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Governance

Founded in 2008, the Air Liquide Foundation acts on major societal issues, leveraging Air Liquide’s expertise and geographic footprint. The Foundation’s work relies on a collegial governance and the diversity and expertise of its members.

The Air Liquide Foundation’s Ethical charter

The Air Liquide Foundation acts within the framework of its corporate purpose. On the one hand, it supports research or scientific education projects in the field of respiratory diseases and air quality, and on the other local development projects, in particular job integration, in the territories where the Air Liquide Group is present.

Discover our ethics abide by 5 guiding principles

 

The Board of Directors

The Board of Directors meets at least three times a year.

It validates the Foundation’s strategic priorities and approves the annual budget, in accordance with the Foundation's bylaws. 

The Board reviews and decides on all projects & partnerships beyond a certain size. The Board membership is a combination of Air Liquide directors representing the founders, independent directors with qualifications in the fields of interest of the foundation and an  Air Liquide employee representative. They are appointed for a renewable two-year terms.

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 The Board ensures proper functioning of the Foundation. With its diverse composition, it supports  the Foundation’s development. The Board is assisted in its work by the scientific committee,  the communities committee and the Foundation’s team.

The Scientific Committee 

The Foundation's Scientific Committee reviews all research programmes and science education projects before they are submitted to the Board of Directors for approval.

Its missions are :

  • ensuring the quality of the research projects (scientific approach, innovative character, impact) and teams (skills, ecosystem), 

  • ensuring that research projects are consistent with the Foundation's missions, 

  • deciding on the level of financial commitment requested.

It ensures compliance with the Foundation's Ethical Charter.

For each project, the medical expert or R&D manager in charge of evaluating the project is invited to the Scientific Committee.

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The Communities Committee

The Foundation's Communities committee is responsible for selecting the projects recommended by Air Liquide employees and reviewing partnerships & multi-year projects for professional integration. These projects have been previously chosen by the Foundation’s team according to the established selection criteria. Multi-year projects or those requiring more than 25,000 euros are submitted to the Board for approval. The Communities committee grants funds to each project according to the Foundation's annual budget, monitors the chosen projects, and assesses the work that is done and the results achieved. It meets approximately every three months.

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They review new projects as well as ongoing programmes.

They invite, as appropriate, those Air Liquide colleagues who investigate scientific projects or sponsor community partnerships.

The committees form their independent views on projects and ensure that projects comply with the Foundation's ethical charter.

A summary of the committees' recommendations is reported to the Board of Directors.

Xavier Rigolot, General Manager of the Foundation

“The Communities Committee, one of the strongest arms of the Fondation Air Liquide, is dedicated to selecting and supporting educational, social and cultural projects in their immediate environment, both in France and abroad. For a company, giving back to the community where it operates a part of the wealth generated is not an option. In particular, and this is essential, through the involvement of Air Liquide employees: support and follow-up of projects or skills sponsorship, for example.

As shareholders, we are stakeholders in Air Liquide's choices and investments. Getting involved in the Communities Committee is a concrete way of encouraging these citizen initiatives and supporting the Foundation's governance. We receive dividends; what could be more natural than to pay what I would call a societal dividend in return?”

Constance Bordes, Member of the Communities Committee for the Air Liquide Foundation (2023-2025), and Member of the Air Liquide Shareholder Communication Committee (2023-2025)

 

The Operational Team

A close-knit team of four manages day-to-day operations at the Foundation. The team receives and examines every funding request that comes in. They also work with Group employees to evaluate projects and prepare the applications for support for the Board of Directors and the Project selection committee. They proactively identify organizations or projects that fit with the Foundation’s priorities and develop meaningful projects with them. They closely monitor projects, expenses and results. They also produce the Foundation’s communication materials.

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Annual Audits

Every year, the annual financial statements of the Air Liquide Foundation are audited by the Statutory Auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The Foundation's operations are also regularly and rigorously audited by Air Liquide's Internal Audit department.

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