LinkedOut: a professional network for the marginalized

Our support during the Covid-19 pandemic

Today, when a user of the Entourage mobile app wants to help locally, they can join in an action or event in their neighborhood. Each action leads to the creation of a temporary micro-community, which is disbanded once the action is completed.

During the lockdown period, the association is seeking to boost its efficiency and enable each user to join lasting "neighborhood groups" that will:

• Coordinate actions and events at neighborhood level and build a local community of solidarity
• Create a lasting neighborhood community of active Entourage members who want to act fast
• Maximize participation and boost mutual assistance at local level

The Air Liquide Foundation is helping to finance the development of the Entourage app.

Employment as a vector of social reintegration

The LinkedOut project sprang from the observation that marginalized and vulnerable people have very little chance of finding a job because they are invisible on the job market. Many homeless people aspire to find employment, have plenty of talent and determination, and are fit to work. But they do not have the professional or personal connections to help them in their search.

LinkedOut's vision: no one is unemployable. The measure of an inclusive society is the social and professional integration of its most vulnerable members, whose varied backgrounds provide real added value.

LinkedOut's vision: no one is unemployable

Networking their way back into work

LinkedOut promotes the inclusion of vulnerable populations in the world of work through networking. The aim is to make marginalized people visible to recruiters and to generate employment opportunities for them.

The LinkedOut platform enables citizens to share and publish candidates' résumés on their networks in a single click. Candidates are recommended by a social worker, an employment adviser or the community, and can also send speculative applications. Once their application has been approved, a volunteer mentor guides and supports them in establishing their career plan and producing their résumé to help it go viral.

The project's ambitions do not stop there. A scheme has also been designed to support candidates throughout their job search and once they are in post. The guidance and moral support of their volunteer mentor help the candidate respond to employment opportunities and find their feet in their new job.

LinkedOut, for a more inclusive society

LinkedOut aims to end the traditional approach to recruitment and integration and give companies a practical way of being more inclusive. As Entourage sees it, an inclusive society adapts to individual differences and anticipates each individual's needs to give them the best possible chance of succeeding in life. That requires involvement from all civil society stakeholders.

Inclusion needs to be understood as a long-term investment, a source of humanity but also of wealth for the whole of society. That is the idea that Entourage tries to convey through all its projects.

How the Air Liquide Foundation is participating

The Air Liquide Foundation's contribution finances the training of volunteer mentors and candidates and part of the impact assessment.