage survivors to reach out for support. Her job is to listen to their stories, help them define the abuse they are living through, and refer them to local organizations that can provide the assistance they need.
Episode 6: Sara, refugee and single mother supported by RUN
In the sixth episode, Sara tells her story as a refugee and single mother in Hong Kong. She shares her difficulties and how the organization RUN supported her. Now, she is able to take time to care for herself and to plan for her future and her daughter's.
Episode 7: Judy, HER Fund’s Executive Director
The seventh episode features HER Fund, a Women's Fund based in Hong Kong that provides extensive support to grassroots organizations led by and serving the most disadvantaged women and girls. Judy, HER Fund's Executive Director, tells us about her experience and her hope that more funders will come together to combat violence against women.
Episode 8: Virginie, co-founder and managing director of RUN
In the eighth video, Virginie, co-founder and managing director of RUN (Rebuild, Unite, Nurture), speaks about how the organization’s team helps refugees to create a life of safety and dignity, in Hong Kong and beyond.
Episode 9: Rocío, a survivor of violence
She shares her powerful story of strength and courage. She found support at Las Panas, through bakery workshops, group therapy, counseling and so much more.
For the Kering Foundation, effectively eradicating violence against women goes beyond support for women survivors. It is also vital to address the root cause of this violence. With this in mind, the Foundation has stepped up its prevention actions, designed for young men and boys. By sharing feminist principles with younger generations, the Foundation seeks to transform harmful gender norms and attitudes. The Foundation remains committed to tackling the issue of incest, in order to break the intergenerational cycle of violence and the silence that surrounds it.
Embracing healthy, respectful masculinity
In 2020, the Kering Foundation and Equimundo launched the Global Boyhood Initiative. The project aims to equip young boys (4 to 13 years old) and their families with the tools and resources needed to help them embrace healthy masculinity and gender equality. The initiative is based on interviews conducted with young boys and parents as well as qualitative and quantitative research to highlight the impact of stereotypes on education. In doing so, it fosters positive masculinity, guiding boys to share emotions, accept others, break free from stereotypes and speak out against inequality. The Global Boyhood Initiative began in the United States in 2020, expanding to the United Kingdom in 2022 and plans to launch in France and Italy in 2023.
Engaging youth to fight sexual violence
In the United States, the Kering Foundation supports The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault (NYCAASA) and its Project Dream, Own, Tell (Project DOT), a game-changing sexual violence prevention program that works with young people from underserved communities, with a particular focus on leadership. Project DOT offers its participants, who often do not have access to traditional sexual education programs, a platform for creating and sharing positive messages with their communities. The organization is set to boost the impact of its program with a training center targeting four more New York City districts by 2025.
Breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence
According to the World Health Organization, 20% of women and between 5 and 10% of men report having been sexually abused as children. 80% were victims of incest. In response to this intolerable reality, in 2019, the Kering Foundation supported La Maison des femmes de Saint Denis to create a new unit focused on treating adults who were abused during their childhood. In 2021, the women’s center conducted 229 consultations. The Foundation has also backed the French organization Face à l’Inceste to increase its visibility and reinforce its communications and the Ou Peut-être une nuit podcast produced by Louie Media, to break the silence around incest.
The Kering Foundation works to change behaviors and attitudes as well as raise awareness on violence against women, both within Kering and society at large. By mobilizing its extensive network of employees from the Group and its Houses, as well as and other companies, the Foundation seeks to create a supportive work environment, where victims of domestic violence can be listened to and supported.
Creating a supportive work environment
Since 2011, the Kering Foundation offers domestic violence awareness training sessions to understand impact of this violence on the workplace, open to all employees across the Group. To date, over 1,900 employees have taken part in these training sessions co-created with national specialist organizations. The Foundation and Kering’s Human Resources Department have also implemented a Group-wide Global Policy on Domestic Violence. The Policy offers support to any employee who is a victim of domestic violence, including, a domestic violence special leave, flexible working conditions and financial assistance. Employees can also be redirected to specialist organizations.
Taking Europe-wide action
In 2018, the Kering Foundation joined forces with the Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion (FACE) to create One In Three Women, the first European network of 16 companies engaged to combat violence against women. The network encourages companies to support colleague survivors of domestic violence through awareness toolkits, online learning modules available in seven languages and in-house training programs. In 2019, One In Three Women conducted a study sent to 40,000 employees across six companies in six countries. Results found that 16% of women and 4% of men who participated had reported experiencing domestic violence. Additionally, 37% of victims declared having already discussed the issue with a colleague. As a result, companies have a leading role to play in establishing a supportive workplace and concrete measures for those affected.
Bringing other players to this combat
The 2021 Generation Equality Forum, a global gathering for gender equality convened by UN Women, was held in Paris. As a private-sector leader of the Action Coalition on Gender-based violence, the Kering Foundation made five commitments to complete by 2026. Through the One In Three Women network, the Foundation committed to convincing 50 private sector leaders to introduce and implement internal policies and procedures in support of employee survivors of domestic violence.
Key figures
Highlights report
Since its creation, the Kering Foundation has built a strategy focusing on impact. The Foundation is a leading private donor to national specialist organizations based in Italy (1st), France (1st), the United Kingdom (3rd) and the United States (6th). Every year, more than 275,000 women survivors and 25 organizations are supported by the Kering Foundation.
Download the Kering Foundation Highlights“Wherever women’s integrity and dignity are attacked, I believe each of us has a particular responsibility. Having long been involved in actions of solidarity with women, I want Kering to be at their side everywhere in the world.”
FRANÇOIS-HENRI PINAULT
KERING CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF THE KERING FOUNDATION
